Marin County

People do not just visit Muir Woods. They come from around the globe to pay homage to nature in this cathedral of redwoods. The trees' ages range from 400 to 800 years, their height up to 250 feet. Flat easy trails loop through the groves and across creeks. Parking can be an issue.

On a clear day you can see as far as Point Reyes from this park adjacent to the Marin Headlands. Trails loop through groves of eucalyptus and bay laurel. In the spring you will find lupine and California poppies. In summer, the grasses turn golden, and by late summer you can find fennel, sagebrush, and blackberry bushes.

You're in another world here, a picture-perfect rural valley bordering both the Golden Gate National Parks and Point Reyes National Seashore. This pastoral landscape stretches for nine miles, its ribbon of Highway 1 unspooling between the slopes of Bolinas and Inverness Ridge. Here you have an opportunity to experience two national parks in one trip.

Yes, this lighthouse at the southwest tip of the Marin Headlands is still active and maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. Getting there is a challenge. Parking is limited and the 0.5-mile walk is steep and precarious. This spot, at the "world's end," is ruggedly beautiful. Nearby, old army buildings are used for environmental education programs.

Discover one of the parks' richest wetlands along the lush coast west of Mt. Tamalpais. Bolinas Lagoon is a 1,100-acre tidal estuary between the eccentric village of Bolinas, Highway 1, and the sandy arc of Stinson Beach. Its pristine, water-snaked marshes are home to a fascinating diversity of bird life.

Endlessly explore the vast wilds here, one of the most stunning oceanfront parks in the world. This 70,000-acre peninsula north of San Francisco stretches from the wild and wind-chilled great beaches on the northwest side (where Sir Francis Drake landed in 1567) across forested ridges to the south.

You'll imagine you're in the English countryside while strolling the rolling hills of Bolinas Ridge, a 10.5 mile trail through pastoral farmlands in lovely western Marin. Before you stretches Olema Valley, the San Andreas Rift Zone, and to the north Tomales Bay, the entry to Point Reyes.

Imagine yourself on the coast of Scotland. At this glorious, rocky bluff off Highway 1 near Stinson Beach you can park and hike down to Red Rock Beach. The Pacific roars, winds stir the chaparral, and if you make reservations far in advance you can spend the night at rustic cabins here.

Start at the charming 17th-century-style Pelican Inn at Muir Beach in Marin and head up the chaparral-covered Dias Ridge. The five-mile trail loops across former dairy ranches and rises 700 feet. At every turn there is another dazzling panorama of the Pacific and the Marin Headlands.

Windswept, exhilarating, and covered with unique red and green pebbles, this beach is just three miles northwest of the Golden Gate Bridge.