Mission Trail Park — Attraction in Carmel-by-the-Sea

We’ve walked on a lot of trails from the northeast down to Texas and this trail is one of the prettier we’ve been on. One big thing to note off the bat is the weather and temperature here make this a very easy hike from a heat standpoint. That being said, do not dress to be warm. There’s plenty of uphill trekking to do and we made that mistake and came out of it a bit sweaty. The trail itself is not very accessible unless you have either a car or you’re staying nearby since there are no real sidewalks in the area. There are multiple different trails within the park and we walked two out of the three with ease.

This is both a very dog friendly and foliage heavy park. I say this to warn you that there is A LOT of poison oak on this trail so make sure to watch your step and keep your dog closeby if they’re the kind that likes to eat plants or go up to the greenery. Outside of that the park and trails are beautiful, a lot of different flowers and plants all throughout; some even have placards saying which species they are. The floor is pretty even so there’s no slip risk really, nor are there parts that are difficult to cross. As mentioned before, the hardest part of the trail is the uphill portion but even that is not very difficult, especially if you’re used to hiking or walking trails. One big plus throughout the trail and park are the garbage cans, which become very useful when you have a dog who chooses to relieve itself or even if you just have something you want to toss. These are mostly out and back trails that don’t have a true peak or lookout so take your time and don’t feel committed to seeing the whole thing through since there’s not really a “thing” to see.

All in all this is a very enjoyable park and trail, great for the casual walker or someone who wants to get some energy out of their pets. It is a beautiful trail with gorgeous plants, again just be careful of the poison oak. Outside of that, it quite honestly is the perfect early morning walk just to walk some kind of trail. We wouldn’t say it’s something you need to drive out of your way to do, it’s more something to go to if you’re close to the park and feel like getting some greenery and...

Please know that this trail is OFF LEASH for dogs. Check the web - it is indeed off leash and most people have their dogs off leash here and that is legal, as long as they answer on command. We encountered a confidently wrong, entitled woman with a jacked up face full of filler and botox today who told us off because our dogs, who are friendly, were off leash. She was an older lady with blonde hair and baby blue yoga pants, with a doodle. Because of course it's a doodle. Then her husband who looked like all he wears is golf gear, picked up their dog and put on a deranged circus show while both of them huffed and puffed about my 8 month old 20 lb puppy approaching to say hello to their now airborne doodle. Unpleasant people. She kept saying that her dog is not friendly. Maybe avoid this off leash dog friendly trail if your dog cannot be off leash and isn’t friendly. We just kept telling her “Sorry” and walked away as they seemed like just the type of people who would never admit...

I love Mission Trails and I'm grateful to have a little trail system like this so close to home where we can walk the dog, hike, or ride bikes. Depending on which trail you take, you will pop out near the entrance across from Carmel Mission, at the Flanders Mansion, or in downtown Carmel. It's nicely maintained with woodchips on the trails, which range in length from a half mile to a couple months and most are pretty flat, none are too steep or uneven.

I also love how at Christmas time people who frequent Mission Trails set up a box of ornaments with sharpies available to decorate them with their pets' names and hang on a big tree, which looks really cute once there are a ton of them adorning the tree. It's an awesome representation of how many people and their pets enjoy this space...