Beautiful hike. The trail is steep but that affords you the opportunity to get over 1,000 in a…read moreshort amount of time, for amazing views of SLO. This is a challenging but very doable hike. Highly recommend.

It's harder than you think it's going to be... I live in the CO Rocky Mountains and thought this…read morehike looked little. It loops around the top and has some good vertical. It's a true intermediate hike to the summit. Very pretty.

Easy parking, easy trail, beautiful views. Would come back…read more Thanks to the Hiking Bucket List pack from Reach International Outfitters, I've been exploring more hiking trails around California. This was the first trail my bf and I have hiked from the bucket list, so I'd say we're off to a great start. The trail had plenty of free parking on both ends of the trail. You don't need to go from end to end. Once you reach the Coastal Point, you're technically at the highlight of the trail, which takes less than an hour to reach. The trail is flat with natural dirt and plants. Casual walking shoes would work just fine for this trail. Even during the summer, the overcast and the breeze from the ocean felt nice on our skin.

This is an amazing trail. There's free parking right before the start of the trail. The view of the…read moreocean is amazing and the breeze is refreshing. This is an easy hike that anyone can do without hiking gear! It's a long trail that goes all the way down along the coast before turning around and going back the same way. Theres benches to sit and enjoy the view along the way. As well as designated spots to enjoy the view over the cliff. There's also animals you could potentially spot! We saw deers and sea lions. I saw a sign about tidepool and all the animals they have but we didn't walk far enough to see it! Please note the sign says no pets.

Hiking eval.: "Making a Mountain Out of a Molehill"…read more I am not sure what some people are smoking, but for those who are not in great shape, if you do happen to take the path to the very top, it can be quite challenging. It can also be rather hazardous, since the trail is very narrow, and is composed of a lot of loose dirt. Higher up, there are wooden cross pieces that hold the dirt in place, but some are damaged, broken, or missing. If you are afraid of heights this is not a place to go. The cow with the binoculars on top of the hill is kind of cheesy, but it is a good illustration of the nice views both on the trails, and on top. Of course, since there are three different entrances, you can make the hike easier by just going part way up and then toward a far entrance. You can even return to your point of origin by either walking inside of Islay Park or in the residential areas. The hiking trail entrances, trails, & they way up the hill are maintained a bit. As for me, I made good use of hiking poles, especially on the way down. If you are as slow as I am, then you periodically need to make way for those who go faster [and in my case, that is everyone]. If you do not want to be bothered with too many other fast hikers, then going on a weekday before rush hour is a good bet. On the part of the trail that goes down to the Orcutt Road side, there can be quite a few cows in the afternoon and thus there is Cow Manure to avoid. Of course, rating the difficulty of any given trail depends upon a whole host of factors. I think Alltrails, which I do use with a grain of salt, rates this one as easy to moderate. As for me, I rate it difficult to get to the top & down. Including walking in Islay Park & the residential area, we did close to 6 miles of either walking or hiking. I already broke my back & knee from various falls in the past, so I am especially cautious. One definitely needs to have either trail sneakers or hiking shoes in view of the dirt and the real possibility of slipping. Not that anyone plans to get injured, but this trail is so narrow toward the top and the slope is so steep, I do not see how a rescue can easily happen on the way up. While I hear that this is "easier" than going up Bishop Peak, I imagine it is all relative. I think even though this is called a hill, once you manage to get up on top, it sure seems more like a "mountain", but I grew up in the Flatlands area of Brooklyn....which was...quite Flat!

One of the easier hikes out of the "Nine Sisters". It's definitely moderate and gets a little…read moreharder towards the top. You'll be rewarding with a great, 360 view of San Luis Obispo. Wear some sunscreen and a hat as there's no cover here to protect you from the sun. I started from the trail entrance near the Islay Hill Park (where I also parked my car). There's a cow statue at the top which I found hilarious. Wasn't expecting that but there are cows and farms in the area so it makes sense. It's also neat that they had dog leashes for free at one of the trail entrances since dogs are allowed on leash here.

