A wonderful weekend trip exploring the wineries and state parks of the central California coast.
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Pinnacles National Park is an amazing park, only 2 hours from the South Bay. Here is a great blurb about it from the National Park Service website; Established in 1908 to preserve the incongruent and beautiful rock formations for which Pinnacles is named, the Park originally protected only 2,060 acres. It now encompasses about 26,000 acres in the southern portion of the Gabilan Mountains, one of a series of parallel northwest-trending ridges and valleys that make up the Central Coast Range. Although there is camping there, it is near enough for a challenging, fun day hike.
I have written about the marvelous Castle Rock State Park before (read here), and now I have finally fulfilled my wish to do the longer hike to Goat Rock! I am so glad that I finally did it. The route I did was with a short cut via the Interconnector Trail. My route was about 3 miles, but a popular variation puts the loop at just about 5 miles.
The Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and the Pillar Point Bluffs are right by each other, and offer a wonderful afternoon adventure!
The Pigeon Point Bluffs are part of a historic park run jointly by POST and the CA State Park System. They offer beautiful views of the Pigeon Point Light Station.
Garrapata State Park is comprised of a long strip of land along the coast and then a trail that moves inland, up a mountain. My brother and I drove through the coastal part of the park at sunset when the late evening sun illuminated the ice plants. I hope to go back one day to hike up the mountain!
I have written about Pescadero Marsh Trail and State Beach before, but my brother and I went to see it this afternoon and the light was so pretty that I couldn't help writing an encore post!
Devil's Slide and Gray Whale Cove State Beach are right by each other, and they are so easy to hike that it's a breeze to visit both on the same trip. Bring your binoculars because you are likely to see either humpback or gray whales while walking along either of these beautiful parks. Devil's Slide is 1.3 miles in each direction, but the path is well graded and paved so it's easy to navigate for almost anyone. The distance to Gray Whale Cove is negligible; however, it's a steep descent down to the beach from the parking area. It may not be a great option for people with bad knees.
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