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.
Coal Mine Canyon sits at the edge of the 120 mile wide Painted Desert, a sparsely settled region without many roads but covered by extensive areas of exposed, weathered rock. On the border between the Hopi and Navajo Indian Reservations in the vast desert of northeast Arizona, Coal Mine Canyon is a long way from any famous attractions. The canyon is not signposted in any way yet has become quite well known because of the amazingly colorful formations that line the upper end of the ravine. Coal Mine is one of many remote, little-visited sites in the Southwest where the main interest comes from the detail of the rock - the colors, forms and textures of the eroded sandstone.
