Running on Miwok and Dipsea Trails to Cardiac Hill

Location: Mount Tamalpais State Park

Distance: 20 miles

Elevation Gain: 3,500 ft

Trails: Miwok Trail, Redwood Creek Trail, Deer Park Fire Road, Dispea Trail, Coastal View Trail, Heather Cutoff, Dias Ridge Trail

This weeks long run was my final long run before running in the Tamalpa Headlands 50K race. I chose a route for this run that included some of the major sections of the race course. You can take a look at the course by clicking the link below.

I stated this run at the Tennessee Valley Trailhead. This is a great location to start a run as it has ample parking, restrooms and several trail heads converge at this one location: Miwok Trail, Marincello Trail and Old Springs Trail all come together at the parking lot and several other trails are just a short distance down the road. From this location you can head to all the sites in the Marin Headlands.

I started running up the Miwok trail and then back down to the Redwood Creek Trail. From there, I had to take a detour because part of the trail from Miwok Trail to Dipsea Trail was closed. After crossing Redwood Creek, this required a brief run along Frank Valley Rd to Deer Park Fire Trail and then up to the Dipsea Trail. This is the steep section of the trail from the road to Cardiac Hill (hence the name). Cardiac Hill is the highest point of the Dipsea Trail and at the summit there are several other trail options: up to Pantoll Ranger Station; down to Stinson Beach or down to Muir Beach. This is also the only water along the Dipsea Trail. From the summit I ran down the Coastal View Trail to the Heather Cutoff and then down to Muir Beach. When there is no coastal fog, this section of the trail provides great views out to the Pacific Ocean...but that was not the case on this run. The part I enjoy on this section are the many switchbacks along the Heather Cutoff down to Santos Meadow. Once at Muir Beach, I connected with the Dias Ridge Trail and climbed my way back over the mountain to the Miwok Trail and then back to the TV parking lot.

The best parts of this run for me were some of the gradual downhill sections that were just the right incline to allow effortless running and a sense of floating down the trail. I also always enjoy the running along the Dipsea Trail (even though it is rather challenging) and thinking about all the trail runners that have come before me to run this trail. The first trail race in the country was ran along this trail in 1905.

I highly recommend running any section of this course I ran as it is all classic Marin Headlands / Mount Tamalpais trail running at its best.

Remember, every run can be an adventure!

Hope to see you on the trail........