The Black Sands Beach San Francisco

The Black Sands beach is a hidden gem within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area/Marin Headlands. The beach is beautiful – offering dramatic views of the ocean against dark black sand and cliffs.

It was our first time crossing the Golden Gate Bridge to the north side and we highly recommend doing so to avoid crowds and enjoy the outdoors in a quiet setting.

Finding the Beach

This unique site was recommended to us a local. We did have some trouble finding this secluded beach.

Our visit was coupled with a visit to Muir Woods National Monument in the morning. Google Maps initially took us to “Top of Four Vista Points” on Conzelman Rd first. We stopped to take some photos here. It was still early in the morning, so it was foggy, but you could catch a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge from here!

After this point, the road turns into a steep 18% grade downhill to the beach parking lot. In fact the road was so steep past this point that we didn’t even see it at first. We thought the road had been closed to construction and we couldn’t go on further! This coupled with the poor cell phone service in the Marin Headlands region made us almost give up on finding the beach. It wasn’t until we walked around the viewpoint that we realized the road continues!

Hiking Down

The parking lot has about 12 spots. We didn’t have a problem finding a spot on a weekday morning when we visited, but I imagine it may get busy.

There is a bit of a hike going down to the beach from the parking lot. It’s only 0.5 miles and feels easy going down. But it is steep going back up on those stairs.

It was still foggy, but we got some great photos! Who knew there was a Black Sands Beach outside of Hawaii!

Read more about our trip to California