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Originally, we followed some bad driving directions from a book which led
us to a secondary parking lot further along Pescadero Road. This has a
sign and a small trail that leads toward the marsh. However, after hiking
for a couple minutes we found the route unpassable -- the trail was muddy
and basically disappeared into the cat tails. We backed out and then drove
along Pescadero Road trying to find the right parking lot before finally
finding it right next to Highway 1.
From the parking lot, you can see the waves of the Pacific Ocean crashing
toward the coast. The trail is a wide dirt road that parallels Highway 1
for a short bit. Near the trailhead we saw a handful of California poppies.
We saw various other wildflowers later along the trail.
Pescadero Marsh
The trail turns inland and then starts descending on single track down toward
the marsh. It's a short descent, with clear views of the marsh. Along the
trail is a lot of raspberry bushes. At this time of year, the cat tails of
the marsh were all brown. There weren't many birds, either. We saw a handful of egrets,
some ducks, and a few other birds. If you time it right, you'll probably find this
place teeming with birds.
Bridge
At the bottom there's a footbridge over a creek. We stopped here for a short
snack before continuing along the levee. Here, the trail grew denser and denser.
Long pants is a definite must for this trail, as the raspberry bushes grow closer
and closer. Eventually we got to a point where it simply wasn't worth it to
continue. I imagine that if the state parks continue to have budget cuts, the trail
will probably all but disappear in a couple years. It probably doesn't help that
the trail probably gets little use. We saw only 3 other people on the trail, and
all of them were between the bridge and the parking lot.
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