Rodeo Beach

Rodeo Beach ( roh-dee-oh) is a beach in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area located in Marin County, California, United States, two miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge. It is characterized by a spit of around 50 meters width at the mouth of a long embayment, known as Rodeo Lagoon; for much of the year the lagoon is cut off from the ocean, making the beach spit a baymouth bar. Part of the beach is sheltered by cliffs. Rodeo Beach is known for its dark, pebbly sand, its uses for surfing and sunbathing, and its locale as a place for viewing, but not collecting, semi-precious stones. This beach is unique among California beaches in that it is largely made up of coarse, pebbly chert grains, both red and green in color. Its mineral composition sets it apart from every other beach in the state.

Source: Rodeo Beach on Wikipedia (authors). Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0; text may have been shortened. Retrieved Oct 18, 2026. Data sources