Montana de Oro State Park

Montana de Oro State Park

Montana de Oro State Park
5
6:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Monday
6:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Tuesday
6:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Wednesday
6:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Thursday
6:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Friday
6:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Saturday
6:00 AM - 10:00 PM
Sunday
6:00 AM - 10:00 PM
About
A great network of biking trails make this state park a perfect destination for expert and beginner bikers alike.
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The area

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

5.0
5.0 of 5 bubbles576 reviews
Excellent
478
Very good
79
Average
17
Poor
1
Terrible
1

Joe G
Palm Desert, CA77 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2022
This is such a zen, perfect, mesmerizing place - sooooo much open nature, a reminder of what California USED to be like before all the pristine view places were sold off to the wealthy. The Bluff Trail walk offers so many easy, flat hiking options to see lookouts of waves crashing along the coast, birds, all of it. It's like a mini Big Sur without the hassle of driving there. Spooners cove beach was just adorable and authentic, and even the drive IN offers great views of Morro Bay, Morro Rock and a great tunnel of trees to drive through.

Being a promontory jutting out into the ocean, it is prone to lots of fog, but you can still get easily sunburned, nonetheless. Unless you camp there I believe there is no entrance fee or parking fee for day-use. This is a Central Coast treasure and I was soooooo happy to finally make the time to see it.
Written July 26, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

onecoolraisin
Huntersville, NC525 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2021 • Family
Montana de Oro has absolutely something for everyone. Spooners Cove has a sea cave, tide pools, nice beach and easy access to put in kayaks. Bluff trail runs along the coast with great views of the ocean. The interior of the park has more hiking, mountain biking and horse trails. There is a large sand dune along the coast that is a great chill spot to relax and minimal foot traffic when we were there. Some pictures here but more pics and videos @onecoolraisin on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. Live stream coming to Twitch in the coming days.
Written August 6, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

jenLeCreate
Vista, CA396 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2019
While road tripping, stopped into SLO to visit the nephew and he turned us on to this place. Not too far out of town, but sure feels like it. We stopped off to get some lunch, packed plenty of water (sunny day) and were on our way to catch up on each other's lives.

You gotta love this place. First off it is free (always a good thing) and secondly there is lots of places to check out (in case some are more crowded). We started off down at the cove where we watched the water coming in (and got in for a swim) and out, viewed the wildlife and enjoyed the beach climate. Found a nice spot on the sand to eat our lunch. After hanging around for a while, decided we needed to work off the lunch with a few hikes. Hit the bathroom (clean for beach bathrooms) before leaving the beach.

Driving back on the road into the park, found a nice place to pull off and hiked up through the oak trees up into the hill. After hiking for an hour or so (and with the sun beating down and the oaks far behind us), we decided to move on to another hiking spot. This trail led us back down to another beach where we watched the sea lions and crashing waves. And then it was time to move on - we wanted to watch the sunset down the coast - and of course we were hungry by that time as well.

Overall, a wonderful way to spend the day. We were there for about 5 hours. Bring food, water, a hat, sunscreen. The day was perfect with not much wind. Also it seems like this place can get busy, but just try another area - it is pretty big. Have fun and get outside!
Written July 7, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Scott
San Francisco, CA6,679 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2021 • Solo
This state park is definitely one of the best of California. It has everything, and the weather is beautiful when it's 106 degrees 20 miles inland.

if you learn a little bit about the geology of this area you will get much more out of your visit. This region is a textbook example of wave cut marine terraces, uplifted terrain, and compressed layers of strata.

Hike the Valencia Peak and Bluffs Trail. At the end of this hike, head down to Spooner's Beach. If you're a camper, I saw some fantastic little isolated camping spots with shockingly beautiful views of the coast.

The best thing about the state park, there's no fee to enter or Park.
Written September 5, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

The Adventure Buddies
Manhattan Beach, CA781 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2020 • Couples
The Adventure Buddies went hiking at Montana de Oro and it was so incredibly beautiful. The cliffs with caves, tide pools, beaches, wildlife.. what a wonderful surprise it was for us to be able to capture incredible photos of the landscape and central coast cliffs. There were tons of sea otters in the waves playing. Nice to walk, explore, and stop at a beautiful picnic bench with spectacular breathtaking views. We highly recommend!
Written June 3, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

KarenEph320
Pismo Beach, CA247 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019
We live in the area and I would frequent this park way more often except dogs are not allowed. There are different parts to this park, slightly inland you can hike and ride horses. The bluff is a nice nature trail. There's a beach to enjoy. It seems like every year someone gets hurt badly or drowns because they go off trail, climb down the cliff and get swept away by a rogue wave. The BEST time to go is when a storm is coming in as the waves crash high and powerful against the cliffs. Great photo ops. My daughter had her senior pictures done here.
Written November 20, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Southwest_Gaucho
Lake Havasu City, AZ1,281 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2024 • Couples
Great park with lots of trails and beaches to explore. Nice little visitor center to get some history on the area. Checked out the campground and it looks decent for future stays. You could spend a full day or more just walking trails and checking out the beach. Didn't take the mountain bike but lots of trails for biking as well. Bring water as there is not shade! Watch out for poison oak.
Written May 16, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Beth S
South Lake Tahoe, CA489 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2022
February was a beautiful time to visit the cliffs overlooking the ocean. There was no fog or wind and we walked all the paths from the furthest parking lot to Cook Creek Beach. I got some great photos of the tide coming in and the arches near the cliffs. The walk was mostly flat. Our adventure took us a little over 3 hours since we spent lots of time watching the waves crash on the rock and the otters playing.
Written February 20, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

SteveLicata
Monrovia, CA286 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2021
This Is actually an enormous state park with many options for hiking, sea shell hunting, rock climbing bluff hikes and dense forest exploration. If you want to sample the kind of views on the famous California Highway 1 (on the way to between San Simeon and Monterey) but on a smaller scale, spend the better part of a day in this park.

The beach area alone has incredible sea shell hunting options, a very impressive giant rock in the bay (accessible form the sand) and a brackish stream with tidal pools safe to be explored by kids.

Some of the remote parts of the park (such as regular campgrounds) remain closed due to COVID-19 but you can still drive and see amazing outlooks throughout the park.

For example, on the beach you see something very rare - large sections of the original sae bed (layers of sedimentary rock) that have been pushed up by tectonic activity at a 45 degree angle into plain view.

This is time well spent.

ADMISSION: FREE
Written June 8, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Thaila S
San Mateo, CA60 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2021
This place is unbelievably beautiful! My husband, two young kids and I spent about an hour walking the Bluff trail. I wish we had time to stay longer because it would have been wonderful to walk the entire 4 mile loop (which is flat and very easy for young kids, but be careful about the cliffs). My kids loved going to the beach and picking shells. The ocean views are stunning. Next time we will pack a lunch and spend a few hours here.
Written July 11, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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Montana de Oro State Park - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2025)

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