Muiraculous Beauty

Have a bonfire at Muir Beach in Marin

Ready to make your non-California friends jealous? Have a bonfire at Muir Beach while watching the sunset. This is Northern California living at its most braggadocious.

Bring your own firewood and picnic provisions (yep, you can roast some marshmallows and hot dogs if you’re so inclined) and try to arrive in time to get one of the handful of firepits on the beach. Once you get set up, all that’s left to do is kick back, relax, and enjoy the view … beach goers, surfers, and seals bop about and linger as the sun sinks pink over the surrounding headlands.

The beach is dog-friendly, kid-friendly, and bongo-drum-friendly, so take it all in and enjoy. Just be sure to put out the fire completely before leaving it and be conscientious in general. In whale migration seasons you might even get lucky and spy a … wait, is that a blow in the distance?

BONUS HIKES: There’s plenty of trails around Muir Beach for exploring. We like this beach-hopping adventure hike.

NOTE: Muir Beach closes one hour after sunset, so keep that in mind! Dog-friendly!

Trending Stories NorCal

View all Stories
  1. Can't Top This

    San Francisco’s Presidio was already a fantastic place to hang out for the afternoon, a beautiful site within the largest urban national park in the United States (the Golden Gate National Recreation Area). And Presidio Tunnel Tops is like a cherry on top. Make that two cherries on top, with the newly opened (July 2025) Outpost Meadow, a 1.5-acre green space located at Old Mason Street across from the Crissy Field Marsh in the Presidio.

    View
  2. This Is Paradise

    Granite mountain-scape, superb sunset views, crystal lakes, and shoreline campsites … the trip to Paradise Lake in Tahoe National Forest lives up to its idyllic name.

    View
  3. Aloha from California

    Say Aloha without leaving California with a 7-mile out-and-back hiking adventure to Lake Aloha in El Dorado National Forest. You can also camp here, a premier place for stargazing.

    View
  4. Sequoia Re-opens Crystal Cave

    Step inside Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park's hidden world by visiting the newly re-opened Crystal Cave—the only cave in the parks open to the public. Closed for four years, this rare marble karst cavern is welcoming visitors once again, but only through the summer season!

    View

Trending Stories SoCal

View all Stories
  1. Hot As (Bumpass) Hell

    So you like going to all the hot spots when you visit places? Well, in Lassen Volcanic National Park there’s a place so hot it gets downright steamy. Bumpass Hell is the largest hydrothermal area in the park, with sputtering mud pots, sulfur vents, and boiling pools. It’s California’s Yellowstone. But it only opens in summer through fall.

    View
  2. Underground Garden

    Looking to escape the summer heat? Head to Fresno and discover its cool secret: the Forestiere Underground Gardens–an enchanting garden and architecture oasis like no other.

    View
  3. Oh Ryan

    Sure, it’s those whimsical trees that give Joshua Tree National Park its marquee billing; but this beautiful landscape also has surrounding mountains and its night sky—one of the darkest in Southern California and designated an International Dark Sky Park. Joshua Tree has four allowable stargazing parking lots, and a newly opened haven for spending the night nearby...

    View
  4. Easiest Best Hike in the World

    Choose the easiest and most view-rewarding hike in Yosemite. Okay, we’ll go first: the combination of hiking to Sentinel Dome and Taft Point. Both of these lookouts are within a couple miles of each other on Glacier Point Road

    View