This story is part of The Standard’s Summer Road Trips series, highlighting some of the best under-the-radar escapes within a day’s drive of San Francisco. From charming coastal towns to awe-inspiring national parks, we’ll help you plan your next getaway.

Volcanic boulders dot the chaparral-covered landscape. Birds of prey circle over the silent canyon. Even as late as June, wildflowers bloom everywhere. Apart from the occasional glint of sunlight off a vehicle in the parking lot far below, there’s virtually no sign of civilization.

These are the rewards for trekking down to Pinnacles National Park (opens in new tab), an underappreciated jewel approximately two and a half hours by car from San Francisco. It’s a scene 23 million years in the making; the park’s jagged namesake rock formations were ejected from long-extinct volcanoes and shaped by the elements. Teeming with wildlife, this landscape is full of surprises, such as trickles of water that echo in bat-filled caves, exhaling whispers of cool air into the heat. 

Pinnacles is the newest of California’s nine national parks, having been elevated from national monument status in 2013. Consequently, it’s refreshingly peaceful even during peak summer travel season. The park receives only about 350,000 annual visitors, a fraction of Yosemite’s 4 million — though that’s not to say it’s deserted. “Visitation has steadily increased during recent years, and busy spring weekends can bring wait times of several hours,” spokesperson Ana Beatriz Cholo says. 

Most of the time, however, Pinnacles is much quieter — when The Standard visited, there was no wait to enter the park. At its best, it offers what the comparatively overrun High Sierras seldom can: near-solitude in genuine wilderness. 

Here’s everything you need to know to make the most of a trip to Pinnacles National Park.

Pinnacles is not an especially large park. Notably, there are two entrances, east and west, and no road connecting the two inside the park. The west gate, accessible via U.S. 101, offers fine views of the rock formations but few trails. With nowhere to camp, it’s effectively open to day-trippers only, which is inconvenient for Bay Area visitors. 

The remote east entrance, off the two-lane California State Route 25, is more rewarding, with more trails, unique landforms, caves, and an amenity-filled campground with more than 100 sites and dark, starry skies above. The fee for vehicles is $30, and to go from one side to the other, drivers must exit the park and go around to the west entrance, which takes about 90 minutes. 

The best reason to visit is to roam the boulder-covered hills. The 6-mile High Peaks Trail Loop offers the best vistas, threading between the most prominent rock formations, with broad valleys on either side.

Hikers, be warned: In addition to the 1,500 elevation gain, a steep and narrow section of the trail requires scrambling along a few vertigo-inducing cliffs. Rails have been installed for safety, but the metal gets hot in the sun. It’s spectacular but not for the faint of heart.

It’s important to pack enough water no matter where you hike, but that goes double in Pinnacles, where a flat, shaded trail may become a fully exposed climb within seconds. Summer temperatures aren’t as torrid as those of Joshua Tree or Death Valley, but expect highs in the upper 80s and low 90s, with lows in the upper 50s and low 60s. 

Water and restrooms are available at the Bear Gulch parking area, where the High Peaks trailhead is located, but once you begin, you have nothing but what you brought in. There are rattlesnakes, but you’re more likely to encounter one of the 14 harmless species, such as brown-and-gray gopher snakes that can reach 6 feet or more.

You don’t have to commit to a four-hour trek to the ridgeline to appreciate Pinnacles. The flatter, forested Old Pinnacles Trail leads to the Balconies, a stunning cave-and-cliffs complex — although headlamps are required, and you may have to wade through water.

As of mid-June, Bear Gulch Cave is closed indefinitely to protect bat colonies. But bird-watching, excellent everywhere, offers the chance to see a California condor (opens in new tab), as Pinnacles is a key site for the critically endangered species’ ongoing recovery.

To visit Pinnacles is to go almost entirely off the grid, but that doesn’t mean sacrificing all the creature comforts.

The park has one campground (opens in new tab), which doesn’t accept walk-ins. Online reservations are required, but thankfully, they do not require booking six months in advance, as many of California’s most popular campgrounds do. The somewhat steep $50 overnight rate reflects the many amenities — a pool, shower facilities, RV hookups, and regular maintenance — and variety of campsites, from cloistered areas in the shade (Loop C) to open spots ideal for stargazing (Loop B). There’s also a clutch of small cabins, geared toward families and groups of four or fewer. An air-conditioned store stocks firewood, basic supplies, prepackaged burritos and sandwiches, as well as National Parks merch.

Humans are far from the only denizens of this campground. Deer, rabbits, and bobcats abound, and the crows are more curious than their San Francisco brethren, often inspecting coolers and eagerly picking through any unsecured items. 

The most common critters, though, are the trash pandas. Raccoons will snatch anything they can get their paws on, ripping through tents and climbing into open car windows for a snack. They seem to know how cute they are, too; one masked bandit will distract you while its buddies rummage through your bags. Use the on-site bear boxes to stash food — plus anything fragrant that a scavenger might mistake for food.

Trails lead out of the campground and up into the hills, but hikers who want to conserve energy should consider driving to Bear Gulch and setting out from there.