• View of the Golden Gate Bridge, taken from the Marin Headlands, looking across the bay back towards San Francisco, seen in the distance.

    Golden Gate

    National Recreation Area California

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  • Tunnel to Marin Headlands Closed

    The tunnel on Bunker Road from Alexander Avenue in Sausalito towards the Marin Headlands is closed for construction. Please follow the detour signs to Conzelman Road (just above the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge) to go up over the hill. More »

  • Muir Beach (but not nearby Muir Woods) parking lot closed July 8-November 2013

    Muir Beach parking lot will be closed from July 8-November 2013 due to construction. Restrooms and parking will not be available at Muir Beach during this period. Pacific Way is closed except to residents. Check back for updates or call (415)561-3054 More »

  • CAUTION: Post Storm Damage to Coastal Trail

    The Presidio Coastal Trail segment just north of the Pacific Overlook and adjacent to Lincoln Blvd remains CLOSED indefinitely. We have posted signage to alert bicyclists and hikers and with information for safe trail alternatives. More »

Defensible Space

Protect Your Home from a Wildland Fire

A wildland fire in this area could threaten hundreds of homes. Emergency resources may be spread thin and it's possible that fire crews may not be able to reach every structure. It is important, therefore, that homeowners take measures to protect their own home. In fact, California Law requires it. Fortunately, some simple steps can make a big difference.

 
Create defensible space around your home by removing or breaking up vegetation.

Defensible Space

Defensible space is the area around a home that can be landscaped in such a way as to reduce the chance that fire can reach the house. Fire uses vegetation like a road, and by removing or breaking up vegetation a homeowner can breakup or remove the paths that fire might use to get to the house.

These steps can greatly reduce the fire hazard around a home:

  • Keep lawn green and cut low.
  • Remove dead branches and leaves from yard.
  • Remove vegetation immediately adjacent to home.
  • Break up continuous vegetation such as shrubs or a line of trees.
  • Limb trees up 10' from the ground.
  • Cut back branches that overhang the house and back 10' from a chimney.
  • Remove shrubs from under trees that can carry fire up into the crowns.
  • Remove leaf litter from roofs and gutters and out from under porches, decks or wooden steps. Embers can travel several miles in windy conditions. Houses have been known to burn because embers, originating from fires miles away, fell into leaves in the gutters or under a porch!

These measures can reduce the chance that a fire might destroy your home. They also give emergency crews room to get in and defend your home. That's why it's called Defensible Space! Contact your local fire department for specific pointers on making your home more defensible.

Also visit the Firewise Communities and FIRESafe MARIN websites for more information on reducing the wildland fire risk to your home.

Did You Know?

Endangered serpentine plant, Presidio clarkia

Serpentine soils are home to many rare and endangered plants because they lack nutrients and contain metals toxic to plants--conditions that have led to special adaptations in the plants that can survive on them.