Sign on the California Coastal Trail South of Muir Beach

Pirates Cove is an

embayment A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

Marin County, California Marin County is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and ...

, United States, between

Muir Beach Muir Beach is a census designated place (CDP), unincorporated community, and beach on the Pacific Ocean. The community is located northwest of San Francisco in western Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States. Unlike many ...

and

Tennessee Cove Tennessee Cove is an embankment off the Pacific Ocean in Marin County, California. It is named after the S.S. ''Tennessee'', a steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and ...

. A trail leads from the terminus of the

California Coastal Trail The California Coastal Trail, or CCT, is an environmental project by the California Coastal Conservancy, an organization developed to enhance coastal resources and promote access to the shore in 2001. The trail is designed to connect the enti ...

to a small beach area, surrounded by steep hills and

coastal scrub Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is ...

. There is also a nude beach called Pirates Cove 5 miles west north west of Pismo Beach and 6.7 miles south south west of Madonna Inn, San Luis Obispo, CA

Notes

Bays of California Bays of Marin County, California Landforms of the San Francisco Bay Area West Marin {{MarinCountyCA-geo-stub