Local Eval.: A rather challenging scenic 1.4 hour all downhill hike on historic ole Stagecoach Rd…read more [where Stagecoaches used to run] with some complications. This past Saturday morning we had a hiking mission, to park one car at the bottom of Stagecoach Rd., which is typically deserted [where we also discovered a mysterious dark pedestrian/bike tunnel under the 101], and our other car at the top, of the West side of Cuesta Ridge. While most hike up to TV tower road, we wanted to enjoy only a one way downhill historic route. Most of the dirt road had amazing views, including forrest, trees, mountain streams, flowers, & views of the train tunnels built long ago by Chinese laborers by hand. Almost right as we started, we ran into 2 mountain bikers, & 2 vehicles [e.g. a Jeep] going up the steep grade, and we had a nice long friendly chat with a local biker, & the driver of the Jeep. They both reassured us that the way down was clear & scenic. As we made it about 1/3 of the way down, we realized that we had forgotten the bottom car's keys in the top one. Ugh! What to do? I decided to continue enjoying our trek & hopefully find another way back up as we descended. Not sure if Uber was an option at the edge of SLO. My i-watch claimed that we went 2.5 miles & took about 1.4 hours. Of course we took a few stops to gaze at the views & admire wild flowers, streams, & more. As we reached the bottom of the valley & saw lots of cows, and then some houses, I was hopeful. We then happen to meet some nice people & one kindly offered to drive us back up, the way we came. My honey was quite terrified with passenger side views of the shear drop! Once we drove back to the bottom to rescue our other car, we found 2 friendly police cars were right next to our car & another. The other car may have been speeding [which is quite common & dangerous down the steep grade]? While we were happy to see them, I would imagine that the others were not. Fortunately, both our car & we were intact! What a "historic", thrilling, & yet another, successful scenic local adventure almost in our glorious "backyard"! Near the summit, you will find an plaque dedicated to the engineers that built Cuesta Grade, from the ASCE in 2004. If you do turn off for hiking/biking on Stagecoach Rd., try not to drive up/down Stagecoach Rd.. Not only can you fall off the cliff, but there are falling rocks. It is a wide steep path...but use CAUTION! "Alltrails.com" has info. on these Cuesta Trails & I also posted some pics. In the past, before the ole 101 was build, many a Stagecoach, went flying down this steep grade, since brakes failed. People were advised to walk down, like we did over a hundred years later! The local Tribune Newspaper had a fairly recent article & pics on some of the history. It was: "From stagecoach robberies to railroads, SLO's new train tracks signaled end of an era" by D. Middlecamp on 8/29/19, which went on to say..."About a dozen people pose for a photo with a six-horse stagecoach outside the Ramona Hotel in San Luis Obispo on May 5, 1894... The last stagecoach over the Cuesta Grade departed as the Southern Pacific Railroad arrived in town...San Luis Obispo was finally connected to the larger world by rail. The Santa Lucia Range had terminated the line five years earlier in Santa Margarita. The 17 miles of track Southern Pacific built over the Cuesta Grade would be the highest elevation and most expensive 17 miles on the Coast Line between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Estimates vary but the track cost the railroad between $1.5 and $3 million to build. The original tunnels removed 1,100,000 cubic yards of rock from under the Santa Lucia Range. A later expansion removed more rock, making the amount of earth moved similar to the amount removed for the footing of the Hoover Dam. The Sept. 21, 1950, edition of Engineering News-Record called the work "a world's record for hand-drilled tunnels that may well still be unbeaten today."... Freight wagons, which required six or eight horses, could take eight hours to cross the grade with the teamster jamming his foot on the brake on the road down. Old Stage Coach Road was built with Chinese labor and a $20,000 county bond in 1876. It was an improvement over the bottom-of-the-canyon padre's trail between the Mission and Santa Margarita." Read more here: sanluisobispo.com/news/l... There is tons of history surround this, and nearby areas. You may want to Goggle the history of Santa Margarita, Ah Louis & his Chinese cohorts who built the railroad tunnels, SLO Mission, Chumash, Spanish, Pozo,& the first Motel in the USA. Link: http://historic101.com/Cuesta/main.htm While there is the aforementioned plaque, there is now no commemoration of how Chinese immigrants somehow carved the railroad, tunnels, & more [except for the statue honoring the Chinese at SLO's rail station].

From the 101, Cuesta Ridge has two separate trailheads. East Cuesta starts on the east side of 101…read moreand goes east (duh!) while West Cuesta starts at a dirt parking lot on the west side of 101 and goes west (double duh!). We hiked on West Cuesta to the TV towers which equated to 5.5 miles roundtrip with 950' elevation change. The road starts with paved asphalt then turns to dirt. The dirt portion was well maintained with sand and gravel in many sections. The gate to the road was open and we were passed by a dozen pick-up trucks. The traffic noise from the freeway quickly disappeared. The ridge is high enough to see the region (which is why KSBY-TV's tower and satellite dishes are there) including Morro Rock, Atascadero, and SLO. Without blocking trees, continuous views of the landscape occurred. Even with the drought, the vegetation was still green. The Forest Service says a "Botanical Special Interest Area" exists near here which might be why plants still thrived and why we spotted a forest grove with a different color- likely Sargent cypress trees.

The path is more of a local residential trail & there is no parking. Most visitors will go to…read moreMontana De Oro for the other trails that may link up with this one...at least in theory since we only went halfway up, due to an approaching sunset. Here there are no facilities like in the MDO. The hiking trail is very sandy and you get decent views on the way up. The area covered by the trail is an Ecological Reserve, but it is at the end of Broderson Ave. While there is an entry on Goggle Maps for this trail head, until now, there was not yet one on Yelp. You do get a overview of Los Osos, Morro Rock, and the ocean, but this trail is more just for some moderate exercise. The lower part is very sandy and the flora is scrubby & modest at best. Due to recent severe flooding in this area, it likely closed for at least part of the rainy season. It is a bit isolated and it would be a good idea to carry some supplies just in case...like a flashlight and some walking poles.

