National Park #7, canceled April 15, 2019
Our visit to Pinnacles was part of a road trip up the California coast with my family. We took a day trip over from our hotel in Watsonville, arriving around 10:30. We started out at the visitor center where we learned that the Bear Gulch Day Use parking area was full. We were able to park about a mile away at Peaks View. The kids worked on their Junior Ranger books for a while, then we had a picnic lunch.
My parents stayed around Peaks View while the rest of us began our trek to Bear Gulch. It was a lovely walk, filled with wildflowers and fantastic views of the park’s namesake rock formations. The kids particularly enjoyed Bear Gulch Cave and the beautiful and full reservoir. We saw lots of lizards and even a bunch of California condors, including a couple that appeared to be tending a nest.
We made it back to my parents at Peaks View around 4:00 (and found they had driven to Bear Gulch while we were gone), then drove to the visitor center for Junior Ranger badges, souvenirs, and ice cream. We had dinner at the Running Rooster in Hollister and made it back to the hotel around 7:00.
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