Brian Smith's Photos

A pub lunch and a walk out to Pirates Cove — starting at the Pelican Inn, an English-style pub tucked into the trees above Muir Beach, then along the coastal trail to Pirates Cove and back down to the beach itself.

The Pelican Inn

Lunch first — the Pelican Inn does a convincing job of transplanting a 16th-century English pub onto the Marin coast, half-timbering and all.

Muir Beach to Pirates Cove Trail

Out from the Inn and up onto the headland — the trail climbs quickly, with the coast opening up behind as you go.

Pirates Cove itself sits below, a small hidden beach reached by a steep scramble down from the trail.

Back to Muir Beach

Down off the headland and back to Muir Beach itself, where a mixed flock of Brown Pelicans and a Heermann’s Gull were working the shoreline.

A pub lunch, a proper headland walk, and a beach full of pelicans to finish — hard to ask for more from a Marin afternoon.