Story:
For this hike, I wanted to focus on the interior trails at Point Lobos and pick up a few places that I haven't covered so far. I define the interior trails as those that cut across the Reserve in contrast to the main trails that go around its perimiter. There are four main interior trails at Point Lobos, the Mound Meadows trail, the Pine Ridge trail, the Lace Lichen trail and the Whaler's Knoll trail.
In my view, the interior trails serve two primary purposes. First you can take the Lace Lichen and Mound Meadows trails from the Reserve entrance to the coast and they beat walking down the road. Second, when the Reserve is full of people and you are tripping over folks on the North and South Shore trails, the interior trails are remarkably under used. They are a great way to get away from the crowds and because they are away from the crowds, they are a good place to see the forest wildlife.
I covered the Whaler's Knoll and Lace Lichen trails in my last report. So the primary goal of this hike was to cover the Mounds Meadow and Pine Ridge trails. The Mounds Meadow trail runs from the intersection of the main road in and road to Whaler's Cove down to the south end of Weston Beach. The Pine Ridge trail runs somewhat perpendicular to it, starting at the Piney Woods picnic area and heading south east where it tees into the South Plateau trail. The two trails cross each other near the base of Rat Hill.
Enough introduction, let's get on with the hike. I started out at Weston Beach parking area then headed south to the Mounds Meadow trail head (if you walk along the road, you can't miss it). The trial heads north along the east side of Mounds Meadow. The birding is good along the trail because you are at the transition of the meadow and forest. I was a little surprised at how short the trail is, it seemed like I had barely started on it when I ran into the main road.
From here I walked along the road to the Entrance station and hooked up with the South Plateau trail. Here I went south, listening to traffic on Highway 1. Just south of Rat Hill the Pine Ridge trail heads northwest from the South Plateau trail.
The Pine Ridge trail is the longest Interior trail in the Reserve running about half the width of the reserve (0.6 miles). It is mostly forested, though are local views of the ocean and south shore. It is a good trail for birding, with Pygmy Nuthatches, dark-eyed Juncos, Chestnut-backed Chickadees common in the pine trees. You will probably also hear more birds than you see. Sadly I am still working on my voice based bird ID's.
The Pine Ridge trail ends at the Piney Woods picnic area. This is a nice lunch stop and there are restrooms available. I continued my hike by following the road down to the South Shore trail and heading north toward Sea Lion Point. This time of year, Pelagic Cormorants are nesting along the cliffs in this area. There were also a number of Sea Otters in the cove below Sand Hill.
Something to note is that the trails around Sand Hill (the Sand Hill trail and portions of the Sea Lion Point trail) are one of the three wheelchair accessible trails in the Reserve (the other two are the Carmelo Meadows trail and the Granite Point trail (out to Coal Chute Point). This point hit me as I watched a man on motorized wheelchair enjoy the views.
After checking out Sea Lion Point from above, I continued on to the Cypress Grove Trail. This is a loop trail that is about a mile total (0.9 miles) and offers wonderful views of the granite headlands, Sea Lion Point, and the Monterey Cypress as the cling to the rocks. Brandt's Cormorants are also nesting on the outer rocks here. You can watch them carrying nesting material from the kelp beds back to their nest sites.
The Cypress Grove trail may be the signature trail at Point Lobos.
After returning the the North Shore trail I headed along it to the Whaler's Knoll trail. I really like the Whaler's Knoll trail. While it is just about a half mile in length, you see a lot in that short distance. I also like that it is the least maintained trail in the Reserve. You actually have to be careful to avoid poison oak and keep on the look out for ticks.
Once off Whaler's Knoll, I took a segment of the Lace Lichen trail back to the Piney Woods picnic area and then down to the coast on the South Shore trail to Weston Beach.
The total hike was about five miles with minimal climbs. Point Lobos isn't generally viewed as a hiking destination, but with a little creativity and use of the interior trails you can have some wonderful hikes here.
For this hike, I wanted to focus on the interior trails at Point Lobos and pick up a few places that I haven't covered so far. I define the interior trails as those that cut across the Reserve in contrast to the main trails that go around its perimiter. There are four main interior trails at Point Lobos, the Mound Meadows trail, the Pine Ridge trail, the Lace Lichen trail and the Whaler's Knoll trail.
