We love Pinnacles National Park! It’s a small park located along the San Andreas Fault that most of us have probably never heard of. It turns out it’s beautiful, though, and well worth visiting. One great thing about it is that it’s not super crowded. The rock features of the park were created by ancient volcanic activity. There are spires and peaks formed by lava, and caves formed by falling boulders. Brightly colored lichen paint the rocks like rainbows.

The hike from Moses Spring Trail to Bear Gulch Cave Trail to Rim Trail is one of the most awesome loop hikes any of us has been on. We liked it so much we returned a second day and hiked it again. You’ll need a cell phone flashlight to make your way through the dark above-ground caves with boulder ceilings. Low boulders mean you’ll need to crouch in some spots, and in other spots you’ll be ascending narrow rock stairs. (We thought it was cool that the cave where bats were presently making their home was roped off, because cave bats are dying at a rapid rate across North America from white nose fungus, which is primarily spread by foot traffic.) Bear Gulch Reservoir at the top of the hike is an unexpected beautiful oasis.

We also went on a ranger-led nighttime hike in Pinnacles. On this hike we learned about nocturnal activity in the park, and even saw a few scorpions! They have a bio-luminescent glow under a black light, which the ranger brought along on the hike. She also brought along a radar that was built to detect the clicks of bat echolocation. It was cool to hike at night. Jackson earned his Junior Ranger badge at Pinnacles!