Pinnacles National Park

Our most recent day trip lead us to the Pinnacles National Park in Soledad. Until last year, it was known as the Pinnacles National Monument and it is now the newest National Park in the US. Ancient volcanic field led to the formation of the famous rock spires, talus caves and canyons. Popular activities are rock climbing, hiking, camping and bird watching (we did spot some condors).  The Bear Gulch caves are home for the Big eared bats which rest there in the winter and raise their young ones during late spring and summer. We did not go to that side of the park so didn't have a chance to see them. Always a good idea to check the status of the caves here before making plans to visit.

We left Sunnyvale at about 11am on Sunday and it took us 1 hour 45 minutes to get to the West entrance of the park. Note that there are two entrances to the park namely the West and the East-they are not connected to each other through the park. This means that one has to drive outside the park to get from one entrance to the other. So it is important to know beforehand which entrance you need to take depending on the activity you plan on doing. The East entrance is about 85 miles from Sunnyvale while the West Entrance is at a distance of 105 miles.

We took Highway 101 S followed by Highway 146 E which took us right to the Park entrance. It is quite a windy road with several one lane stretches which makes for challenging and interesting driving.

There are some Ranger led hikes at specific times and I was keen on attending one such walk that was being conducted at the Balconies cave accessible through the West entrance. Hence, we decided on driving there. It being a 'Free National Park Entrance Weekend' the parking lot was crowded and so the Rangers were following a 'one car out and one in' method. This resulted in us missing the Ranger led hike.  After a brief 15 minute wait, we were allowed to the parking lot. The main parking lot near the picnic area was full so we had to park at the overflow parking area. A short ten minute walk took us to Chaparral.

The easiest hiking trail is the Balconies Cave trail. It is a 2.4 miles loop with an elevation of 100 feet. We covered it in 3 hours as I had to slow down considerably for the ascent. We walked through the Balconies Caves which was a thrilling experience. The caves are dark and one needs a flashlight to find your way through it. There are parts of the caves through which we had to crawl, crouch and even squeeze our way. At one point, there was a small trickle of water flowing through the rocks. It was refreshing to wash our faces in the small waterfall after walking in the sun for so long. Once out of the cave, the incline begins and there is very little tree cover to keep out the sun.

Walking through the Balconies Caves

By 5.30pm, we reached back to the parking spot tired, exhausted but satisfied after a good days workout. We stopped for coffee and some frozen yoghurt on the way to recoup our energy. We made it back to Sunnyvale by 8.30 pm with sore muscles and great memories.

What: Pinnacles National Park
Where: Please use the following coordinates in the GPS or online map for directions.
For the East Side of Park (Pinnacles Visitor Center): 36.493545, -121.146646.
For the West Side of Park (Pinnacles Visitor Contact Station): 36.477352, -121.226114
When: East Entrance is open 24 hours and the West Entrance is open between 7.30am-8pm

Fees: $5 per vehicle