Pinnacles National Park Complete Guide: Exploring the Park's Caves + Trails on the East & West Side
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- čas přidán 19. 06. 2024
- Pinnacles National Park is one of the country's smallest and newest national parks. Because of that, it is not as visited as the other parks in California and many people miss out on all the fun adventures Pinnacles National Park has to offer. Pinnacles National Park has two caves you can explore, is home to dozens of California Condors, and has one of my favorite trails in California, known as the High Peaks. In this video, I wanted to introduce Pinnacles National Park and show what it is like to explore both the park's east and west sides. Come explore the trails and caves with me and let me know what you think in the comments.
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Chapters
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0:00 - Intro
0:45 - East Side - Driving In
1:51 - Hiking to Bear Gulch Cave
3:53 - Bear Gulch Cave
7:55 - Bear Gulch Reservoir
9:08 - Hiking to the High Peaks
11:36 - High Peaks Trail
15:36 - Condor Gulch
17:05 - Quick Stops Around the Park
17:52 - Bacon Ranch Homestead
18:56 - West Side - Driving In
20:22 - Hiking to Balconies Cave
21:44 - Balconies Cliffs
23:54 - Balconies Cave
27:15 - Outro
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I’ve been a volunteer in Pinnacles for 13 years, the first 10 working on the condor crew. This is the best video I’ve seen made by a visitor. The hit all the high points, gave excellent information, and you video skills are wonderful! Thanks for this.
Thank you so much for your volunteer work for so many years!
I agree. He always does such a great job. 👏
90% of my last vacation to Cali was planned with the aid of your videos and I'm certain 90% of the next time I find myself back out west will be planned with the aid of your videos. Thanks as always for sharing the beauty of California in the way that you do!
So cool to hear, glad the videos could be so helpful!
Great documentation as always. I hope you hike it sometime when it’s a super bloom year. Amazing. My fav memory is seeing 14 condors (High Peaks trail) on a dead tree. They obviously were condors because they all had ID numbers on their wings and they looked at me like what did they do to deserve this. I felt like a Far Side Cartoon.
Would love to see it in a super bloom year! Wow, 14 condor is amazing!
I went back in February it was incredible. One of my top 3 day hikes in the US! Saw condors in the high peaks, the caves are very unique. Also saw the greatest variety of bird life I have seen anywhere outside of Florida
Wow, that sure brought back some childhood memories! I remember a smelly sulfur pond and tales of a Juaquin Murrieta hideout up there somewhere. I was in my early teens when we went with a group of family friends. We had only one flashlight for the entire group and one dad had his knee go out when he went the wrong way into a tight section. Fortunately, there was a group of Boy Scouts there at the time and they helped us through. I think they earned a few badges that day. Thanks for a great revisit!
I grabbed a campsite on the east side for a couple of days last year, rode my electric bike up & down the roads but didn't hike any of the trails because I'm in my 70's . . so watching your video was fantastic !!! Thank you so much for helping me see what I wanted to see but couldn't when I was there !!!
You do an excellent job explaining the trail system. I like the subtle music as you make your way along the trails. Your videos and stills are nicely done. I appreciate the history you provide.
Can't wait to experience these hikes! Great job.
Hiked it many times from the 70s through the 90s. Most memorable was right after a good snowfall and during light flurries- almost couldn’t get there by car. So beautiful. Thanks for the memories.
This was the best documentary for hiking Pinn I’ve seen - found this park as an 18 year old in 1973 working for what is now cal fire - it’s in my top 5 hiking locations in CA - was just there hiking a couple weeks ago wish I ran into you - you’re stuff is so well done the State/National Park systems should finance your work - Thanks for documenting Pinn
Thanks for sharing this, Josh! This really brought me back to my trip I took out there around 8 years ago! The coolest animal sightings I ever saw in a nation park was me driving into the West entrance early morning and seeing a pack of wolves! That was just amazing!
I grew up in Hollister (east park entrance) and would always drive the country roads surrounding the park with my mom. Thanks for highlighting our beautiful little area ❤️
Thank you for this documentation! Pinnacles is my favorite California NP and I’m thankful you give it the love it deserves.
It is one that deserves more attention, it is beautiful
Fantastic video! I’m going with my family next week and I’m feeling really confident and clear about the trails in the park! Thank you for the thorough exploration of Pinnacles!
Thanks for the terrific tour Josh. I’ve moved Pinnacles up on my list and look forward to visiting soon.
