Tucked away in the Salinas Valley, Pinnacles National Park is the smallest national park in California, with only 26,606 acres. While its size is dwarfed by comparison to some of its more popular neighbors, such as Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon, Joshua Tree, and Death Valley, Pinnacles National Park makes up for it with unique talus caves, dramatic landscape, jagged rock spires, unique geological features, and, of course, the presence of the endangered California Condors. We were surprised by how beautiful and diverse Pinnacles National Park is. The scenery changes as you hike along, from lush ferns and colorful wildflowers to mossy boulders, jagged cliffs, deep winding caverns, and a tranquil lake. To make sure you maximize your visit to Pinnacles National Park, we put together a complete guide with everything you need to know about this beautiful park.
Pinnacles National Park is located in Central California, between Interstate-5 and the California coast. It is about 2.5 hours drive from San Francisco. The park was founded in 2013 and consists of about 27,000 acres.
The park is open year-round. While the East entrance opens 24 hours, the West entrance only opens from 7:30 am to 8 pm. There is a fee to enter. However, you can use the America the Beautiful park pass instead.
Pinnacles National Park has two separate entrances, the East Entrance and the West Entrance. There is no connecting road from the east side to the west side. It is about 1.5 hours by car from one side to the other. If you want to go on foot, there are a few trails that connect from one side to the other.
This is the more popular entrance to the Pinnacles National Park. Mainly because there are more facilities here. The park’s only campground is located on this side, along with the visitor center and shuttle service. To get here, take CA-25 toward Pinnacles, and then follow signs for Pinnacles National Park.
The West Entrance of Pinnacles National Park is less popular. It is more commonly accessed by visitors coming from the South or driving through the Pacific Coast Highway. To get here, take US-101 to Soledad. Then, turn east onto CA-146 and follow the signs to the park. This road to the West Entrance is steeper and narrower than the road to the East Entrance. We don’t recommend driving through here with an RV.
While a day trip is a popular way to visit Pinnacles National Park, especially for those who live near San Francisco, we recommend spending at least 2 days here. This way, you can spend your time checking out both sides of the park. Although you can see a good part of the park in just one day, it would feel very rushed.
The reason why day trips are more popular because there aren’t many options for lodging near and in the Pinnacles National Park. There is only one campground inside the park. It is located on the eastern side. The campground has RV and tent sites, as well as group campsites. We love this campground because it has FREE HOT showers! The bathroom is nice and clean. The park also has a pool. Sadly, the pool was closed when we went, so we didn’t get to check it out. Each campsite is nicely separated. You can reserve your campsite here up to 6 months in advance.
There are tons of wildlife here, including deer, wild turkeys, quails, and mischievous raccoons. So, make sure to pack ALL of your food away. We had a raccoon friend that kept making rounds through our area. Apparently, he could open our neighbor’s ice chest and steal their cheese and bread out of it. But he was super adorable. He stopped by our campsite every night and used our paper towel as a scratch pad.
If you don’t want to camp, the closest accommodations are near Hollister or Soledad. Even so, hotels and Airbnbs are slim in this part of California.
Here are a few options that are closest to the park. We haven’t stayed at either of them, so we can’t say how they are.
The best time to visit Pinnacles National Park is during Spring (early March – early June) and Fall (October – November). The weather is usually very pleasant, and Bear Gulch Cave most likely will be open. In the Spring, you can see tons of wildflowers as well.
In the summer, the weather can be very warm in the park. The temperature can get over 100°F. Hiking can be dangerous. In the winter, the rain can make it difficult to enter the caves. However, you’ll most likely have the whole place to yourself.
If you’re visiting Pinnacles National Park for the first time, here are some things to know and tips that will make your visit easier:
Pinnacles National Park has many awesome trails with various distances and ratings. Among these, Condor Gulch to High Peaks is the best hike in Pinnacles National Park. It snakes through the heart of this beautiful park and also covers most of the highlights of the park, including the Bear Gulch Cave, Reservoir, and more. Not only does the Condor Gulch to High Peaks trail has incredible views, but it is also packed full of action. There is some rock scrambling, climbing up and down vertical stairs with steps carved into vertical rocky outcrops, as well as finding your way through dark cave passageways. It is so much fun! The trail is considered hard, ranging from 5.2 to 6.2 miles, depending on whether you want to do the extended loop.
