Nestled in the hills of Mill Valley is a well-loved and well-traveled trail that takes you through Tennessee Valley, past an old barn, and ends at the picturesque and secluded Tennessee Beach. This 1.7-mile-long trail is wide enough for a family to walk side-by-side, relatively flat, well-maintained, and kid-friendly.
The Tennessee Valley Trail is located in the Marin Headlands, a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
We’ve taken our toddler and preschooler on this hike a few times, each time on a multi-family adventure with kids ages 0-5. See a map of the park here.
Before you go
- Plan for an hour drive. The drive to Mill Valley and the Tennessee Valley Trailhead can take about an hour from the East Bay Area.
- Check the weather. The Marin Headlands are covered in fog almost year-round, which can cool temperatures down in the mornings and late afternoons. If/when the sun peeks out, however, the weather can warm up quickly. Layer up!
- Get there early. There is only one parking lot that fills up quickly, either by hikers visiting Tennessee Valley for the day or by folks going to the equestrian field up the road. Overflow parking snakes its way along the road farther and farther away from the trailhead, making for an awkward place to unload your kids and gear, and adding distance to your hike.
What to pack:
- Standard diaper bag essentials
- Sunscreen and hats
- Water
- Baby carrier or backpack
- Snacks or lunch
- Beach items – sand toys, towels, beach blankets, a change of clothes
Tips to Hike the Tennessee Valley Trail
1. Use the bathrooms along the trail.
Don’t worry, there are multiple potty options! You can find a decent pit toilet at the parking lot to the trailhead and also about a mile into the hike, right before you arrive at the beach. Bring hand sanitizer.
Check out our blog post about potty training on the go and what to bring to keep your potty-trained kids successful on the trail here.
2. Plan for a picnic.
Make sure you have room in your bag for food, lunch, or snacks.
There are picnic tables near the old barn, the bathrooms at the start of the trail, and the bathroom near the beach.
Or pack a beach blanket and enjoy your picnic right on the beach—wind permitting (see #4).
3. Pack for the beach.
Plan ahead by bringing fun beach items like sand toys, towels, a beach blanket, and a change of clothes.
Be prepared for all things to get sandy—even your picnic lunch!
The water at the beach is often way too rough for playing in, but if you’re lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you’re feeling that day…) your kids may be able to splash around in the waves.
4. Be flexible—the beach can be windy!
The beach at Tennessee Valley can be very windy. So windy, in fact, that the sand whips you on your face and stings your exposed skin.
On our last visit, we carried our picnic lunch to enjoy on the beach but were greeted by such ferocious winds that we decided to abort our beach trip and head back to find a picnic table instead.
The kids were not happy. We may have bribed them with cookies. Did I mention that you should pack cookies?
5. Bring musical instruments so you can sing and play along the way.
Although the hike may not seem long, after a full day of hiking, picnicking, and playing at the beach, the mile or so hike out felt like quite the distance to our companion kid-hikers.
Our kids kept moving with the encouragement of songs like “Mickey Mouse Club House” or Elsa’s “Let It Go” accompanied by our friend’s ukulele. Music definitely added some pep to their step and got the adults into the fun, too.
Read about how to bring music with you when you travel here.
6. Have a baby? Don’t forget a carrier.
Even if your baby or toddler can and wants to walk, they will not be hiking 1.7 miles to the beach, at least not faster than a snail’s pace!
Sometimes, I don’t mind walking at a toddler’s pace (aka hella slow) but while hiking with other families and my preschooler is running ahead along the trail I feel some pressure to keep moving.
We have hiked the Tennessee Valley trail three times with three different kid carriers.
On one trip to Tennessee Beach, we carried an eight month old in an Ergo Baby carrier, which allowed me to carry my baby on my back while hiking. We also carried an 18 month old in the Osprey Pico with a few extra items in the backpack storage, like a diaper bag and sand toys. Most recently, we hiked with the Trail Magik Kid Carrier attached to the front of my backpacking backpack.
Click here for our other favorite baby carriers for hikes.
7. Feeling adventurous? Turn your hike into a backpacking trip!
Book one of the backpacking campsites in advance at Haypress Campground, located along the Tennessee Valley trail and 0.7 miles from the parking lot.
This backpacking site is one of the easiest backpacking trips with kids in the East Bay Area. Read about our trip here.
All the campsites in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area are popular spots for camping and are booked up months in advance, so if this is of interest be sure to plan ahead.
The Tennessee Vally Trail is a popular, kid-friendly hike explored by families of all ages, especially on weekends. We saw many BIPOC families along the trail with little kids, all carrying in their picnic lunches and sand toys for a fun day on the California Coast. I was happy to see other families like mine along the trail, and gave them a nod as we passed by with our exhausted kiddos in tow.
The history of Tennessee Valley, though, brought up a new challenge for our family. First, Tennessee Valley was named after the ship that crashed on rocks in these waters. It is said that from the beach, at low tide you can still see part of the ship in the ocean. Our preschooler was curious about this ship and asked a lot of questions about what happened to the people onboard and if any mermaids were exploring the wreck below.
Secondly, similar to many other locations along the Marin coastline, there are artillery batteries located along the ridge as you hike to the beach. The Bay Area was home to many military defense operations during World War II, and some of the abandoned structures are still visible today.
When my preschooler was not fantasizing about the artillery batteries being Elsa (from Disney’s Frozen) summer home, she was asking curious questions about what the artillery batteries actually were. Why were they there? Why were we at war? What does “war” mean? I wasn’t prepared to answer these questions, and have been considering what my responses will be next time it comes up.
Have your kids asked you similar questions? How did you respond? Share in the comments below.
Puerto Rican & Indigenous mama of two. Bay Area native. Salsa dancer. Backpacker. Doula. Angel (she/her/hers) is a co-founding member of the Beautiful Brown Adventures team. She has traveled to over 30 countries and loves to explore the world with her two daughters & partner - one ice cream shop at a time.
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