A secret jewel of the Bay Area, Point Bonita is still an active lighthouse maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. Discover Point Bonita’s wild landscape, geology, and fascinating history.

Meet Point Bonita docents along the half-mile trail to the lighthouse. This hidden, historic setting offers breathtaking views and many stories.

During the tense years from 1953 to 1979, the United States Army built and operated a total of 280 Nike missile firing batteries in the United States, emplaced as the last line of defense against Soviet bombers. Today, site SF-88 in the Marin Headlands has been turned into a museum, and is the only restored Nike missile site in the country.

Visit SF-88 and see the tools of the Cold War up close. The site is open Wednesday through Friday (plus the first Sunday of the month), 12:30 - 3:30 p.m., with guided walks beginning every half-hour.

Every second Wednesday of the month, from April through October, the Caledonia Street neighborhood in beautiful Sausalito welcomes residents and visitors to the Caledonia Street ArtWalk. Businesses, galleries, and restaurants on Caledonia, Pine, and Johnson Streets host Bay Area artists and are open to the public for viewing.

Each night you might see oil painting, photography, jewelry, sculpture, pottery, or watercolors, all crafted by local artists. In addition, you'll find many artists and entertainers on the street, creating their artwork before your very eyes!

ArtWalk is free to participants and visitors. You can pick up a map showing each of the participating venues, or just follow the balloons and the crowds outside each location.

The Sausalito Farmers Market offers an abundance of locally grown and/or produced vegetables, fruits, organic products, gourmet cheese, herbs, seafood, meats, organic coffee, desserts, and wines, available right from the people who produce them.

This is the perfect spot to sample Marin County's agricultural bounty, grab fixings for a picnic, or stock up on groceries for your hostel stay.

The Farmers Market is held on Fridays from June to September at the Sausalito Ferry Landing.

Celebrating its 63rd year, the Marin County Fair is one of the biggest community events of the summer! A slice of old-fashioned Americana, the fair boasts 28 free carnival rides, 11,000 exhibits, contests, livestock demonstrations, concerts, food, nightly firework displays, and more.

Come see artists and craftspeople compete for the blue ribbon in 800 categories ranging from baking and winemaking to photography and filmmaking. Curious city-slickers can learn a thing or two about farm life at the sheep-shearing or cow-milking demonstrations, or cheer on the Ham Bone Express racing pigs while the youngsters make new furry friends at the Great American petting zoo.

If horticulture is your game, you can admire the patient work of the Marin Bonsai Club and the Marin Orchid Society as they exhibit their delicate flora, or pick up some tips on how to spiff up your own garden from talented Marin locals at the Home Arts Stage.

Both Bay Area artists and popular retro bands hit the fair’s Main Stage throughout the event, including the iconic Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Chicano rockers Los Lobos, bluesman Elvin Bishop, and the UK-based roots reggae outfit Steel Pulse.

This year, the Marin County Fair also ushers in a new era of green-themed exhibits, competitions, and attractions. The 6,000-square-foot Exhibit Hall is packed full of interactive exhibits to encourage the greening of your daily life, while the Alt-Fuel Road Show shows off the coolest and latest alternative fuel vehicles on the road today. Hear bestselling environmental-lifestyle advocate Danny Seo give a keynote address on July 2, or watch the EarthCapades Environmental Vaudeville team weave comedy, circus skills, and lessons on ecology, every day at 2 p.m.

If you still haven’t had enough after a full day of music, rides, and exhibits, stay for the Fantastic Fireworks, launching nightly at 9:30 p.m. This year’s display is the longest and most elaborate ever staged on the lagoon, illuminating the sky above the fair with Roman candles, comets, meteoric showers, and bursting cascades of twinkling color.

Enjoy good music, good food, and good friends every Friday night from May 30 through August 22 at Sausalito Jazz and Blues by the Bay. Breathtaking views of Angel Island and San Francisco are the backdrop to this weekly musical celebration.

On July 4, come hear Joe Argo and the Starduster Orchestra.

Refreshments are available for purchase from local nonprofits, or bring your own picnic and soak up the Bay-side summer delights.

Enjoy good music, good food, and good friends every Friday night from May 30 through August 22 at Sausalito Jazz and Blues by the Bay. Breathtaking views of Angel Island and San Francisco are the backdrop to this weekly musical celebration.

On July 11, come hear a performance by Laura Lee Brown.

Refreshments are available for purchase from local nonprofits, or bring your own picnic and soak up the Bay-side summer delights.

Enjoy good music, good food, and good friends every Friday night from May 30 through August 22 at Sausalito Jazz and Blues by the Bay. Breathtaking views of Angel Island and San Francisco are the backdrop to this weekly musical celebration.

On July 18, come hear a performance by Wendy Dewitt.

Refreshments are available for purchase from local nonprofits, or bring your own picnic and soak up the Bay-side summer delights.

Enjoy good music, good food, and good friends every Friday night from May 30 through August 22 at Sausalito Jazz and Blues by the Bay. Breathtaking views of Angel Island and San Francisco are the backdrop to this weekly musical celebration.

On July 25, come hear a performance by the Cross Section.

Refreshments are available for purchase from local nonprofits, or bring your own picnic and soak up the Bay-side summer delights.

Located in the coastal wilderness of the Marin Headlands in historic Fort Barry, the Headlands Center for the Arts provides artists' residencies and public programs that aim to create a nurturing environment for the development of new artistic work and ideas.

The Center offers free Artist Talks, where the community can engage with current artists-in-residence and affiliate artists.

On July 24, come hear artist David Moises as he talks about the art of invention. In his sculpture, he appropriates found materials to create kinetic objects that fall somewhere between science experiments and home improvements. Whether transforming a prefabricated house into a swing or making a pedal-powered submarine out of a water heater, Moises makes ordinary objects perform extraordinary tasks.

Admission to the talk is free. There is an optional family-friendly dinner at 6 p.m. before the talk, made with locally grown, organic ingredients by the Center's chef.

Sausalito's Independence Day parade starts at 10 a.m. on the corner of Second and Main streets, then moves along Bridgeway to Caledonia, ending at Dunphy Park.

Picnic and family fun includes live entertainment, food, raffles, and tug o' war. Enjoy floats, bands, performers, flowers, balloons, and fun for the entire family.

A secret jewel of the Bay Area, Point Bonita is still an active lighthouse maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. Take a half-mile walk along the trail to the lighthouse, then photograph the setting sun and rising full moon at this wild edge of the continent.

Reservations required; call (415) 331-1540.

Join a Marin Headlands docent for an illustrated talk in the Visitor's Center about the important role lighthouses played in the growth of California in the 1800's.

Following the discovery of gold in 1848, the Bay Area experienced one of the most explosive population expansions in modern history. During the latter half of that century, the men and women of the lighthouse service -- aided by their light and fog signals -- directed hundreds of ships to safe passage through the Golden Gate and often provided lifesaving services.