The Pinnacles on the Outside: Hiking the Jawbone Trail at the Pinnacles National Park

Date: May 17, 2026

Place: Pinnacles National Park, Soledad, California

Coordinates: 36.477635, -121.225467

Length: 4.5 miles

Level: moderately strenuous 

Last May I had the opportunity to lead a group of campers in the Pinnacles National Park. On the last day of the camping trip the group had a lengthy breakfast after which we said goodby and they all went home. I could have gone home to but here I was own my own at the beautiful national park and it was a great opportunity for a hike, and so I did.  

Pinnacles National Park has a single campground which is located on the east side of the park. The campground is right by the Chalone Creek. There are many trees and bushes there, and sadly, also lots of human leftovers. For anyone who loves seeing wildlife, especially of the feathered type, simply camping there is more than satisfying. I have even written about it before here. Before I get to the accounts of my hike (which was on the west side of the park), here are some wildlife photos from the campground. 

Wild Turkey

 

Waking up to the calls of our state bird, the California quail, is one of my favorite things about camping in their habitat. 

California Quail, male

California Quail don't like to be seen. In the Pinnacles campground however, they feel bold enough to openly wander through the campground. Perhaps they know that their predators usually shy away from people's presences. 

California Quail, female and male

There were other morning visitors at our campsite, of course. Looking for human crumbs is a popular activity with the local birds. 

California Towhee

The evening also provided its own set of wildlife visitors. The boldest of them were the raccoons - they had no hesitation jumping on the picnic tables and exploring the food boxes. We had to be constantly on guard. 

Raccoon

Then, there were the ultimate attraction of the Pinnacles National Park - the California condors. On the evenings they would glide back and forth over the hills on the west before eventually coming down somewhere to roost for the night. 

California Condor

My original thought was to hike on the eastern side of the park. By the time my group went home however, all the parking areas on the east side were already full, and the park personnel were preventing anymore cars from going to the trailheads. My alternatives were to walk all the way from the campground, or to wait for a couple of hours before they'd let cars in again, or to drive all the way to the west side of the park and hike there. I chose the third option, and drove around the south side of the mountains (there's no road crossing the park). I stopped at the visitor center and one of the younger residents of that area was waiting for me on the sidewalk in front of the building. 

By the time of my last visit to the Pinnacles National Park, I have already hiked all of the inner trails in the park, most of them numerous times. I took this opportunity to hike a different trail, one that was new to me. 

My hike as captured by my GPS

I started my hike at the Prewett Point Trailhead, which was right behind the visitor center. The vegetation was of oak savanna and the grass was already summer-dry. 

Prewett Point Trail

Seeing how dry everything looked, I didn't expect to see many wildflowers. The first flowers I saw augmented my thought: they were tarplants, which are summer flowers. 

Three-ray Tarweed, Deinandra lobbii

The California buckwheat has a long flowering season and I wasn't surprised seeing it in bloom when most other vegetation around was dry. 

California Buckwheat, Eriogonum fasciculatum

The trail curved gently to the north, gradually revealing the rugged rocks of the Pinnacles. Although the area I was hiking in was part of the Pinnacles National Park, it was not park of The Pinnacles, but of the Diablo Range that the Pinnacles old volcano was embedded in. 

 

The wildflower count was still pretty low but I was seeing more and more bloom by the side of the trail. Not all the flowers I was familiar with. 

Vinegar Weed, Trichostemma lanceolatum

This area of Prewett Point was not included in the original Pinnacles National Park when it was first established (as a National Monument, at the time), but added later when the Lyons homesteaders donated the area to be added to the park. Interpretive signs along the trail told the story of this place, as well as the stories of the native Chalon people whose this place was their ancestral territory. 

Little by little, my count of wildflowers was rising. I was glad to see that despite the too early onset of the warm season, not everything was yet bone dry. 

Goldenstar, Bloomeria crocea

The trail passed very near an oak tree. A movement in the oak branches grabbed my attention - it was a white-breasted nuthatch, and the first bird I saw on this trail. 

