Mound Meadow Trail

This trail provides a pleasant quick route to the south shore. Access the trailhead from the Lace Lichen Trail. It is about 0.4 of a mile (20 minute, downhill, walk) to the South Shore Trail. From there you can go south to Bird Island and China Cove. Or north to Weston Beach, Piney Woods and Sea Lion Point.

Mound Meadow Trail starts at the junction with the Lace Lichen Trail. It meanders towards the shoreline just south of Weston Beach. At the halfway point there’s a junction with the Pine Ridge Trail.

This trail has particular appeal to visitors seeking solitude and quiet. The forest of Monterey pines and scattered coast live oaks is often still and hushed, although it can whisper and sigh in the spring onshore breeze. Listen for chickadees, nuthatches, and warblers overhead in the fall. Look for the bright red of amanita mushrooms after the winter rains begin, and the glossy yellow of buttercups in the spring.

At the ocean end of the trail is Mound Meadow. This is an example of a rare plant community: coastal prairie. Since natural fires are suppressed at Point Lobos, occasional prescribed burns are needed to keep the surrounding forest from taking over. Native grasses and shrubs and wildflowers grace this meadow, and it is not uncommon to see a hawk or a white-tailed kite hunting here.

Does not meet ADA standards. From the Lace Lichen Trail to the Pine Ridge Trail junction, the trail is narrow and somewhat uneven. South of the junction with the Pine Ridge Trail, the Mound Meadow Trail is flat and even all the way to the South Shore Trail.