If you're looking for a strenuous climb with a great view, try Toro Park's Ollason Peak. It provides sweeping views of Monterey Bay and the Salinas Valley, and in the right season abounds with wildflowers.
Toro Park's 20 miles of trails, all of which lead to sweeping views of the Salinas Valley and Monterey Bay, offer a range of environments for the hiker, cyclist or horse rider. The most popular trail is the "1800" trail, which rises from sea level to 1,800 feet and provides the best scenic views.
To run the "1800" trail, park in the Quail Meadow area, and look for the trail that runs by the creek; that's the beginning of Ollason Trail. This trail runs through grassy and wooded areas, through open meadows and forested canyons, and past a stone outcropping known as the Devil's Throne. Follow all the way up to the top of Ollason Peak. Just past Ollason Peak, turn left on to the Coyote Spring Trail and follow it to the Cougar Ridge Trail, which will lead you back to the road just down from the parking area.
According the the website this is a 9 mile hike, however, when ran following these directions, the GPS came out with 7.41 miles.
Admin note: We observe that people are stopping their times at different locations, such as where the trail ends. In our opinion, this FKT should be "car-to-car", or from the TH where you start back to that same point.
Comments
Hi! Gave this route a run today & was absolutely beautiful. I was surprised by the second half though. It's a bike only trail and quite narrow so hard to jump off the trail if a bike is coming. Wonder if we could re-route to Red Mountain, which is the hiker route? If anyone knows the park better (this was my first visit), I wonder what the best route is. Also, there is a gate with barbed wire at mile 6.3. You can unlock it, but wasn't sure if anyone knew more about this. Kudos to those with the fast times on this one!