Pinnacles National Park

Pinnacles is a small California national park with some very unique features. As we’ve found with other national parks, size doesn’t always matter.

A combination of volcanic action, a fault line and erosion starting 60 million years ago formed the unique pinnacle rock formations where falcons, golden eagles and California condors now call home. That same erosion caused huge boulders to fall from above to streams below creating the talus caves that have become bat habitats.

Hiking is the main way to see the park and there are many options from short easy nature walks to longer hikes that traverse both sides of the park. But the first thing to understand about Pinnacles is that there is an east and west entrance and the two sections of the park do not connect through any interior roads. The only way to get from one side of the park to the other is a 1 1/2 hour drive around the park or a long hike across. But that’s OK, the park is small and can be covered well over a few days.

We stayed at a very nice RV park in Greenfield which was conveniently located about 30 minutes to the west entrance and about an hour to the east entrance. Both sides of the park are worth visiting and offer their own unique adventures. We were surprised with just how green the park was during our March visit. The hiking trails meander through (and sometimes under) huge boulders covered in moss. Streams and sometimes small waterfalls wind along and across the trails. The green plush valleys are shadowed by oddly shaped pinnacle rock formations.

We had three full days to explore the park and were easily able to tackle the three hikes we had planned during our stay to the following locations:

Bear Gulch Cave

This is one of the two talus caves in the park, this one being on the east side. We took the Moses Spring Trail, to the Bear Gulch Cave Trail and then returned on the Rim Trail. Bear Gulch actually has a lower and upper cave that periodically closes due to bat activity. The hike is beautiful and the cave is really cool. It’s dark in the caves so a headlamp or flashlight is required. There are some steep areas and tight spots to crawl under but railings are in place to assist where needed. It gets wet in the cave but we were able to stay pretty dry until part way through the upper cave where water got knee deep though a narrow spot. We weren’t prepared for that so turned around at that point.

Balconies Cave

We explored the second of two talus caves, this one on the west side starting out at the Balconies Trail and then making a clockwise loop from Balconies Cliff Trail to Balconies Cave Trail. This provides a shorter return with wet shoes. Again, the hike to the cave was gorgeous and the cave itself was another amazing experience. This one was a little harder to find as you had to walk through the small stream to get into it. Instead of traversing downstairs, this one required more bolder scrambling, so I would consider it more challenging but not too bad if you are in shape. Remember, you’re in a cave formed by falling rocks and looking up reminds you of so and can be a little intimidating. We walked through mid-calf deep water in the last section, but we were better prepared for it this time.

High Peaks

I started this strenuous hike from Juniper Canyon Trail and then a counter-clockwise loop from High Peaks Trail to Tunnel Trail. At 8:30 in the morning I was the only one on the west side of the park when I started this hike, and that was a weird feeling. This hike is no walk in the park as it is a steady uphill grade the whole way to the top. And once you get towards the top it gets really fun with steep and narrow sections with stairs. There are railings through the gnarly parts so I didn’t find it unsafe. It is so cool at the top! You are now hanging out with the the condors, turkey vultures and ravens that you had seen from far below when hiking to the top. You are “in” the pinnacles of Pinnacles National Park. I could have made a day of it hanging out at the top. Don’t miss this one.

Need something else to do when you are visiting Pinnacles, or maybe to celebrate your daily hike? Well you’re in luck because this is wine country! There are plenty of vineyards and wine tasting opportunities in the area. We went to Scheid Vineyards for a tasting and ended up bringing home four bottles of wine. Pretty good vino!

Pinnacles is certainly a worthy stop and conveniently accessed from US 101. You don’t need a lot of time to explore the park, but we enjoyed it enough to return someday and explore the caves when the bats are present. One thing to be aware of though is that because it is so small it can get crowded, and they will turn away cars when it reaches capacity. Arriving early is the key.

Check out all of our pictures from Pinnacles National Park.