The hike can be started either at Stinson Beach or Pantoll Ranger Station. I would recommend starting at Stinson Beach (as we did) as then you first hike up the mountain and then you finish your hike with going down. Moreover, as the hike makes a loop, you can do it in either a clockwise (starting with Matt Davis Trail) or counterclockwise (starting with Dipsea Trail) direction.
We did it in a clockwise direction, which had a benefit of offering great views of Stinson Beach during the last mile of the hike:
That's the only picture that I took during the hike. Somehow I was not in the mood for taking pictures. I also thought that the photos could not do justice to the beautiful landscape that we saw. The views were the more amazing as we were very lucky with a weather. Not only it was warm and windless (it was plus 20C, which was hard to believe to me as just a few days ago I was in a place where it was minus 20C...), but also the air was crystal clear - there were no clouds and no fog. I've never seen downtown San Francisco so clearly as on that day.
Here is a map of the hike we did:
California: Marin County: Steep Ravine & Matt Davis Loop at EveryTrail
Map created by EveryTrail:GPS Geotagging
As you can see the hike stitches together three different trails (Matt Davis, Steep Ravine and Dipsea Trails) to make a 7-mile long loop. For most of the part the hike is well shaded by the trees, so it would be a wonderful summer hike. However, because of the crowds, I would recommend to hike it outside the main hiking season.