Patrick’s Point State Park: Trinidad, California

California is filled with state parks, and if you’re on a road trip, it can get quite expensive visiting the parks, as they don’t have an all-inclusive pass you can buy, like the National Parks do.

I’m kind of cheap, so I was hesitant on visiting Patrick’s Point State Park, knowing that we’d only spend maybe ~2 hours here at most, and then be on to the next spot. Additionally, knowing that I’ve seen a lot of coastal scenery on this trip and past trips, I wasn’t sure if I was in for the same ol/same ol stuff you could see for free on a roadside pull out. However, I was pleasantly surprised.

Details:

Location:
Patrick’s Point State Park is located about 6 miles north of Trinidad, California, right off Highway 101.

Admission:
$8 per car

Time commitment:
1-2 hours, if you’re just here to snap photos, hike on a few trails, but you could spend an entire day here and camp overnight if you wanted.

Visiting Patrick’s Point State Park

This park is absolutely beautiful! Wedding Rock is the main attraction and it is a very easy 0.2 mile hike (and it’s a stretch calling it a hike – it’s more like a short walk). This trail is located at the back of the park, with some other side trails that we explored while we were there.

We were here in July and practically had the place to ourselves. One thing to note – fog on the California coastline is always an issue, especially during summer mornings. We were here around 11am and the fog was starting to dissipate, but never fully lifted during our time here.

In addition to the coastal scenery, there is a Native American re-created village in this park, with all kinds of structures set up to show what life was like back then. Unfortunately, we did not visit this on our trip, as I did not know about it until we had already left – oops. Next time!

Patrick’s Point State Park – Pros and Cons

Pros:
Beautiful coastal scenery – can be a nice break from all of the Redwood-based parks in the area
Easy walk to Wedding Rock

Cons:
Omnipresent fog in the area can be disappointing