Tall cliffs lashed by ocean waves and broad stretches of chaparral – carpeted each spring by colourful wildflowers – form the Marin Headlands, a strikingly undeveloped area that faces San Francisco from the north side of the Golden Gate.

Only a couple of roads cross the headlands, branching off the combined Hwy-101/Hwy-l soon after it crosses the Golden Gate Bridge from the city. Take the Alexander Avenue exit to enter the headlands (part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area) and call first at the Marin Headlands Visitor Centre for maps and information. The centre stands close to Rodeo Beach, a slim sand spit dividing the raging ocean (swimming rarely permitted) from an uncannily still lagoon that teems with birdlife – and bird watchers, armed with checklists. Above the lagoon, the California Marine Mammal Centre (http://www.marinemammalcenter.org) nurses injured seals and sea lions back to health: those who are fit enough can be observed frolicking in their pens in anticipation of their return to the ocean. The centre also carries displays and exhibits on California’s coastal ecology.

High above the Golden Gate, the southerly portion of the headlands holds several disused gun placements, intended to defend San Francisco in hostilities from the Civil War to the Second World War, and a 1950s ballistic missile bunker aimed at foes further afield. The military sites are open occasionally for tours.

A spot of more enduring interest lies further south at Point Bonita, where a spectacular half mile trail – which negotiates a tunnel, gouged from the rock by hand in 1877, and a wooden bridge – runs to Point Bonita Lighthouse (https://www.nps.gov/goga/pobo.htm), built in 1855 and one of the West Coast’s earliest beacons.

Even if the Marin Headlands doesn’t sound remotely appealing, be assured that there is no better place for taking a photograph of San Francisco artily framed by the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge.