The Marin Headlands is a hilly peninsula at the southernmost end of Marin County, California, United States, located just north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge, which connects the two counties and peninsulas. The Marin Headlands were home to the Native American Coastal Miwok tribe, who moved between the bay side of the peninsula and the ocean side seasonally, for thousands of years. The entire area is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The Headlands are famous for their views of the Bay Area, especially of the Golden Gate Bridge. In the waters surrounding the Headlands, harbor seals can be found year-round, gray whales can be seen in the spring and fall, and seabirds such as common murres and surf scoters swim within sight of shore.
The fog rolls in at sunset at Battery Spencer, perched on a bluff on top of the Marin Headlands. Battery Spencer is about eye-level with the top of the north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge. Back during the early 1900’s, Battery Spencer was one of the main protection points for the San Francisco harbor. It featured multiple 12” guns that were manned by the military and a few buildings for housing the generators and shells. It was operated on and off until World War II when a lot of it was scrapped for war efforts.
Across San Francisco in Marin County lies Fort Baker Pier in Sausalito, Alcatrez, and an unending number of boats, everything from the smallest sailboats to large luxury liners and even larger oil tankers. It is hard to fish this pier and not recognize that San Francisco Bay is one of the world’s greatest bays. Of course there are many days when you can see nothing but fog moving in through the Golden Gate, fog which seems to pierce even the heaviest coats but which also at times seems to lend a surreal feeling to the whole area. The Fort Point Pier offers not only decent fishing but one of the worlds most beautiful views. Look up to your right and you are looking up into the Golden Gate Bridge. Look across the bay and you see The City. Look at the bay and you will see Angel Island, with an epic view of the Golden Gate Bridge.