Great video! I’ve hiked all of the Pinnacles trails during all seasons. My favorite season is spring: When you hike the Moses Spring Trail, you can see water cascade over some rocks. You can cool off right there if you want to! One year on the way to the High Peaks I was walking up the steps to the reservoir. I heard somebody play a didgeridoo in that short cave section. So eerie and so weird! Yes, these trails make my top 10! Thanks, Josh!
This is a favorite camping destination for me and my husband. It is such a unique and beautiful place!
It really is a beautiful place!
This is a great video. Good job. I've been there once back in the early 80's and been planning to go back. This video helps a ton. Btw, I've been watching most of your travel videos.
Fantastic Job! We left CA over a year ago but when we were in the bay our first RV and RV Trip was to Pinnacles. We have pics and short videos but NOTHING like this. Thank you Sir. It felt like we were back there👍🏻
That is awesome! So glad the video brought back good memories
The only time I visited pinnacles my son was very scared to go into any caves so I let my husband go on without us. Thanks for posting this, it's like I got to go in for myself!!
Glad you got to see them! Maybe next time you all can go in
I was planning to visit the park and thankfully your post is right on time to get information. What a wonderful video and as always very informative. Thank you very much
I love learning about new places... Thanks a lot!
Thanks Josh. This video inspired me to visit. My first time in any caves. I had a great time. Your detailed video made my trip planning much easier. I should have taken your advice and entered the Balconies cave from the far end and climbed up the cave. Climbing downward was difficult.
I hiked the ridge trail and caves with my sons for Spring break 2015 and 16. It is beautiful.
So awesome!
The high peaks trail from the west side is pretty stunning. And the trail from the visitors center on the west side is easy and is a very pretty loop. Great loop to see wild flowers in the spring.
I need to try the high peaks trail from the west, I have never done that!
Just went to the east side toady following your exact route. Your guide in this video helped my trip planning immensely. Keep up the good work.👍
Def gonna check this out..thanks for sharing!
Nice, professional documentation of the park. We’re going to Colorado and eastern Utah this summer to Moab, Arches, and Canyonlands, but hopefully we can make it out to California one day. Other than Yosemite which we want to see this definitely looks like a good days adventure. We’re in our 50s and I have back and balance issues which makes are hiking choices limited, but hopefully still worth seeing for us. Thanks again.
Great commentary Josh and your tips on the hiking trails are very helpful.
Glad you like them! Thanks for watching
Good work here! I'm really looking forward to seeing it now. Thanks
Thanks again for this! I’m glad I followed your recommendation to do Bear Gulch Cave & Reservoir before taking the Rim Trail to High Peaks, instead of the information desk’s suggestion to go up through Condor Gulch Trail. I started late (11am) and the heat almost did me in! Thank again!
Yes, very cool park and trails. Did not know this was a NP. I will add it to my list.
Thanks 😊 always excellent videoa
Amazing place!!! Thanks Josh, I’ll make plans to hike there
Thanks for the super informative tour of pinnacles will aspire to do most of those hikes next week!
Great filming! Enjoyed the footage of the caves. Pinnacles is definitely on my list of places I would love to travel to some time. New sub, watching from Arizona. Thank you for the great tour! 😍🥰👍
I go here once a month. Practically my backyard. Thank you for sharing!
Oh wow that is awesome, I am sure you know a lot more than me!
Wow! Dry Tortugas to Pinnacles. You really get around! We were here for the first time since it became a National Park in December. Camped on the East side but the power went out. Hiked through the caves to the reservoir and looped back. It was alot of fun hiking through the cave. My opinion of Pinnacles definitely exceeded expectations. Never saw any condors though. Well done video as always.
What a great video with good information to help plan out a trip to there. Thank you Josh! I can't wait to visit there with my kids.
Glad it was helpful!
Awesome video as always Josh! I am guessing that many people watching this video say to themselves "the Pinnacles look like Southern California" well that is absolutely true! The Pinnacles were actually part of a volcano that formed millions of years ago down near Lancaster and it also happened to be on the San Andreas Fault and it's taken 23 millions year's to travel up north on the Fault to present day San Benito County on the inland Central Coast. I have been going to Pinnacles since the early 90's when it was still a National Monument and its still one of my favorite parks to visit even if it's a lot more crowded than it used to be. My advice is similar to Josh in that don't visit in the summertime because it's just to blazing hot, it's a lot better in late Fall, winter and spring.
Oh wow, I was thinking about how much it looked like Southern CA, thanks for sharing that info!
