I recently found out about this place from a friend's Instagram story when they went. So I made…read moresure to plan a hike here for when I had time.
I was able to come here in the middle of the week around noon. The GPS made this place easy to find. There is plenty of parking here at pena adobe park and lagoon valley park. The hike is located at lagoon valley park, so don't mix those up. You do have to pay $5 for parking, and the machine kiosk was broken when I went, but you can still pay through the park mobile app, which is what I did.
The hike is listed as moderate, but felt borderline difficult to me (maybe I'm just out of shape). There is a lot of up hill when you first start, and because there wasn't a lot of shade combined with me going on the hottest day of the week (low 80 degrees), it did make it feel more difficult.
After I parked, I was a bit confused on where to go so had to ask someone finishing up their hike for the direction. I was instructed to go up the main trail past the gate for the main trail to the lighthouse at the top. There are lots of trails here, but the one to the top of the hill is the most popular, and probably the most difficult). Once you park in the lot by the lake/pond, you cross the road to the grassy side and follow that trail to the gate that keeps the cows inside. There is another easier hike/walk your can take around the lake/pond, which is mostly flat.
The views on this hike are great. Despite it being a little warmer, the breeze helped a lot. I liked the views and made it to the top after about 1 and a half hours. In total, it took me about 2 hours to finish the hike. And that's with a 20 minute break halfway going uphill. Going downhill is a lot faster. I'll be back for one of the other trails and how to bring family and friends to join.