Pinnacles National Park

Trip Assistant

How Much Time?

Unless you’re coming here to climb some rocks, you don’t need a whole lot of time. Doing the High Peaks Loop with Bear Gulch Cave is a half day for most. And, if it’s summer, you probably won’t want to spend a whole lot of time here anyway. It will be hot, and you’d be better off in the high elevations of Yosemite or Lassen Volcanic.

With that said, a very reasonable plan here is to arrive at the west side, get a taste of the park by hiking Balconies Cave and Juniper Canyon + Tunnel (which goes through the High Peaks). And then camp on the east side and hike Bear Gulch Cave + High Peaks in the morning.

Need to Know

The West Entrance closes over night. The East Entrance is open 24/7.
Caves close due to seasonal flooding and bat occupation. Check their status prior to arrival.
Bring two light sources. A headlamp is best as it will free your hands for the little bit of crawling required.
Shuttles used to run on the East Side on busy weekends and holidays (their status is presently up in the air).

Highlights

High Peaks
Bear Gulch Cave
Balconies Cave
California Condors

Attractions and outfitters are pinned on the Google Map below. Expand the sidebar (top left corner) to see the data and select/deselect layers.

Activities

Hiking
Rock Climbing
Birdwatching

Favorite Trails

Easy

Prewett Point

Moderate

Strenuous

*Links to AllTrails

When To Go?

Weather

Visitation

Spring break brings a visitation spike. Summer is less popular than usual due to high temperatures. It’s pretty good fall through spring.

Park Map Downloads

Pinnacles National Park Map: PDF | JPG

Region: PDF | JPG

All 63 Parks Map: PDF | JPG

West Region w/ All NPS Units: PDF | JPG

Road Trips

Helpful Tools

Below you'll see a Google Map to help plan road trips from the east (Sequoia), north/west (Golden Gate NRA), and west/south (McWay Falls). It’s a good start, but I’d highly recommend making your own. Google My Maps, Wanderlog, and TripIt are incredibly useful trip planning tools. Find what works best for you!

There’s much more to our country. Here’s another Google Map with points of interest across all types of public land.

For campers, here’s a Google Map with National Forest campgrounds. National Park campgrounds are difficult to reserve (there are about 200!). With nearly 5,000 national forest campgrounds, you can usually pull in and find a spot.

Highlights

Hume Lake, Buck Rock Lookout, Delilah Lookout / (Sequoia NM)

Alamere Falls (CA) (There's an unmarked path to the top of the falls just before crossing Alamere Creek) / (Point Reyes NS)
Muir Woods NM (CA)
Golden Gate NRA (CA)
Shark Fin Cove (CA)
Hole-in-the-Wall Beach (CA)
Fern Grotto Beach (CA)

Julia Pfeiffer Burns SP/McWay Falls (CA) - PCH 1 was closed beyond this point so you’re forced to drive out-and-back.
Garrapata State Park (CA)

Again, check the POI map for more ideas.

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