Yep same here David, but I believe. I started hiking Pinnacles in the mid 80’S!😁Awesome place to get your Rock climbing/hiking on! Saw many condors as u mentioned and the heat in summer is downright dangerous. The Caves I remember most, since the water was running thru the cave in some spots and we had to hand over little ones (5-6 yr old boy n girl)to each other so that their feet boots wouldn’t get soaked. We scrambled all over that reservoir and were pretty tired at end of day with all those miles of hiking! Good times. 😁💯👍
This is your best video in my opinion. Thanks!
Thank you, for a brilliant video. It is on my list of places to vist and after seeing your video it should go to the top of the list.
Great job!
It’s funny how today we went hiking at one of the hiking trails in Palos Verdes, and it looks so much like some parts of this park… I’m actually surprised that you did a longer video than usual, and you still made it work. It was very informative, so as always thank you for sharing this with us. 🙌🏼
haha yea some of the park looks a like like the rest of CA, until you get to the caves and peaks. I wasn't planning on doing as long of a video but it kind of just became what it is. I need to stop doing long videos they are taking a toll on me 😂
Excellent presentation! Thank You
Amazing place! Thank you.
Thanks for sharing this. I haven't been to the Pinnacles since high school days.
This is very cool.
Well done.
I am there with you.
Double kudos.
Beautiful imagery.
So nice that it makes me jealous.
I’ve used your videos to plan two vacations now. Thanks for the great content!
So great to hear, I am glad the videos are helpful!
I love hiking here. 😊 Thanks for showing the high peaks trail. I would have loved when I was younger but not now. 😳😁
I live a half hour from pinnacles and I gotta say you really captured it really well
Thank you, I appreciate that!
Thanks for making this very informative video.
Really love these Videos about america. Hope to see more soon!
This is the best video I have seen on Pinnacles.
I love this park, so underrated! Been there three times!
AND we get a longform video of it!!! So happy!
haha, the Bal Coney's cave part was awesome!
And have you hiked to North Chalone Peak yet? Most epic outhouse ever!!!
haha glad you liked the video and the Bal Coneys part 😂 I haven't done North Chalone Peak, I will have to look it up!
@@californiathroughmylens I have a feeling Bal Coney has a dark history in California! ;)
North Chalone is the highest peak in Pinnacles, and has an outhouse on the summit!
I went on one or two of the trails on the east side in May 2019, but not in either cave. The weather was relatively mild for an afternoon in that month. That was one of the few parks I have visited where I only spent a couple of hours - I usually spend more time in each park I go to.
This is an excellent video on this park. I stumbled across this park by accident. I am planning on visiting this park in 2024. Thanks for the insight.
Omg it’s so beautiful there I would love to go there some day .
Awesome! Thank you so much
I usually go up through the cave then go back the alternate trail that is stunningly beautiful. Makes a nice loop. I have yet to do the high peaks trail cuz I’ve usually been when it’s been pretty warm and unforgiving. And my knees are bad so I have to take the hike very slowly. Actually coming down is the challenge. But I think pinnacles is super stunningly beautiful. The rocks are so amazing. I’ve had condors swoop down to check me out when I did part of the high peaks. But I’ve never been through the switchbacks. I love the steps and handrails.
Wow that is awesome that you had a condor swoop near you! Yea it is a little rough on the downhill for sure on the high peaks trail
Was an hour and a half away from this spot growing up and never went; hope to go one day when I go back home.
Fantastic video, Josh! Love when you do a deep dive into a lesser visited park like this one.
Glad you enjoyed it! I want to share a video from every national park on my two channels
What’s your other channel?
Been hoping to make a trip to this place for the 1st time soon. This video has been very helpful & got me excited for it :)
So glad it got you excited to visit the park!
Awesome content glad I found someone who enjoys hiking like I do. You just got my sub
Pass of the cave but just an amazing park! Thanks for the tour!
Many thanks! I really enjoyed this!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Totally Awesome an Excellent video production
This was very informative!
I gotta visit these caves. Awesome video Josh
Thanks for the great video! I was planning to drive there TODAY and camp for the rest of the week, but had to cancel because I woke up with a really bad cold!
I'll have to enjoy it vicariously through your lens until I can get there myself!
Bummer about getting sick. I hope you can get there soon!
I’ve seen it on the map while traveling down 101 but never gone there. Beautiful video!
It's worth checking out for sure!
