Audubon Canyon

Audubon Canyon
Martin Griffin Preserve
Audubon Canyon Ranch in 2009
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Location	Marin County, California
Nearest city	Stinson Beach
Coordinates	37°55′46″N 122°40′56″W / 37.9294°N 122.6822°W / 37.9294; -122.6822Coordinates: 37°55′46″N 122°40′56″W / 37.9294°N 122.6822°W / 37.9294; -122.6822
Website	www.egret.org
U.S. National Natural Landmark
Designated	1968

Audubon Canyon is a coastal valley in Marin County, California, United States, which is associated with a small stream. The canyon provides habitat for a variety of animals and plants. Notably, its redwoods provide nesting sites for great blue herons, great egrets, and snowy egrets.

The stream descends the western slope of Bolinas Ridge, crosses State Route 1, and drains into Bolinas Lagoon about 3 miles (5 km) north of Stinson Beach, California.

Audubon Canyon Ranch, a private land preservation organization based in the North Bay, has preserved much of the canyon as part of its Martin Griffin Preserve, named after L. Martin Griffin, Jr., an environmentalist who helped save the area in the 1960s and founded the organization.

The canyon was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1968. Several local chapters of the National Audubon Society, Marin Audubon Society and Golden Gate Audubon Society of the East Bay and San Francisco, organized to purchase property for the protection of heron and egret nesting sites.