Cabrillo National Monument Hike: Bayside Trail
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This beautiful Cabrillo National Monument hike along the Bayside Trail is a quick and easy, two-mile down and back with panoramic views of the ocean and the bay.
You will see sailboats and naval ships passing beneath you as you walk out to the end of Point Loma.
Cabrillo National Monument is San Diego’s only national park. It stands as a monument to the first European expedition to land on the West Coast of the United States.
Quick video of the Bayside Trail & Cabrillo tidepools
This video will inspire you to hit up a Cabrillo National Monument hike! The views are everything:
The Bayside Trail: A Cabrillo National Monument Hike
Stop in the visitors center to check out the maps (and get your National Parks Passport stamp!) Check out the statue of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, who landed here in 1542.
You can also check out the World War II Museum at the Cabrillo National Monument and learn about the defense measures taken along the San Diego coast.
Now you’re ready to set out on the Bayside Trail, a stunning Cabrillo National Monument hike with educational signage all along the path.
You’ll start at the Old Point Loma Lighthouse before cruising along for your panoramic views.
There are benches to sit in all along the way. You may be inspired to sit and soak up the scenery!
This is one of those hikes where you head downhill before turning around to go uphill. It’s a fairly gentle slope, but you’ll break a sweat on your return trip to the visitors center, lighthouse, and parking lot.
Don’t miss the tidepools after your Cabrillo National Monument Hike!
The rocky intertidal zone of the Cabrillo National Monument gives ways to seriously cool tidepools to explore with all kinds of sea critters.
You can walk there as part of your Cabrillo National Monument hike, taking the Point Loma Tidepools and Bluff Trail, a 1.2-mile loop. Or you can drive to the separate parking lot near the tidepools and the jagged bluffs that jut out over the water.
The best time to visit the tidepools is in fall and winter. Low tide occurs in the middle of the night in the summer months. Check out the National Park Service info on the tidepools here.
Logistics for visiting Cabrillo National Monument
Quick tips for Cabrillo
- Chocolate bar marzipan jujubes jelly-o carrot cake caramels. Tootsie roll cookie jujubes powder icing lemon drops. Pastry brownie topping oat cake chocolate cake jelly candy gingerbread tart.
- Physical address: 1800 Cabrillo Memorial Drive San Diego, CA 92106
- There are no dogs allowed on the Bayside Trail.
- There are no bikes allowed on the Bayside Trail.
- Open every day from nine to five (Bayside Trail closes at 4 and the tidepools close at 4:30)
- Each vehicle is $20 (or use your $80 America the Beautiful National Park Annual Pass!)
- The Cabrillo National Monument Annual Pass is $35
Where to stay in San Diego
Here is a list of hotels and homes to rent in and near San Diego:
More posts on California
Love this post, so much useful info! We love a coastal hike too and this one looks amazing.
Those tidepools are just everything!
A lighthouse, tide pools and sea views? Count me in!
Cabrillo has got it all!
What a beautiful trail! These scenic trails offer so much! A lovely short path like this can take forever for photographers like us! Thanks for sharing!
It sure does! I thought it would be a quick hike…but I couldn’t stop with the pictures!
I have been to San Diego SO many times in my petsitting adventures and I’m always looking for new things to do while I’m there. I can’t believe this is the first time I’ve come across the Bayside Trail and the Cabrillo National Monument. Thanks for giving me a fun activity when I petsit my way through there again in September!
You are most welcome! I love doing the petsitter thing too, by the way! Such a great way to see the world.
The Bayside Trail looks beautiful. We love walking trails along water. The rock cliffs look really neat too!
I love trails along the water, too! So medititative. Thanks for reading, Ashlee!
What a beautiful trail! As a fan of tide pools (saw some amazing ones in Asia too) this looks like a great destination!
Ohhh I need to find those tidepools in Asia!
What a beautiful view! There’s not better than hiking to see something so stunning. I’ve never been to this, and I am for sure going to put this on my list! 🙂
Thanks for reading, Jen! I hope you do get here one day!
The Cabrillo National Monument hike looks like it has great views and sounds very manageable!
Indeed! Great views and only a slight sweat!
I’ve seen it from the water but never knew how to hike it! What a great hike & other activities!
Thanks for reading Peggy! I hope you see it from the other perspective soon!
This looks like beautiful hike! I really need to plan another trip to San Diego! So many beautiful places to explore there!
Yes! I am here now and I am overwhelmed by all the options!
What a lovely place to hike those views are stunning. Would love to visit the WW2 museum
Yes, I want to go back and spend much more time at the museum.
We love Cabrillo! And the views are just amazing! Great post and unique captures as well! Lived in San Diego for 20+ years, and finally just a couple yrs ago, I went to explore this park!
I hear that so often with Cabrillo! Glad you visited. And if you have any tips for me while I’m here in San Diego, I am all ears!
So beautiful, one of my favorite places in San Diego! Lovely descriptions and pictures too, I love those tide pools!
The tidepools are the absolute best. I need to come back in the winter for the full experience.
This is great! I didn’t even know this place existed. How beautiful are those views ?
It’s not a bad way to spend the day!
This looks like an amazing trail, Jen. The lighthouse might not be the tallest in the country, but it looks rather cute. The bluffs and rock formations are outrageously beautiful and tide pools are always fun.
Thanks so much for reading (and clicking through!) And you are oh, so right about those bluffs!