Tucked just north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge, Mill Valley sits at the base of Mount Tamalpais in one of Marin County's most sought-after settings. The city covers roughly five square miles, with wooded canyons, second-growth redwood groves, and coastal marshlands shaping its geography and defining its unhurried character. Muir Woods National Monument borders the city, and the annual Dipsea Race starts right in town, a nod to the outdoorsy identity that has long anchored life here. Despite its small population of around 14,000 residents, it carries an outsized sense of place rooted in decades of artistic culture and environmental awareness.
Neighborhoods here range from flat, walkable stretches near the downtown core along Throckmorton and Miller Avenues to quiet canyon homes tucked deep into the hillside tree cover.