White-breasted Nuthatch 

The trail was wide and nearly flat. On the map posted at the trailhead it was marked as accessible. I was alone on the trail for now, but I did see other cars in the parking lot, so I did expect to come across other people at some point. 

The vegetation near the trail changed to sparse chaparral. Low deerweed shrubs lined the south-facing side of the trail and on one of these shrubs, a beautiful duskywings butterfly was taking its mid-day snack. 

Funeral Duskywings butterfly on Deerweed, Acmispon glaber

The Maltese star thistle is a highly invasive species in California. It wasn't too prevalent along the trail but it was present. 

Maltese Star Thistle, Centaurea melitensis

The next wildflower I came upon was a California dodder. The dodder is an obligate parasite plant, that grows on the expense of other shrubs, covering them with its orange-color filaments. I don't usually see it in bloom, and although I saw quite a lot of dodder on my hike, this one was the only dodder that I saw in bloom.  

California Dodder, Cuscuta californica

I spotted a lizard on the side of the trail, under the shade of one of the low shrubs. The lizard eyed me with suspicion as I took its photo, then run off to hide as I passed it. 

Western Whiptail

Prewett Point Loop Trail is a lollipop-shaped trail, and when I reached the loop part of it, I chose to walk around in the clock-wise direction, continuing northeast after turning left. 

Prewett Point Loop Trail 

The chaparral was much taller and thicker here. Many of the bushes were chamise, and to my utter delight, they were blooming. 

Chamise, Adenostoma fasciculatum

The view north was of the round hills that characterize the west side of the Diablo Range. Some of the slopes looked dark with chaparral, others had the light color of open grassland in the process of drying out. 

Prewett Point Loop Trail

I spotted another lizard, peeking from under a rock. This one was a western fence lizard, the species I see most frequently and I never get tired of seeing. 

Western Fence Lizard

A few steps further I paused to regard an interesting bee that was feeding at a goldenstar flower. It wasn't a honey bee or a bumble bee, but a species I was not familiar with. 

California Resin-Leafcutter Bee

All of a sudden another bee came and landed on the first one, hugging her tightly from behind. The first bee continued foraging as if nothing special was happening, while the new bee did his task to ensure a new generation of bees would come to the world. 

California Resin-Leafcutter Bees, mating

The trail curved to the east and once again the Pinnacles came into view. It was nice to see the large volcanic mass standing out of the soft round lines of the surrounding hills. 

This side of the loop trail was on the north-facing side of Prewett Point, and the vegetation changed again from pure bush chaparral to a chaparral mixed with a trees, primarily small oaks, pines and junipers. 

Sure enough, I came upon an interpretive sign that explained how the north-facing slope gets dried out slower, thus supporting more vegetation. There were even ferns (drought-tolerant ferns) growing between the stones that lined up the side of the trail. 

Goldback Fern, Pentagrtamma triangularis 

As I continued curving around Prewett Point, Chalone Peak came into view. Chalone Peak is part of the Pinnacles National Park, but is not part of the old Pinnacles volcano. It is named after the Chalon tribe whose in their ancestral territory it is. I haven't been up there yet and I hope to hike to the peak at some point.

Chalone Peak

As the vegetation got thicker, taller, and greener, there were also more wildflowers. Large clamps of elegant clarkia lined the trail along with thick shrubs of deerweed and some other flowers. 

Elegant Clarkia, Clarkia unguiculata

I arrived a small canopy with a bench and stopped briefly to drink some water and to look at the Pinnacles. Another interpretive sign was there, explaining how did the Pinnacles come about. I didn't need to read the sign - the story of the Pinnacles I already knew well. In short, the old volcano erupted in the area of Neenach, a bit northeast of Los Angeles, then split into two parts by the San Andreas Fault and the large part migrated north along the west side of the fault, leaving its smaller part south in Neenach. 

