Marin Headlands

Welcome to the wild and breathtaking Marin Headlands. As you stand here high above the churning waters of the Pacific Ocean, you are perched on the very edge of the North American continent. …

We begin our exploration at one of the highest points in the Headlands, a peak appropriately named Hawk Hill. If you are standing here in the autumn months, you are in for a spectacular natural phenomenon. …

Descending from the heights, we arrive at Battery Spencer. If you have ever seen a postcard, a calendar, or a movie featuring a dramatic, eye-level shot of the Golden Gate Bridge with the city skyline gleaming in the background,…

Leaving the dramatic cliffs behind, we move inland into a sheltered valley to find Rodeo Lagoon. This narrow, brackish body of water is separated from the roaring Pacific Ocean only by a thin strip of beach. …

As we hike up from the lagoon toward the western bluffs, the landscape is once again dominated by the grim architecture of coastal defense. Here we find Battery Alexander, a sprawling complex of concrete bunkers that represents…

We now embark on the half-mile trail leading out to the very tip of the peninsula, toward the Point Bonita Lighthouse. This path is steep, dramatic, and utterly exposed to the elements. …

At the end of the trail, we arrive at the treacherous, rocky finger of Point Bonita. To reach the lighthouse itself, you must pass through an extraordinary feat of nineteenth-century engineering: a one hundred and eighty foot…

As we make the strenuous uphill hike back from Point Bonita, let us reflect on the incredible diversity of the Marin Headlands. In just a few square miles, we have traversed hundred-million-year-old seabeds, walked through the…