My neck of the woods. Thanks for sharing 👍
No problem 👍
Thanks for the comprehensive tour! I’d love to go soon! My only concern is fitting in those caves… I’m blessed w/ natural padding in the hip area.
Glad you liked the video, the only part that is a little tough is the exit to Bear Gulch but it is only because you have to bend over a decent amount to get below the rock, but it is pretty wide. I hope you enjoy exploring the park!
i live near by so i'm out there often. lt's a beautiful day there every time.
I am blown away at how many nature reserves are in California. I hope they're still there when I can have the time to visit these spots at the west of the US.
It is crazy how many amazing natural spots there are in CA!
Thank you. This was great. I just subscribed.
I’m thankful you did it. Cause I never could afraid of heights and very claustrophobic 😁
Glad I could share with you what it is like!
Solid footage
Thanks for sharing, I never knew about this.
No problem!
Love from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada! We have been watching your videos on our TV screen and did not know how to subscribe to your channel there. So today we are doing it on our laptop out of guilt. We like your videos and keep visiting places vicariously.
Btw, I, wife would never venture into these caves and my husband said he won't too.
Bear Gulch trail has been my all time favorite hike, but the Balconies cave was a close 2nd.
Both are great but I like Bear Gulch more too!
La Potranca in King City is delish!
Thanks so much!👍👏♥️
Cool. Always wanted to go there and looks like my kids can make that hike.
Awesome! Yea the cave hike could be fun for older kids for sure!
Should've done this even as a monument when we lived in Monterey. Those caves look so much fun. High Peaks has great views, but caves are not a typical thing to explore.
Loved seeing Pinnacles again , I haven't been since I was a kid back in the mid 60's but I still remember the reservoir (the only hike we did) . As a kid I loved the park even though we were only there for one afternoon and always wanted to go back except it is in a somewhat inconvenient location for my normal travels . If I'm going north or south through California I prefer to take highway 395 , a lot more stuff along that highway to see and do at least of the things I like , plus I absolutely despise interstate 5 so there's that . Maybe I will make a detour out of the norm the next time I head down to Texas for a launch at Boca Chica , I'm a San Diego transplant living near Seattle now .
Love Pinnacles. I've been lucky enough to see a mountain lion there, as well as condors. Another good trail option is to North Chalone Peak, the highest point in the park. Great views from there and no other people, even on a busy day.
Wow, a mountain lion, that is crazy! I will have to try North Chalone Peak next time
It's a great video 👍❤
Great video.
Just visited Pinnacles. Weekend in January and it was quite busy. The big issue I found is the lack of infrastructure/organization. The main trail near bear gultch has a parking lot, it is a. decent size, but is about 2.5 miles from the visitors center with no other real parking near. They had the road to the only 2 lots blocked and had to use the overflow parking. A shuttle would have been a huge help to many visitors. Had to tack on 5 miles to the 6 miles bear gultch loop trail. Trail itself was gorgeous and unique, well worth it. But keep in mind if you are not in peak shape. 11 miles was a lot even for me and my friends who are all in solid shape.
I never heard about this park! I’ll be in the area at the end of May so I’ll be sure to check it out
I hope you enjoy it!
This park has been on my radar as of late, so thanks for your comprehensive information.
BTW, when you see a condor, you will know it. They are massive!
Good to know! I hope to see one soon!
@@californiathroughmylens When I was a child, I used to spend my summers at Camp Condor in the Los Padres Natl Forest. On my last trip down the mountain as an 18 year-old staff member, I finally saw several condors soaring above some high cliffs. I will never forget it.
Idk how but I’ve seen so many of your videos and was never subscribed 🤦🏽
I’m always like “this video looks great already” then “oh it’s him!” Love the vids.
The upper part of the cave is also a super tight squeeze and gets pretty low in some places! 😊
Nice tour , I subscribed for u & 4 me , the outdoors is beautiful to see , & it's fun to go with !
There used to be a campground on the West side of Pinnacles. Fantastic hiking. Tried to go through Balcony Cave without a flashlight, it goes total black. You really do need a light.
We love your videos! Just wondering, what camera are you using for the video footage?Really impressed with the image quality!
Thanks from 🇳🇿!
Heck yes got to do the cave lol
Thanks!
No problem! Thanks for the super thanks!
if you can go in the spring the wild flower Display can be Amazing.
Thanks for the great video. Where's Pops 🤔🤔. Some of the hike too claustrophobic?? Good job. I really enjoy traveling with you two 😊.
haha he would not have liked this park as it is all heights and caves which he hates haha