On February 2020 we went camping in Pinnacles National Park with the kids and we loved it! If you are thinking about camping at Pinnacles National Park with kids, here is some information you might find useful when planning your trip:
About the park
Pinnacles National Park used to be a National Monument and recently became a park in 2013. The geography of this park is completely different from the surrounding foothills, with rock spires, massive boulders, canyons and caves. The movement of tectonic plates along with erosion shaped the park’s geography over millions of year. If that doesn’t sound cool, how about the fact that the park is part of an ancient volcanic field? We loved what we saw and did at Pinnacles, and were happy to have camped there for a few days!
There is a $30 entry fee per vehicle. The America the Beautiful Pass costs $80 and gives you access to more than 2,000 federal recreation sites (including all National Parks) across the United States for one year. This is a great cost-saving option if you are planning on visiting more National Parks or federal land in the near future!
Getting there
There are two different entrances to the park that are not connected to each other.
Both the Visitor Center and the entrance to the campground are located on the East Entrance to the park. This is the entrance you’ll want to use when camping in the park. When you arrive at the park, make sure to register at the Visitor Center (open 9:30am to 5pm).
The road leading to the West Entrance is narrow and steep and not advised for RVs or trailers. From the West Entrance you can access the Chaparral Trailhead and also enter the park. You can’t bring your car into the park from this entrance but you can park it in the small lot.
Know before you go
Arrive early in the morning or late in the evening! Seriously. We arrived late at night and drove straight into the park and to our campsite. The next morning we were so surprised to see an endless line of vehicles waiting to enter the park. The line started to form around 9:30am and didn’t really get much shorter until late afternoon. I’m guessing you can skip the line if you are camping in the park, but it’s good to plan accordingly in order to avoid the long line of cars.
Make sure you look at the campground map before you choose a site. Some sites are fully shaded and some are fully exposed. A fully shaded site would be great during the hot summer months, but it wasn’t great in mid-February when we camped there. Fortunately we were able to switch sites to a sunny one a day after arrival.
Here you can find a map of the campground. You can easily tell which sites have shade and which ones do not. I know you can’t always get the site you want when booking at National Parks, but it’s good to keep this in mind when booking.
One thing to know is that the parking lots for the trailheads are quite small and rangers monitor them closely. Once a parking lot is full, cars are not allowed to drive to them. Fortunately, the park offers shuttle buses that run every 10 minutes or so from the visitor center to the two main trailheads. If you want to beat the rush, make sure to hit the trails early in the morning, definitely before 9am–it’s worth it, trust me!
There is coin-operated showers and a decently stocked stored inside the park. While we were there, the camp hosts drove around selling firewood, which was super convenient. Note that there is no cellphone reception in the park, which for us is always a treat!
Things to do
There are lots of fun activities to do when camping at Pinnacles National Park with kids (or without!). Here are some of what we did during our 3 days there:
Visitor Center
Campers need to register at the Visitor Center upon arrival. There you’ll find a small bookstore, apparel for sale, some park souvenirs, and very helpful rangers who will be happy to give your kids a Junior Ranger workbook to fill out in exchange for a cool Junior Ranger pin (both free of charge).
Ranger-led Talk on Condors
These talks happen outside of the Bear Gulch Nature Center by the trailhead to Bear Gulch. The talk starts at 2pm on the weekends and are very informal, making them perfect for little ones who can’t sit still for too long. We found the talk to be very informative and educational. We definitely recommend them! While you are there, make sure to check out the Nature Center (you can also get a Junior Ranger workbook there).
Bear Gulch Cave
This was definitely a highlight of our time in the park! The hike gently climbs up on the way to the talus caves. This hike has everything to keep little hikers engaged and happy. There are sections of the cave where you have to balance on rocks over some water, there are waterfalls inside the caves, gigantic boulders, stairs carved on the side of giant rocks, and narrow passages to squeeze through. Make sure to bring a headlamp (or flashlight or cell phone light) as they are required for hiking through the amazing caves.
The hike on Bear Gulch is 2.4 round trip if you loop past the reservoir (the reservoir is a beautiful halfway point and it’s downhill pretty much the whole way back).
Reservoir
Ideally, try to get to the reservoir before the first shuttle buses start running and you’ll have the place all to yourself. Also, if you get there early, the water will be very still and the light will be perfect to see the beautiful reflection of the surrounding rock formations on the water. This is a great place to stop for a snack break before continuing onto the High Peaks Trail to try your luck at spotting the rare California Condors!
High Peaks Trail and Seeing Condors
Before you start looping back to the parking lot from Bear Gluch, you can connect to the High Peaks Trail for a longer hike and to try to spot Condors.
This trail, as described by its name, goes straight up towards the tall red rock pillars where the condors nest. The hike up this trail is about 5 miles, but we only made it up a half mile or so because the kids were done with the uphill (come on kids, you were born in San Francisco!).
Fortunately, as we sat down to enjoy one last snack before starting the hike back down to the car, we spotted 4 condors circling around up in the air, close to the rocks where they nest. We forgot to bring our binoculars so make sure you don’t make the same mistake!
The total mile count from the parking lot to Bear Gulch, the reservoir and then up part of the High Peaks trail was 3.5 miles. We could’ve probably pushed it farther up the trail but we felt happy with what we saw and did and called it quits while we were ahead!
This trail is mostly exposed so remember to pack lots of water. Try to hit the trail early to avoid the hottest time of the day and make sure to wear sunscreen.
Old Pinnacles Trail
On our last morning we hiked part of the Old Pinnacles trail. The kids loved this trail! I think because it was mostly flat. We hiked about a mile before turning around and going back to the campground to pack up our tent before checkout time. The trail is an easy and flat 5-mile there and back perfect for kids.
We had the best time camping in Pinnacles National Park with the kids! This tiny park packs lots of action within its boundaries and we can’t wait to go back in the future! Joe and I talked a lot about how the park had really good energy. People were super friendly and our kids made friends right away and enjoyed riding their bikes all over the campground. They probably enjoyed the most freedom they’ve ever had in their lives during our camping trip there!
Click here to read more about our family’s travels.