View of The Pinnacles

When I picked up my backpack again I noticed something reddish crawling on one of the poles of the canopy. I though it was a tick - the one being I really hate seeing., and I immediately started checking myself over, making sure no tick stuck to me. I later found out that this being was a mite, rather than a tick. I'm not sure if these mites bite also and I don't want to find out on my flesh. 

Mite

I reached a trail junction. Turning right would close the loop and then lead me back to the visitor center. That would have made a really short hike though, and I wanted a longer one, so I turned left on the trail that would take me all the way down to Jawbone Canyon.  

Jawbone Canyon Trail

Already at the higher part of the trail I was seeing new wildflowers, such as the beautiful San Bernardino larkspur. 

San Bernardino Larkspur, Delphinium parryi

In a very short distance the trail steepened and dropped down to the valley below. At the same time the chaparral grew tall and thick again, and crowded the trail on both sides. I kept rubbing and getting scratched by the tall bushes that grew into the trail, but I was thankful that the presence of poison oak there was very minimal. Every now and then there was a gap in the bushes that gave me a nice view point of the Pinnacles ahead. 

It was at that part of the trail tat I started hearing the calls of an animal that seemed to be in distress. I stopped and tried looking for it but couldn't locate the caller in the thick vegetation. It was also the spot where I saw other hikers for the first time on the hike. They were three young men walking in the same direction I was. They overtook me from behind and moved on forward. I gave up on trying to find the distressed animal and continued my hike. 

Jawbone Canyon Trail

 

It was a pretty hot day, so when I made it lower and the chaparral changed into trees I was very grateful for the shade. 

Jawbone Canyon Trail

The trees did not form a continuous forest but appeared in stands, separated by tall chaparral. At the top of yet another downhill drop I had the view of the mass of Pinnacles rock that looked to me like a giant turtle. 

I saw a lizard in the middle pf the trail ahead of me. The lizard was far away so I moved carefully closer and snapped a few photos. I them resumed my hiking at a normal pace, assuming that the lizard would simply run off to the side vegetation. The lizard however, was working a different algorithm. It kept moving down the trail too, pausing every now and then and turning to see if I was still there. This went on for quite a long stretch of trail (for a lizard) before the creature eventually did go off to the side. 

Western Whiptail 

The stands of trees were getting taller the deeper I got down the trail. They were now also mostly pine trees with sparse canopies, and the mid-day sun got through with hardly any hindrance. In short, the shade was much smaller and less cooling that that cast by the shorter oaks. 

Jawbone Canyon Trail

It was under those pine trees however, that I saw the first mariposa lily on my hike. Naturally, I got very excited, and photographed the flower many times. Later I saw a few more of the mariposa lilies along the trail, and I was just as happy to see them. 

Butterfly Maripoza Lily, Calochortus venustus

At last the trail came in line close with the Jawbone creek. Why it was named Jawbone, I don't know. It was a small, narrow creek, and the water flow in it was but a thin trickle. Still, that trickle was enough to support nice, green vegetation. My pleasure at seeing the creek was marred by the sight of a mylar balloon that was stuck in the vegetation by the creek. When I made my way down there to retrieve the balloon I realized that the lush green vegetation was poison oak. 

Jawbone Creek

Well, I did get the balloon out, drain it of the water and stuffed it in my backpack to dispose of it later. A short distance after I crossed the creek on a low, wood plank bridge. 

There I had another reason to get down to the water - a clamp of blooming seep monkeyflowers adorned the creek banks. 

Seep Monkeyflower, Erythranthe gutatta

Shortly after crossing the creek the vegetation changed again. The trail continued alongside the creek, through much more open area that was a patchwork of dry grass, low chaparral, and sparse trees. It was also pretty hot and I was getting tired and looked forward to reaching the Jawbone parking area, where I hoped to find a water tap and a shaded place to sit.

Jawbone Canyon Trail

Meanwhile I kept on the lookout for more wildflowers, and there were indeed, more of them. The most intense color however, was the bright orange of the parasitic dodder that covered many of the bushes near the trail. 

