Trails

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve Trail Map

The beautiful turquoise China Cove on the Bird Island Trail at Point Lobos, is surrounded by rocky cliffs and pine-dotted hillsides opens to the ocean, with sunlight illuminating the clear water and kelp forests below the surface.

Bird Island Trail

A bright rainbow arcs across a cloudy sky above the rocky coastal shore at Whaler's Cove in Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, with turquoise water and sunlit stone outcrops in the foreground.

Cabin Trail

A cluster of large golden-brown mushrooms grows among dry grasses and pine needles, showing their wide caps and tightly spaced gills in a forest floor setting on the Carmelo Meadow Trail in Point Lobos State Natural Reserve.

Carmelo Meadow Trail

A field of bright yellow yarrow flowers fills the foreground above a rocky cove, where gentle waves meet the shoreline beneath a hazy coastal sky on the Coal Chute Trail at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve.

Coal Chute Trail

Weathered cypress trees lean and twist along a fog-covered coastal hillside on the Cypress Grove Trail in Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, their pale trunks contrasting with the green groundcover and misty sky.

Cypress Grove Trail

Yellow and white wildflowers blanket a rocky coastal hillside overlooking deep blue water, with misty fog drifting over the distant cliffs beneath a clear sky on Granite Point Trail in Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. Photo credit: Susan Lambert.

Granite Point Trail

A single purple blue-eyed grass flower with delicate petals and a bright yellow center blooms among green blades of grass in soft sunlight on Lace Lichen Trail in Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. Photo credit: Stephanie Flaniken.

Lace Lichen Trail

A cluster of dark mussels clings to wet rocks in a tide pool, surrounded by barnacles and patches of bright purple sea sponge in Moss Cove in Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. Photo credit: Julie McFadden.

Moss Cove Trail

A bobcat steps cautiously through tall grass and low shrubs of the Mound Meadow Trail in Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, its spotted coat blending with the sunlit meadow as it moves forward with focused eyes. Photo credit: Peter Fletcher.

Mound Meadow Trail

Sunlight filters through tall, slender cypress trees in a dense coastal forest, illuminating the golden haze in the distance. Dark, windswept branches and thick green foliage frame the scene, creating a dramatic contrast between shadow and light. Photo credit: Don Blohowiak.

North Shore Trail

A small dark-eyed junco perches on a thin branch on the Pine Ridge Trail at Point Lobos State Natural State Reserve, its black head and gray-white body brightly lit by the sun. Soft green foliage fills the blurred background, with a strand of lichen hanging nearby. Photo credit: Fred Brown.

Pine Ridge Trail

A great blue heron stands among dense coastal scrub and low shrubs, its long neck and gray-blue feathers blending into the sunlit landscape under a clear sky on the Sand Hill Trail in Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. Photo credit: Jeff Curtis.

Sand Hill Trail

A group of California sea lions lounge and rest on dark, wave-worn rocks along the shoreline off Sea Lion Point Trail at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, with the ocean swirling behind them. Photo by Fred Brown

Sea Lion Point Trail

A cluster of bright green leaves and dangling pink tubular flowers of a California gooseberry plant hang from a branch, with spiny seed pods forming beneath them in a sunlit woodland setting on the South Plateau Trail in Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. Photo credit: Jeri Passalaqua.

South Plateau Trail

A single red-stemmed dudleya plant with yellow blossoms grows from a rugged, sunlit rock outcrop above dark coastal waters below off the South Shore Trail at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. Photo credit: Don Blohowiak.

South Shore Trail

A vibrant pink sea anemone with long, flowing tentacles clings to a rock underwater, illuminated against the darker surrounding seafloor in Whaler's Cove at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve.

State Marine Reserve (SMR)

A mule deer stands alert on a forest floor, surrounded by pine needles, low plants, and tree trunks, looking directly toward the camera on Whalers Knoll Trail at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve.

Whalers Knoll Trail