Montana de Oro State Park has so many fun trails I hardly know which to review. Valencia Peak is…read morethe second tallest in the park and a great hike for the views of the surrounding area. This weekend was a warm one and for this hike, that meant an early start as you are exposed nearly the full time. We did a sort of loop though, so we came down through relatively shady trails and had a great time. The sign marking the peak is not at the peak, fyi. If you get that far, the picnic table at the top is just a short bit further.

One of my all-time favorite hikes to do in SLO county! I would consider this medium difficulty and…read moreif you plan to go all the way to the top, the hike in total is right around 4.5 miles, up and back down. Doing this hike in Springtime is my favorite as the weather is absolutely perfect, and there are so many wildflowers on the trail to enjoy as you go up. Most recently I went on this hike with a friend and we spotted a number of orange poppies as well as a large variety of other flowers of all different colors. It was magnificent. When you make it to the top, the views are just breathtaking with obstructed ocean views in front of you! To your right you can see the entire town of Morro Bay and Morro Rock; great for some amazing photos! It is relatively windy once you reach the top but thankfully there's a nice little bench you can sit at. One thing to note is this hike is NOT dog friendly, so unfortunately, I had to leave my fur babies behind. Overall though, one of my favorite hikes - highly recommend!! I will keep coming back again and again!

People say there's nothing to do in San Simeon except Hearst Castle...Of course, those with inside…read moreknowledge know where the cool non-touristy stuff can be found. Where.. The Jung Ranch Trail has two entry points where you can park and hike. The most accessible starting point (perfect for those staying in the area's motels) is at the end of 271 Vista Del Mar Ave. The other end of this trail is off Lone Palm Dr. The Hike.. The Jung trail about 1 mile in length from endpoint to endpoint. For the most part, it's pretty flat and could be easily walked by most people. This trail goes along San Simeon's breezy beach cliffs with plenty of access to the beach and the tide pools below. The Tide Pools.. If you have kids be sure to come here around low tide. While the specimens not be amazing when compared to other famous tide pools, there are crabs and sea anemones everywhere. You'll like see a sea lion of the farther out rocks. The kids said this was the highlight of our most recent trip. Know this! It can be very windy and cold on this trail. Dress appropriately. Definitely snakes in the field so stay on the path..

This trail isn't far from Hwy 1. There is a small area on a side road to the North park, or a…read morelonger side road on the south end to park. you can walk the trail which I believe is around 2-3 miles. We saw the pictures of the tide pools so was hoping to see something. So we made our way down and was walking the tide-pools getting looks as if we were nuts because the waves were big so we had to wait until the wave went down to walk a little bit, stop, and go again. But we didn't see anything in the tide-pools.

On my second visit to Montana de Oro park, I wanted to try a different trail (having focused on the…read moreBluff Trail last time.) Having read up on Hazard Peak, it seemed like a great option to get outdoors and burn some calories, post Thanksgiving feasting. The trailhead is easy to find-just drive a mile or so past the park entrance and you will see the day use lot on the right hand side (just before the Spooner's Cove turn off-if you hit that lot, you've gone too far.) Cross the road and head up the single track trail which is 3 miles up, one way, to the peak. It's well travelled by mountain bikers but most of the cyclists we met were going up hill, not down and were very polite and respectful. While you are going uphill the entire first half, the incline is slight and not too steep. The trail is 90% open so wear sunscreen or a hat and take care on hotter days. In November, though, it was crisp and breezy-just the right temperature. Pretty narrow in spots and mainly you are hiking through low coastal scrub. There is one section that takes you through a pretty eucalyptus grove, which is a nice break from the sun. The views make this hike totally worthwhile-you get sweeping scenery of the coast, Morro Rock and the interior valleys and hills of Montana de Oro. At the peak there is a bench where you can soak it all in and take lots of pics. Head back down the trail the way you came to round out your six mile journey. There is a trail that continues after the peak which I believe will take you on a 9 mile loop, but I had other activities planned for the day, so opted to head back. The 6 miles took us about 2 hours and 15 minutes which included photo op stops. Decent workout and totally moderate if you're in good shape.

--LOCATION-- along the coast at Montana de Oro Beach…read more --HIKE-- Ideally for bikers, but it is a great hike for on-foot too. The end of the trail will take you to the highway/streets. If you hiking on foot, your only option is to hike it back. I do not suggest following the streets down to the parking lot because there is no room for pedestrians. --DIFFICULTLY-- not too strenuous. it's not a breeze the entire time or super difficult either, but your feet will be tired. --TIME-- from the base of the trail to the end (not a loop), it took ~3 hours. It will be roughly a total of 6 hours if you hike it back, too. --SCENERY-- Absolutely beautiful views. You have the hills and beach surrounding you. It is a largely open hike (you won't be enclosed by trees) so you'll see everything.