California Dodder, Cuscuta californica

 

Many of the wildflower I saw near the trail were tiny, and almost blending with the gravel background of the soil. 

Virgate Eriastrum, Eriastrum virgatum

More belly flowers came up further down the trail. They are called belly flowers because one has to go down on the belly in order to get a good photo. I didn't go down on my belly and settled for a shot from above. 

Redspot Clarkia, Clarkia speciosa

The pearly everlasting is so called because the inflorescences keep their color and shape long after the flowers have gone to seeds. This one I found however, was just beginning to bloom.

Pearly Everlasting, Anaphalis margaritacea

Usually I visit the Pinnacles National Park during winter and early spring. Twice I was there during the summer, which takes much heat tolerance to do, something I was better at when younger. I cannot recall if I had ever visited the park late in spring. Now I was here mid-May, in a year when spring arrived considerably earlier than usual, and I was seeing wildflowers of species that I never saw in bloom before. It was a really nice treat. 

Douglas' Spineflower, Chorizanthe douglasii

It was also pretty hot, so I was glad to finally see the road. A few large oak trees towered over the trail, their heavy boughs holding also much lichen as well as foliage. 

Right before the trail met the road I noticed a few beautiful cobwebby thistle plants that were at the early stages of their bloom. 

Cobwebby Thistle, Cirsium occidentale

The road was the inner park extension of the park access road. From that road split a short driveway, leading to the Jawbone parking area. Careful of cars that might be coming in or going out, I went on that driveway, heading to the parking lot where I was hoping to take a break. 

To Jawbone Parking Area

On the way I noticed some nice honeysuckle vines that were in bloom. Honey bees were busy at the honeysuckle flowers. 

Honey Bee, enjoying the flowers of a Southern Honeysuckle, Lonicera subspicata

I arrived at the Jawbone parking area and was thoroughly disappointed when I saw no picnic area, no restrooms, no shade, and most importantly - no water tap. A quick look at the map showed me that to get all these goodies, I'd have to continue my hike for half a mile longer, to the Chaparral parking lot, where the trailhead for the Balconies Cave and for the High Peaks were. I sighed and moved on. I found the trail at the other end of the parking lot and descended it, passing a corral area that held no horses at the time.

Past the corral the trail leveled. Snaking gently between low scrub shrubs I was heading directly towards the Pinnacles. 

Naturally, I was very glad to find more wildflowers along that part of the hike as well. There were more clarkia flowers, this time of a different species, one that I haven't seen in a while. 

Winecup Clarkia, Clarkia purpurea

Most of the wildflowers I saw on this part of the hike also were pretty small, some of them hardly noticeable. 

Spanish Clover, Acmispon americanus

The trail soon aligned again by a creek - the creek that comes out of the Balconies Cave. I didn't see the water, but the line of green, riparian vegetation was unmistakable. 

Most of the big bushes by the creek were willows but even from afar I could see one elderberry among them. It was also blooming, and when I got close I photographed the pretty blossoms. 

Blue Elder, Sambucus cerulea

I wanted to rush ahead and get to the parking lot withthe facilities already, but even here I was seeing more wildflowers, some hidden in the dry grasses. 

Coast Range False Bindweed, Calystegia collina 

 

I've seen a few California poppies already earlier on the trail but here there were many more of the state flowers, blooming in their bright orange. 

California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica

Little, hairy suncup flowers added their yellow dots to the over all spring colors of the lower Balconies Creek. 

Hairy Suncup, Camissoniopsis hirtella

I found some pineapple weed plants growing right out of the crusty, dry trail packed soil. Pineapple weed makes a good steeped drink, but I didn't pick any. 

Pineapple Weed, Matricaria discoidea

Eventually I arrived the parking area and sat down at a shaded picnic table to rest, eat and hydrate. I watched the creek vegetation, the sparrows, and the few park visitors that ventured into the park from teh west entrance on this hot day as they came and went. 

