Overview
A brief introduction to Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Experience a park so rich it supports 19 distinct ecosystems with over 2,000 plant and animal species. Go for a hike, enjoy a vista, have a picnic or learn about the centuries of overlapping history from California’s indigenous cultures, Spanish colonialism, the Mexican Republic, US military expansion and the growth of San Francisco. All of this and more awaits you, so get out and find your park.
Hawk Hill is a 923-foot (281 m) peak in the Marin Headlands, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge and across the Golden Gate strait from San Francisco, California. The hill is within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
It is the lookout point for the largest known flight of diurnal raptors in the Pacific states. Each autumn, from August into December, tens of thousands of hawks, kites, falcons, eagles, vultures, osprey, and harriers are funneled by the peninsular shape of Marin County into the headlands. Hawks avoid flight over water since warm thermals that provide lift are rare. Abundant populations of small mammals protected by the park are one resource that helps maintain the large number of visiting raptors in the Headlands during the fall, but the strong onshore winds hitting the hills of the Headlands provide cold updrafts and hot late summer days provide warm thermals that allow these birds to fly more efficiently.
Volunteers with the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory count and track this fall migration using bird-banding and radio-tracking techniques, all in cooperation with the National Park Service.
Read more about Golden Gate National Recreation Area at Wikipedia
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Scan for cancellationsContact Golden Gate National Recreation Area
- Recreation.gov
- Booking site: https://www.recreation.gov
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Other nearby parks
Open to camping at other nearby parks? Here are a few other parks you'll find in the vicinity.
Reviews
Camper reviews for Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Great place to hear Owls
Haypress campground, a mere mile walk from the parking lot, is nestled in a beautiful valley replete with wildlife. Here you can listen to owls at night or hike above the valley to watch the obsidian wings of gliding crows. You may even see a bobcat! Please remember to BRING WATER. On overcast nights you'll also hear the foghorn, it can influence dreams. Be sure to stroll down the trail through the wildflowers to pebbly Tennessee Valley Beach. (Drawbacks: pit toilets only, no campfires, no running water)
Map
View a map of Golden Gate National Recreation Area
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