Pinnacles National Park is small but its two entrances make planning a trip there more difficult than it should be. While the east and west roads do not meet in the middle, a lot of trails do. Therefore, it’s possible to see both sides of the park without driving yourself all the way around, which takes about 90 minutes. There are a lot of trails that intersect and loop with each other, creating a number of ways to get to the park’s three main features. All of this can make planning a trip to this park quite confusing. This guide will help make the most of 2 full days in Pinnacles.

How to Get There

Pinnacles is in California’s Central Valley. It’s about 4.5 hours north of Los Angeles and about 3 hours south of San Francisco. If you’re coming from Los Angeles and want to take the scenic route, check out this blog post!

Where to Stay

A park ranger told me that the west side of the park is prettier, so I recommend staying there. The absolute closest you can get to the west entrance is the Inn at the Pinnacles on Brosseau Vineyard. The next closest is the town of Soledad but it offers only very basic accommodations. I stayed in Salinas, which is about 30 minutes away. I chose it because I found a really great AirBnB there. On the east side of the park, the closest town is Hollister, CA.

If you do choose the west side, keep in mind that there is a gate to enter the park that does not open till 7:30 am. If you visit in summer, this means you can’t start earlier to beat the heat. Plan accordingly – bring plenty of water and sun protection, as there is minimal shade once the sun is up.

What to see

Most people come to Pinnacles to see three things: the High Peaks (and condors), the Balconies Cave and the Bear Gulch caves. The first two are more easily accessed from the west side of the park, so I suggest doing those on day 1. On Day 2, you can either drive to the east side of the park or hike in from the west side to visit the Bear Gulch Caves. Be sure to check the cave status on the official Pinnacles site before planning your trips. Be sure to bring a flashlight or a headlamp for the caves. Cell phones alone will not provide enough light for you to see where you are going, and the terrain to enter and traverse the caves safely requires good visibility.

Day 1 – Pinnacles West Side

Start your day with Balconies Cave loop, which I recommend you do counter-clockwise. It’s 2.6 miles round-trip and it should take about 90 minutes.

Next, visit the High Peaks by taking the Juniper Canyon trail. It shares a trailhead with the Balconies cave loop! It’s about 4.3 miles with 1,400 ft of elevation gain. The top section of this hike is narrow and steep with exposed drop-offs.

I recommend doing the cave first because it will be a better experience without crowds. We did it first thing in the morning and were the only ones in the cave.

Day 2: Pinnacles East Side

To do the east side, you can either drive there or do a longer hike from the west side. Regardless, your goal will be the Bear Gulch Caves.

Option 1: Drive

Plan on at least 90 minutes for the drive from the west to the east side of the park. The Lower and Upper caves are accessible from the Bear Gulch day use area via the Moses Spring and Rim Trail loop. The trail length is only 1.9 miles roundtrip with 1,300 ft elevation gain. If you have time and stamina, add on the Condor Gulch to High Peaks trail for another 5.1 miles and 1,300 ft of elevation gain. Condor Gulch trail also begins at the Bear Gulch day use area. This way you would have done the 4 best hikes in the park.

Option 2: Hike from the west side

The shortest route to the Bear Gulch Caves from the west side is this loop. Its name sounds very similar to the 4.2-mile Juniper Canyon to High Peaks trail from the day 1. But this longer loop uses the Condor Gulch trail to descend to the Bear Gulch Day use area on the east side. There, you will be doing most of the Moses Spring and Rim Trail loop that the east-siders use to get to the Bear Gulch caves. But instead of returning to the Bear Gulch day use area, you will continue on the Rim Trail to climb back up to the High Peaks, then descend to the west side. This means you will be climbing up and down twice for a total of 8.5 miles with 2,500 ft of gain.

A longer but less interesting loop uses the Old Pinnacles trail. This trail follows Chalone Creek and the numerous creek crossings can be challenging if it has rained recently.

Other Sights in the Vicinity

The Soledad and Juan Bautista missions are close to the west and east entrances of the park, respectively. You can also drive over to Monterey, CA on the coast.