Partington Cove — Attraction in Gonzales

Partington Cove is north of the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, about 2 mile drive from the famous McWay Falls. There is no formal parking lot for the trail head. You need to park your car along the road side of the highway 1. Because few people visit this place, it is not crowded so you can find a parking slot even during a weekend. Start from the gate, you descend through a dirty road and reach a road fork, and has three options: The left road leads you to a dead end, there are a big fallen tree at the end of the road, with a piece of stone embedded in the root, wierd, but not very interesting The middle road is the most popular one, it leads you through a wooden bridge first, then a tunnel, and finally the cove. The road end is the ragged rock beach, big enough for your drone to take off or land, but it is hard to find a flat place for a tripod. The view is fantastic with crashing waves roar all the time. At the traihead, they do post a warning about life-threatening waves and surge. If you slip into the open sea, there is no way to swim back to the cove unless you are Ian Thorp The right road leads to a quiet beach, there are still lot of rocks, but much smaller than these near the Cove. You will find a small waterfall on the left side of the beach. The round trip is about one mile, with 250 feet elevation. Be aware there are poison oaks along the trail in case you...

Great little hike down to the ocean from PCH - A lot fewer people than the other pull-outs on this gorgeous road. Nice little bridge across stream and then you go through a tunnel and out to a spectacular view of a cove - from there you can make your way down to some great tide pools full of crabs and other marine life. BEWARE HOWEVER - Turn left and go over the little bridge and thru the tunnel to the cove and ocean - if you go straight on the trail to the ocean and don't cross the bridge on the left the trail and hill is FILLED with poison oak and believe me - that will ruin your day and the next week or so. Be smart and stay on the trail. The hike back up to the parking area will get your...

Fully grateful for offering access to the public. It's not within any parks, but along the CA Route 1 and thus no need to book tickets. There are so many such canyons along the way. I bet each would be worthwhile for exploring. Make a stop along the highway, and then hike down to the shore. It's so beautiful. Kids can access ocean water. There is a giant rock sitting in the middle of the U-shaped canyon. You sit on top and stear at the vast ocean and relax. There is a 'steaming' hole along the rock cliff, adding a bit sweet surprise to the scene. There is natural wonders in addition to a tunnel to go through the inner side of the mountain. there is trails to hike up to the...