Photography Spots Marin Headlands

The Marin Headlands offers several excellent spots for photography. Ideally, you’d visit on a cloudy day or during an epic sunset for the best shots. Unfortunately, during this visit, lingering haze from California wildfires (around 15 active at the time) impacted visibility and photo quality. Despite the challenging conditions, exploring the area’s rich history, Golden Gate Bridge views, and other landmarks was still rewarding.

If you’re traveling down Highway 1 into San Francisco, a quick stop at Hawk Hill allows for stunning Golden Gate views in just 30 minutes. For a more in-depth experience covering the majority of the Marin Headlands, set aside a few hours.

A silver lining to this visit was the lack of crowds—rare for this area. Perhaps it was the timing (Friday at 11 am) or the poor air quality that kept people away, but the peaceful atmosphere added to the experience.

Spots Around the Marin Headlands

Some of the most notable photography spots around the Marin Headlands are stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Point Bonita Lighthouse, Rodeo Beach and the wide variety of Military Batteries throughout the Peninsula.

• Marin Headlands Visitor Center
• Marin Headlands Hostel
• Headlands Center For the Arts
• Hawk Hill
• Point Bonita Lighthouse
• Rodeo Beach
• NatureBridge/ Coastal Camp
• Kirby Cove Campground
• Bicentennial Campground
• Headlands Lookout
• Hawk Campground
• Battery Mendell
• Countless Military Batteries

Weekdays are the best time to visit the Marin Headlands, especially if you want to avoid the heavy weekend crowds that often cause gridlock near Hawk Hill. For photographers and sightseers, overcast weekday evenings around sunset provide ideal conditions.

To fully explore the Marin Headlands, plan for 5–6 hours, including multiple stops. A key part of the experience is traveling through the iconic one-lane tunnel under Highway 1, located just after the Golden Gate Bridge. Be prepared for a potential 5+ minute wait as traffic alternates.

The Marin Headlands boast a rich and fascinating history, from the military batteries to breathtaking seaside cliffs and panoramic views of the Golden Gate Bridge. This landmark is a must-see for anyone visiting the San Francisco Bay Area.

Point Bonita Lighthouse

Point Bonita Lighthouse is a rather small California lighthouse on the western most point of the Marin Headlands. Depending on the time of year you visit, you have the option for guided tours or the option to explore on your own. During our visit, the tunnel through the rock onwards toward the Point Bonita Lighthouse was closed. This shot is from the top of the hill at Battery Mendell looking down on the Point Bonita Lighthouse.

A Little History on the Point Bonita Lighthouse

A secret jewel of the Bay Area, the Point Bonita Lighthouse, built in 1855, was the third lighthouse built on the West Coast and helped shepherd ships through the treacherous Golden Gate straights. Today, the lighthouse is still active and is maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. The National Park Service provides access to visitors.

Hawk Hill

Hawk Hill is located at the very top of the Marin Headlands. From here, you can see stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge and experience history in the flesh. The concrete foundations are now covered in graffiti but still breath rich California history. Hawk Hill sits almost level with the Golden Gate Bridge at 923 feet. When you are atop this peak, you can literally look eye-to-eye with the top of the Golden Gate Bridge. Pretty Impressive. For hikers, bikers, 4Runner explorers and everyone in between, you will have an amazing experience atop this peak.

Rodeo Beach

Rodeo Beach features a wide variety of Marin Headland landmarks. Rodeo Beach features such landmarks as Rodeo Lagoon (a beautiful lagoon that sits just inside Rodeo Beach), Hawk Tail Beach, Fort Cronkhite (military base with preserved barracks), The Marine Mammal Center and many other Military histories. Furthermore, Rodeo Beach has a massive open stretch of beach with summer peeps and surfers.

Feild Rd.

Feild Road on the Marin Headlands is a history packed scenic route with “the hills have eyes” style buildings all over the place. Most of these buildings are still occupied and are in use today. There are some really cool opportunities for photos at every point of this drive.

Battery Mendell

The Marin Headlands are rich with Military Battery landmarks. Battery Mendell (Fort Barry, Mendell Rd, Northwest Marin, CA 94950) is one of the most notable landmarks on the Marin Headlands. This Military Battery among others was used in the civil war. There is some really rich history information about Battery Mendell all over the web.

At every moment on this hike, walk or drive, you can’t help but stop and stare the history. The Marin Headlands feature an amazing amount of post Civil War landmarks that still look great today.

Nike Missile Control Site SF-87

This info below is straight from Wiki. I could not type or explain it any better.

Construction of SF-88 was already under way by July 7, 1954, when the San Francisco Chronicle reported that four Nike launching sites were being built in the area: near Lake Chabot (SF-31) and at Forts Baker (SF-89), Barry (SF-88), and Cronkhite (SF-87). Captain Henry Paine assumed command of Battery A of the newly-renamed 9th Antiaircraft Artillery Guided Missile Battalion of the 30th Antiaircraft Artillery Group on October 1, 1954, and the first temporary emplacements were ready for service by October 28, 1954. The Nike-Ajax missiles were removed and replaced with Nike-Hercules missiles in November 1958. Read More Here

Golden Gate Bridge

One of the most photographed bridges in the world, the Golden Gate Bridge is a beautiful piece of art. The Marin Headlands is THE place you want to go, to shoot the Golden Gate Bridge. With that being said, there are hundreds of cool places to get shots of the Golden Bate Bridge but the views from the Marin Headlands are mind-blowing. With panoramic views of San Francisco and the entire Golden Gate Bridge, the Marin Headlands are an amazing place to visit anytime of year.

4Runner & Golden Gate

One for the 4Runner Books with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. Very cool.