Strict parking restrictions in store for Muir Woods visitors

Cars parked near the Muir Woods National Monument, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2015, in San Francisco, Calif. Marin County is considering parking restrictions on Muir Woods Road after visitors continue to park along roads as a resort to limited parking slots.  less Cars parked near the Muir Woods National Monument, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2015, in San Francisco, Calif. Marin County is considering parking restrictions on Muir Woods Road after visitors continue to park along roads ... more Photo: Santiago Mejia, Special To The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Santiago Mejia, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 13 Caption Close Strict parking restrictions in store for Muir Woods visitors 1 / 13 Back to Gallery

The Marin County Board of Supervisors imposed severe restrictions on parking along Muir Woods Road on Tuesday, the first step toward cutting back on automobile access to the forest. 

The vote, which was unanimous, eliminates most parking along the road that leads from the woods nearly 3 miles to the small community of Muir Beach.  On weekends, as many as 400 cars have been parking along the shoulder of the road, producing major traffic hazards and damaging the environment on Redwood Creek, environmentalists say. 

Effective in 30 days, parking along the road will be cut to about 80 cars.  There are also 150 or so spots in parking lots near the entrance to the park. 

“This is a very positive step forward,” said Christopher Carr, an attorney for the Mount Tam Task Force, a group of neighbors who live near Muir Woods and have been pressing the National Park Service to deal with crowds and worsening traffic at the monument. 

More than a million visitors come to Muir Woods every year, and nearly all of them come by private car. 

Under an agreement worked out between Marin County and the Park Service, a parking reservation system will be set up that will, in effect, reduce visitation to Muir Woods. 

The county is involved because, though Muir Woods is a federal National Monument, the roads leading to it belong to the county. 

Because there are not enough formal parking spots near the woods, visitors have been parking along the narrow, winding county road and walking up the shoulders of the highway.  Others take shuttle buses from Sausalito or park-and-ride lots near Tamalpais Valley. 

The result was a huge and unsafe mess — and then came a nasty dispute with the Park Service, whose planners first proposed satellite parking lots on the hills overlooking Muir Woods.  The satellite lot plan stirred up a storm, which only quieted down when Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, and Marin County officials worked out a memorandum of understanding with the Park Service to restrict parking and set up a car reservation system. 

The ordinance passed Tuesday was the first step to implement the agreement. “ It’s only taken us 13 years to get to this crucial step,” Kristin Shannon, chairwoman of the Mount Tam Task Force, told the supervisors. “ We are making history here today.” 

However, the citizens groups from around Muir Woods still have a number of concerns.  Shannon, for example, thinks the Park Service won’t have enough rangers on duty to manage the traffic. “ Mill Valley has a population of 14,000 and 22 peace officers, but Muir Woods, with 6,000 visitors a day, is planning to have only one ranger patrol the road.” 

The neighbor groups are also suspicious — to say the least — of Park Service management of Muir Woods. “ We think of them as Smokey the Bear,” Shannon said. “ But Smokey has an MBA now.” 

She and other members of the neighbor groups claim the Park Service encourages visits to Muir Woods and other park sites around the Bay Area, particularly Alcatraz Island, just voted as the No.1 landmark attraction by a tour company website. 

They point to concession fees and souvenir stores in the parks. “ Muir Woods,” said Shannon, “is a cash cow.” 

Their aim is to put a cap on the number of visitors to Muir Woods.  Now, they say, the small national monument attracts more annual visitors than the entire population of San Francisco. 

After the parking restrictions go into effect, the county plans to erect barriers along Muir Woods Road to physically prevent cars from parking along it.  It’s not clear when that will happen. 

Carl Nolte is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.  E-mail: cnolte@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @carlnoltesf