In my view, the interior trails serve two primary purposes. First you can take the Lace Lichen and Mound Meadows trails from the Reserve entrance to the coast and they beat walking down the road. Second, when the Reserve is full of people and you are tripping over folks on the North and South Shore trails, the interior trails are remarkably under used. They are a great way to get away from the crowds and because they are away from the crowds, they are a good place to see the forest wildlife.
I covered the Whaler's Knoll and Lace Lichen trails in my last report. So the primary goal of this hike was to cover the Mounds Meadow and Pine Ridge trails. The Mounds Meadow trail runs from the intersection of the main road in and road to Whaler's Cove down to the south end of Weston Beach. The Pine Ridge trail runs somewhat perpendicular to it, starting at the Piney Woods picnic area and heading south east where it tees into the South Plateau trail. The two trails cross each other near the base of Rat Hill.
Enough introduction, let's get on with the hike. I started out at Weston Beach parking area then headed south to the Mounds Meadow trail head (if you walk along the road, you can't miss it). The trial heads north along the east side of Mounds Meadow. The birding is good along the trail because you are at the transition of the meadow and forest. I was a little surprised at how short the trail is, it seemed like I had barely started on it when I ran into the main road.
From here I walked along the road to the Entrance station and hooked up with the South Plateau trail. Here I went south, listening to traffic on Highway 1. Just south of Rat Hill the Pine Ridge trail heads northwest from the South Plateau trail.
The Pine Ridge trail is the longest Interior trail in the Reserve running about half the width of the reserve (0.6 miles). It is mostly forested, though are local views of the ocean and south shore. It is a good trail for birding, with Pygmy Nuthatches, dark-eyed Juncos, Chestnut-backed Chickadees common in the pine trees. You will probably also hear more birds than you see. Sadly I am still working on my voice based bird ID's.
The Pine Ridge trail ends at the Piney Woods picnic area. This is a nice lunch stop and there are restrooms available. I continued my hike by following the road down to the South Shore trail and heading north toward Sea Lion Point. This time of year, Pelagic Cormorants are nesting along the cliffs in this area. There were also a number of Sea Otters in the cove below Sand Hill.
Something to note is that the trails around Sand Hill (the Sand Hill trail and portions of the Sea Lion Point trail) are one of the three wheelchair accessible trails in the Reserve (the other two are the Carmelo Meadows trail and the Granite Point trail (out to Coal Chute Point). This point hit me as I watched a man on motorized wheelchair enjoy the views.
After checking out Sea Lion Point from above, I continued on to the Cypress Grove Trail. This is a loop trail that is about a mile total (0.9 miles) and offers wonderful views of the granite headlands, Sea Lion Point, and the Monterey Cypress as the cling to the rocks. Brandt's Cormorants are also nesting on the outer rocks here. You can watch them carrying nesting material from the kelp beds back to their nest sites.
The Cypress Grove trail may be the signature trail at Point Lobos.
After returning the the North Shore trail I headed along it to the Whaler's Knoll trail. I really like the Whaler's Knoll trail. While it is just about a half mile in length, you see a lot in that short distance. I also like that it is the least maintained trail in the Reserve. You actually have to be careful to avoid poison oak and keep on the look out for ticks.
Once off Whaler's Knoll, I took a segment of the Lace Lichen trail back to the Piney Woods picnic area and then down to the coast on the South Shore trail to Weston Beach.
The total hike was about five miles with minimal climbs. Point Lobos isn't generally viewed as a hiking destination, but with a little creativity and use of the interior trails you can have some wonderful hikes here.
Tips:
Trails covered in this report:
Mound Meadows trail - 0.3 miles, 30 ft elevation gain
Pine Ridge trail - 0.6 miles, 40 ft elevation gain
Cypress Grove trail - 0.9 mile loop, 15 ft elevation gain
Whaler's Knoll trail - 0.5 miles, 150 ft elevation gain
Trails covered in this report:
Mound Meadows trail - 0.3 miles, 30 ft elevation gain
Pine Ridge trail - 0.6 miles, 40 ft elevation gain
Cypress Grove trail - 0.9 mile loop, 15 ft elevation gain
Whaler's Knoll trail - 0.5 miles, 150 ft elevation gain
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