Kirby Cove offers a pristine course-sand beach with a fabulous view of the Golden Gate Bridge and northern San Francisco. The cove is nestled in the foot of the Marin Headlands just west of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The steep, mile-long trail to the cove begins at the parking area above Battery Spencer on Conzelman Road—eye-level with the bridge’s towers—and descends through a grove of cypress, eucalyptus, and pine.

Pitch a tent or unroll a sleeping bag with friends and family at one of Kirby Cove’s four campsites, each with a maximum capacity of ten people. Parking is restricted to three cars per site, within 100 yards of the campsites. Pit toilets, BBQ-pits, picnic tables, and fire rings are available, but there’s no water for drinking and hygiene.

Only one weekend reservation per group per season is allowed. Visit the National Parks Service’s website or call 1-800-365-CAMP for more information and reservations.

VISIT KIRBY COVE: TIPS AND HIGHLIGHTS

• Walk in your own water, and plan on an uphill walk back up from the cove.
• Reservations for camp sites are highly sought-after, so try to reserve your spot well in advance.
• Scan the skies in autumn during fall migration season—watch for hawks, kestrels, harriers, falcons, and other birds of prey.
• The waves are usually gentle on this beach, but there is no lifeguard.
• Explore Battery Kirby by the cove’s beach. This battery saw service from 1898 to 1934.

This site presents difficulties for visitors with disabilities. Arrangements can be made in advance to allow vehicle access to the picnic site for disabled guests with a valid DMV placard.

Seafloor Rocks
The sea cliffs and road cuts of the Marin Headlands—including Kirby Cove—have some of the finest exposures of pillow basalt and radiolarian chert to be found anywhere. Millions of years ago, these rocks formed around mid-ocean ridges several thousand miles from the West Coast at the bottom of the sea.

The black pillow basalt was created when volcanic vents spewed lava onto the seafloor; upon contact with the cold water, the lava solidified into pillow-shaped deposits.

The red-brown radiolarian chert formed as layer upon sedimentary layer of skeletal radiolarian remains (microscopic protozoans) collected on the seafloor.

As the seafloor moves slowly east (at about the rate a fingernail grows), it slides under the North American continent and leaves scrapings of radiolarian chert and pillow basalt behind.