At the Chaparral Parking Area

It was nice to see the Pinnacles from up close again. For a brief moment I contemplated continuing to the Balconies Cave but on the next moment I dropped the idea. This hike was long enough and I still had to drive home at the end of it. 

The Pinnacles

I don't remember how long I sat at that picnic table in the shade but it felt like a long time. Eventually I had to start heading back, so I ventured into the heat once again, going up the same trail I came down on. 

On the way back I had the chance to get better photos of the wildflowers I saw on the way down. That included the purple owl's clover, which was pretty common along that part of the trail. 

Purple Owl's Clover, Castilleja exserta

Back at the road past the Jawbone parking area I looked for and spotted again the paintbrush bush that I spotted earlier. 

Felt Paintbrush, Castilleja foliolosa

Near that intersection of the road and the trail were also wild rose bushes. I didn't notice earlier that the bushes had some flowers too. Now I took the moment to stop and smell the roses. 

California Wild Rose, Rosa californica

A large gray pine marked the lower end of the Jawbone Canyon Trail. Once I went on the trail it would uphill all the way back to Prewett Point. 

I took a deep breath and stepped out of the tree shade and onto the exposed trail. I was going up Jawbone Creek Trail, heading back uphill. 

It was hot and I was ready to complete the hike, but not so much that I would miss a chance to look at interesting things along the way, like the bush beardtongue that I thought at first to be a kind of sage. 

Bush Beardtongue, Keckiella brevifolia

For the most part though, I didn't stop but kept walking steadily onward. At the bottom of the Jawbone Canyon it was easy enough, because the up hill slope was pretty mild. 

Jawbone Canyon Trail

On the way back I also encountered more people. Not too many - most of the park visitors remained in the Balconies area and didn't go out into the chaparral, but there were a few explorers like me on the trail. None of them stopped for the wildflowers, though. 

Distant Phacelia, Phacelia distans

For as long as the trail was near the creek the uphill slope was fairly mild. After I passed the place where I retrieved the mylar balloon from the water, The trail separated from the creek and the slope steepened considerably. Moreover, the shading trees were left behind, at the creek. I was now going uphill between walls of tall chaparral, trying my best to not get scratched by the rough bushes. It was already late enough in the afternoon so that the tall chamise was casting semi-effective shade on the trail so occasionally I'd pause to drink next to a particularly tall bush. 

Jawbone Canyon Trail

Now tat I was facing the hills I originally descended from I could see tat much of the slopes were taken over by the parasitic dodder. This dodder is a California native plant so there is a regular, natural cycle of host-parasite  peak and ebb. I guess I was seeing the peaking of the dodder in that area.

After a stretch of continuous ascend, I reached the trail junction with the Prewett Point Loop Trail. I paused to take another sip of water and to regard the Chalone Peak in the southeast, promising myself that I'll come back at some point to ascend that peak. 

Chalon Peak

Naturally, this time I took the shorter arm of the Prewett Point Loop. It was really short but I got to see some lovely and tiny popcornflowers blooming by the trail side, and a number of western fence lizards that were too quick for me to photograph.  

Popcornflower, Cryptantha sp. 

Near the junction that closes the Prewett Point Loop I run into two elderly men. They paused to greet me and to warn me about the prevalence of ticks on this trail. They were local and hiked here a lot, they said. I took their warning very seriously, after all I did see what I thought was a tick already. 

Prewett Point Trail

A quick scan of my body and backpack revealed no ticks. A more thorough scan after the hike and at home didn't reveal any ticks either. 

Oak, Quercus sp.

The way back to the parking lot was quick and easy. I was ready to finish my hike and get driving home but I did stop for another lizard that was on the trail and wasn't in a hurry to run away from me. 

Common Side-blotched Lizard

The visitor center was already closed when I completed my hike, and the sun was dipping west. Thankfully the facilities were open. I rearranged myself, washed my face from the sweat and dust, scanned myself for ticks (negative!), said goodbye to this lovely park, and started my drive home.