Mt Montara

- Day hike with Pepper and a friend up to the top.

TIPS

• I love starting from Gray Whale Cove. Easy access from Hwy 1 and well signed trails. My second favorite is from San Pedro Valley Park because the hike goes through a lot more variety of forest (note that they have a fee and no dogs allowed).
• Wear comfortable trail shoes (like tennis shoes/ sneakers).
• Watch out for mountain bikers. Some of the trails are multi use with bikes. The main trail tends to be very wide with lots of room.
• Bring lots of water! I bring two liters for me (or me and Pepper).
• Bring layers, too. In my hike below, we started in the cold fog and then hiked above it to the very warm sunshine.
• Enjoy the views! If you get lucky and it is a clear day, you can have views out to the Pacific and the Farallon Islands to the West, up to the Golden Gate Bridge and Mt Tam to the North and across the SF Bay to the East. Some of the best views are on ridges and look out spots on the way up as the summit, while open, is broad and views can be blocked by structures and bushes.

Skip to the route recap

My friend was in town for the weekend and wanted to explore some of my favorite hikes.

THE HIKE

Wisps of fog on our way up

Mt Diablo and clear views above the fog

Mt Tam and fog on the Pacific

Mt Montara

Pepper on the trail

Highlights

• Hike started in the dense, overcast fog. Eventually we found our way above it and the views were breathtaking.
• Many, many wildflowers along the trail.
• Made it to the summit!
• The loop back was longer than expected. Fun to explore, but would have probably done an out and back next time. 

RECAP

• Location: Mt Montara, San Pedro Valley Park via the Gray Whale Cove trailhead.
• Date: May 2022.
• Stats: 3 miles with 1,700+ ft elevation gain

Trailhead

What a beautiful day.