Muir Woods Dipsea Trail Bridge
It’s high time to stop walking “The Plank.”
For decades, since the legendary rain storms and floods of late 1981 and early 1982 washed away the last permanent bridge over Redwood Creek on the Dipsea Trail in Muir Woods, the National Park Service has sought to replace it with another structure that could withstand another such natural disaster and provide a safe and convenient, direct, all-season path from the Muir Woods Road parking lot to the “Dynamite” section of the Dipsea Trail without the threat of getting wet.
For the time being, hikers and Dipsea runners will continue to cross Redwood Creek at Muir Woods on an attached double side-by-side wooden plank foot bridge, which is removed whenever the weather forecast calls for significant rain during the rainy season, which can run from late fall to early spring.
Because the current bridge – or plank – is low, it needs to be removed because, if rains swell the channel, it will get washed downstream (which happened last fall). When the bridge/plank is removed, hikers and runners are forced to take a half mile detour left on Muir Woods Road to the base of the Dipsea Fire Trail and cross Redwood Creek there where it can be a perilous proposition.
According to “Dipsea: The Greatest Race” by Dipsea historian Barry Spitz, the current footbridge — or plank — was built in 1974 after a campaign led by famed Marin nature instructor Elizabeth Terwilliger. When erected it bore the sign `No Running On Bridge,’ so some Dipsea race runners continued to splash through Redwood Creek. Before World War II, runners crossed Redwood Creek on a different bridge about 100 yards upstream.
Because the current bridge – or plank – is low, it needs to be removed because, if rains swell the channel, it will get washed downstream (which happened last fall). When the bridge/plank is removed, hikers and runners are forced to take a half mile detour left on Muir Woods Road to the base of the Dipsea Fire Trail and cross Redwood Creek there where it can be a perilous proposition.
The Redwood Renewal Sustainable Access Project bridge would offer a safer, modern, and more scenic route year-round along the Dipsea Trail through Muir Woods. Plus, of interest to Dipsea competitors, because of the design, length, and height of the new bridge, it would eliminate current up-and-down steps to Redwood Creek to cross the current plank, thus potentially shaving seconds off race times.
Now YOU can help.
The Dipsea Race Foundation is accepting donations to build the 120-foot pedestrian bridge over Redwood Creek that connects the famed Dipsea Trail. The bridge, which is part of the National Park Service’s Redwood Renewal Sustainable Access Project, is now in the design phase.
To make a tax deductible donation, please click below
Or, send a check payable to
Dipsea Bridge in Muir Woods
to
Dipsea Bridge
1001 Bridgeway 458
Sausalito CA 94965