Pinnacles National Park is known for its talus caves. A talus cave is formed when large boulders are stacked together, creating gaps between them. These caves are created through mechanical processes, such as rockfalls, rather than by the chemical dissolution of rock. There are 2 talus caves at Pinnacles National Park: Balconies Cave and Bear Gulch Cave. Balconies Cave is located on the west side, while Bear Gulch Cave is located on the east side.
Both of the talus caves have their own charm. Bear Gulch Cave has a massive chamber with stairs, while you have to scramble through the smaller chambers of Balconies Cave. We highly recommend visiting both. Make sure to check out the cave status before going. They are closed at certain times of the year to protect the Townsend’s big-eared bats, and also due to the weather.
Pinnacles National Park is home to the endangered California Condors. This is one of the very few places that you can see the condors in the wild. They are super neat to see. The best places that you can find them are usually at the Condor Gulch overloop, the Steep and Narrow section of the High Peaks, and along the Balconies Cliff Trail (the other side of the loop for the Balconies Cave trail).
Unlike turkey vultures, California condors have a white patch along the upper part of the wing, near the shoulder. They also fly very gracefully. Turkey vultures usually fly like a drunk person, wobbly. They also have white or silver feather lining the bottom of their wings.
Bear Gulch Reservoir is very beautiful. It is one of Pinnacles National Park’s most iconic spots. The tranquil blue water serves as the perfect spot for a nice break. There are a few ways to get here. You can take a short scenic hike, either through the Moses Spring Trail or through Bear Gulch Caves. If you’re ambitious, you can take the Condor Gulch to the High Peaks Trail.
The reservoir is also across from the Upper Bear Gulch Cave. Even when the cave is closed, the area right in front of the cave is also lovely and fun to explore.
If you have a chance, we highly recommend camping for a few nights at the Pinnacles Campground. The campground is beautiful with FREE hot showers. There are tons of wildlife, including raccoons and baby quails. We saw tons of baby quails and made friends with Harold, the raccoon there. Pinnacles National Park is also known for its dark sky. If you come here during the new moon, you can see the stars and the Milky Way.
Pinnacles National Park is a popular place for rock climbing. There are multiple climbing access routes spread throughout the park. You can see a few of them along the regular hiking trails. These climbing access routes are marked with a sign that has a carabiner on it. The park has a wide variety of climbing routes from topropes to multi-pitch, such as Machete Ridge. Bouldering, however, is more limited. If you’re planning to climb between January and July, make sure to check the raptor advisories to help climbers avoid disturbing sensitive nesting areas for birds of prey, including peregrine falcons and prairie falcons. For more info about climbing in the park, check here.
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These are the gear that we personally use and find helpful for this particular adventure. Don’t forget to check out our Recommended Gear section as well.
Our favorite biodegradable, eco-friendly, reef-safe sunscreen!
This is Vy's favorite hiking bag! It has tons of room for snacks and water!
It's always good to bring a GPS tracker with you. We use the Garmin inReach.
This jacket is packable into a super small and light little ball. Perfect for when you just need a little…
This jacket is packable into a super small and light little ball. Perfect for when you just need a little…
Our favorite hiking/travel jacket. It's warm and packable, perfect to bring on a hike or a road trip.
Our favorite hiking/travel jacket. It's warm and packable, perfect to bring on a hike or a road trip.
If you tend to have foot blisters on hikes, get this! We use this all the time.
These hiking poles are sturdy, and great to help keep your balance on short or longer hikes
Compact GoPro pole that extends to 25", perfect to bring on your adventure.
This is our go-to camera for all of our adventures. It comes with us everywhere!
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Hi! We are Dustin & Vy, the proud creators of Live That Adventure. We created this website because we wanted to inspire others to live their lives to the fullest. On here, you’ll find everything from hiking, canyoneering, kayaking, and snorkeling to adventure and travel tips, gear reviews, and bucket list items such as bungee jumping or wing walking. We’ll show you the ropes so you can do them too!
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