Bluff Trail and Point Buchon Trail in Montaña de Oro State Park

There are many ways to do these two hikes, but because we were doing both of them in one day, and we had already spent a good deal of time at Spooner's Cove looking at tide pools during low tide, this post describes how we combined both of these hikes into one afternoon. I will clarify that the Bluff Trail is in Montaña de Oro State Park. The trailhead starts just south of the visitor center on the west side of the road. Point Buchon Trail is on PG&E land north of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, but it is accessed through the southern border of Montaña de Oro State Park at the Coon Creek parking lot.

BLUFF TRAIL

Bluff Trail looking northeast towards Spooner's Cove and the Visitor Center

This trail is obviously quite scenic, but even on a Thursday afternoon in the middle of May, there were a lot of people out there. I would say that given the two trails: Bluff vs. Point Buchon, I prefer Point Buchon. However, with that being said, the big draw for us, particularly as homeschoolers, was this great little walking guide, by Cal Poly physics professor, Dr. Bob Field. We went as far as "Stop 6" at Corallina Cove, and the guide covered a variety of different topics about the coastal bluffs. From here, we backtracked just a little bit and cut over on the trail through the wildflowers to make an easy loop hike.

Length: 1.3 miles for our loop
Elevation gain: none
Time it took us: 1.5 hours with lots of stops and discussion
Dogs okay: No
Fees: None

POINT BUCHON TRAIL
Once back in the car after the Bluff Trail, if you continue driving south along Pecho Valley Road through the rest of Montaña de Oro State Park, you will reach the Coon Creek parking lot in just a matter of minutes. There are some tables here so we ate our lunch, and there are also bathrooms here. To the south of the parking lot there is a large gate that says "Trail Open," but it looks like you can't get through. Don't be fooled since there is an opening on the left side (photo below):

Here's where you are entering PG&E land. There is a very steep quarter mile down and up walk to the security sign-in station. The PG&E employee was very nice and also quite knowledgeable about the trail sites. Just an FYI: the trail is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and you have to be back to the sign-in station by 4:45. We started our hike around 2:30, and we had no problem getting back to the sign-in station by 4:45 for my loop described, even with our leisurely pace and many photo stops. They also limit the trail to 275 hikers per day, but the nice PG&E employee said they've only reached that number on holiday weekends. You will sign in all members of your party and sign a liability waiver. Really, it was no big deal. This hike is really gorgeous, has many more wildflowers than the Bluff Trail, and we only passed one other party of hikers. The loop hike also takes you to a sea cave, a sink hole, to a very friendly heron, through fields of poppies (in spring), and up close and personal with grazing cows! Here are some of our sights on this short hike:

Sea Cave at Coon Creek Beach

 

 

 

 

Sinkhole

 

Heron in Wildflowers

Grazing Cows . . . not bothered by hikers!

Go through here to make the loop hike:
You will be entering cow terrain . . .

 





 
 
Length: 1.5 miles for loop from Coon Creek parking lot
Elevation gain: 100 feet
Time it took us: 2 hours with stops and Coon Creek Beach time
Dogs okay: No
Fees: None