10 miles of hiking • 2000' elevation gain • 1 night
Marin headlands is a great place to learn a lot about camping, or to just quickly get away from it all in SF. It's just over the bridge so I found it's easy to get lots of friends who aren't adventurous to sign up for this. The views of the city and the ocean are great but the views of the hills are OK, the weather is generally great, the paths are well maintained, the park staff are friendly, and the reservations are surprisingly easy to come by (even a week or so ahead of time, still available). Best part is that you can hike and see the Golden Gate Bridge, and through it the city of San Francisco as if framed in a painting.
I would recommend this for single-night camping alone without the hassle of far-away destinations, for groups of friends, or for beginners.
