Hawk Hill, Marin Headlands
Marin Headlands · near Sausalito · SF Bay Area
Wildlife Watching
At a glance
- Best season
- Sep–early Dec for autumn raptor migration (peak Sep–Oct)
- Open year round
- No
What is here
- Wildlife
- birds
- Species
- Red-tailed & red-shouldered hawks, falcons, eagles, turkey vultures, 19 raptor species
- Amenities
- Premier West Coast hawkwatch · Golden Gate views · Volunteer counters & banders · Easy hilltop access
- Best for
- Autumn raptor-migration watching
- Features
- Thousands of migrating raptors · 19 raptor species · Golden Gate backdrop · Live hawk-banding demos
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Cold wind & fog on the hilltop · Limited parking; narrow road · Bring binoculars (birds are high) · Dress in warm layers
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Wildlife Watching detail
- Viewing
- shore
- Effort
- easy
- Habitat
- coast
- Sighting
- 4
- Viewing notes
- The best raptor-migration lookout on the West Coast — thousands of hawks, falcons, and eagles funneling over the Golden Gate each autumn, counted from a windy hilltop
- Intl tip
- The premier raptor-migration lookout on the West Coast, on a windy knob in the Marin Headlands above the Golden Gate. Each autumn (peak Sep–Oct) thousands of hawks, falcons, eagles, and vultures — up to 19 species — funnel overhead and hesitate before crossing the water gap. Golden Gate Raptor Observatory volunteers count them, with banding demos for close looks. Easy and family-friendly, but the hilltop is cold, windy, and foggy, and birds soar high — bring warm layers and binoculars.
The guide
Hawk Hill, a windswept knob in the Marin Headlands overlooking the Golden Gate, is the premier raptor-migration lookout on the …
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Hawk Hill, Marin Headlands — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.826, -122.499