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Mill Valley – Sausalito Bike Path (The Multi-Use Path)
Many people don’t realize that the Mill Valley – Sausalito Bike Path map links the northern edge of Sausalito and Blithedale Ave. in Mill Valley (and beyond), a length of about 2.4 miles. It also extends northward from there for almost another full mile into the Scott Valley and Chapman area of Mill Valley, where it dead ends. The path’s website is here.
Although it’s most commonly referred to as a bike path because it’s paved, a big percentage of its users are walkers and runners, and its official designation is as a “multi-use trail.”
Insiders Tip: The City of Mill Valley enforces 15 mph (24 kph) bike speed limits on the sections where there is a lot of pedestrian traffic, especially where school crosswalks that are heavily traveled by young kids cross the path. There are some places near the crosswalks where it’s hard to see if kids are present, and there have been multiple accidents where children were hit and injured, one critically — that’s why the speed limits in the area are enforced.
The Mill Valley-Sausalito bike path also offers spectacular views, narrow wooden bridges and a sense that you’re out of the city and close to nature.
We focus on the Sausalito to Blithedale leg of the path on this page because it connects directly or indirectly to so many other streets, trails and sidewalks at Blithedale (including the routes to Tiburon and to Corte Madera), and this segment is part of the San Francisco Bay Trail. Over 3,000 people use the Mill Valley – Sausalito Bike Path on a typical day, and it’s a shorter route than either Highway 101 or Miller Ave. because it follows the route of an old rail line that was a key link to San Francisco via Sausalito a century ago.
Insiders Tip: If you’re going to Tiburon and prefer to avoid traveling on Blithedale to Tiburon Blvd., you can also take an alternate route. Turn right on the little bridge that leads from the path to Hauke Park (prior to reaching Blithedale as you go north) and then ride Hamilton Dr. over the ridge to the Highway 101 frontage road near Piatti restaurant. From there you can follow the road under the Richardson’s Bay bridge segment of Highway 101, go north past the car wash and McDonalds on the east side of 101, and then turn right after the 7/11 store and follow Seminary Dr. along the shoreline of the Bay until it reaches Tiburon Boulevard.
To reach the path from the Sausalito side, go to the corner of Gate 6 Road and Bridgeway, where Bridgeway meets Donahue and merges with Highway 101 (see map below). You’ll see the opening to the path between the small shopping center on the edge of the Bay and the 101 North Freeway on-ramp.
To reach the main section of the Mill Valley – Sausalito Bike Path from the Mill Valley side, go to the corner of Blithedale Ave. and Lomita Drive, a short block from the intersection of Blithedale and Camino Alto (see map below). You’ll see the north end of the path directly opposite the entrance to Lomita and stretching southward from there.
The Mill Valley – Sausalito Bike Path Map:
* Although this pathway is usually called the Mill Valley – Sausalito Bike Path, this is obviously an error, since we all can see that it should really be called the Sausalito – Mill Valley Bikle Path. Although I suppose it could be considered a compliment since it implies that everyone wants to come to Sausalito!
