Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.

John Muir

The Marin Headlands are the rolling hills and magnificent overlooks stretching through the Northern peninsula, directly across from the San Francisco Bay. From here, on a not so foggy day, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge and SF downtown cityscape. Continue on North and you’ll run across Muir Woods and the majestic redwoods and Point Reyes National Seashore for the miles of beaches. Keep going even further and the hills will be covered in vineyards in California’s famous wine regions of Napa and Sonoma. It turned out that on our visit to Marin Headlands, the park was actually closed due to the federal government shutdown…but they left the front door open and we enjoyed all the beauty to ourselves.