coastside trail

This is a great trail, although a bridge has been out for many months so one cannot go as long as one might want to walk. Great views and bathrooms along the way. We like to do this before having a good lunch at the beach.

Being from Hawaii, the water is freezing cold!!! I did see people surfing in wet suits. But the water is below 50 degrees and very grey, not appealing to me.

We visited the trail based on it's TripAdvisor rating. Sadly, We were a little let down. I actually questioned whether we were in the right spot until we found the closed bridge others have talked about. Having spent the prior day in a park in Carmel we may have had our expectations sat too high. This trail seemed mostly flat and less scenic than we had believed. If you're spending a lot of time in Half Moon Bay or maybe want to spend some time on the beach then give this a stop. If you're looking for larger parks then you might be best served elsewhere.

I wrote a previous review titled "One of Half Moon Bay's Best Kept Secrets!" which is still true, but with explanations. The long bridge that looks so beautiful in the photos is rusted out and collapsed and unsafe at one end. It will be closed until a new bridge can be planned and funded, which unfortunately will take a long time. In the meantime, one can still enjoy the trail by planning ahead and walking a part of the trail north or south of the bridge, which roughly bisects the trail. That still gives you about three or four miles to hike in each direction. If cycling, you can still bike the entire trail by taking the long non-scenic detour inland to the Highway 1 trail between Kelly and Kehoe Avenues to bypass the bridge. Be advised: reviewers who describe the trail as boring clearly have not hiked very much of it, or don't care about viewing wildlife. Along its entire length there is quite a bit of variety. Normally I would choose the southern half as containing my favorite segments, mostly because of the birds and wildflowers. Although not diehard birdwatchers, we carry binoculars to stop and watch the white-tailed (black-shouldered?) kites flying and hovering in pursuit of their next meal of voles or gophers, or the northern harriers dipping and swooping low over the ground, or strings of pelicans cruising the coastline at eye-level along the blufftop. Extremely rarely, you might even see a bobcat or coyote. If you have difficulty walking on unpaved, irregular trails, be advised that the segment from the western end of Poplar St. to the western end of Redondo Beach Rd. is mostly unpaved. The hilliest portion is the southern-most stretch, from Redondo Beach Rd. through the golf course and the grounds of the Ritz Carlton Hotel, and especially south of the Ritz Carlton through the golf course to the southern end of the trail. But the northern half of the trail . . . two days ago we and our greyhounds were hiking the Miramar to Surfer's Beach (just south of the harbor) part of the trail and were treated to the most amazing sight. Thousands of seabirds (gulls, terns, pelicans) were gathered en masse, fishing just offshore due to what must have been huge schools of anchovies or sardines. We are used to seeing pelicans diving for fish in the bay here, or northwest of here in the harbor. But now many of the pelicans were simply floating on the water, dipping their beaks in the water to catch fish among the myriad gulls. But the real treat was to watch a large humpback whale, out beyond the surf break, not only spouting and giving us glimpses of his back as he dove, but coming up head first and showing his head briefly before diving again. We chose a bad day to leave the binoculars and cameras at home! We saw sea lions in the surf as well, and expected to see the dolphins that sometimes show up when there is a seabird feeding frenzy going on, but perhaps they were staying clear of their big cetacean cousin. If you come out to the trail and see two tall humans being walked by four different-colored leashed greyhounds, be sure to say hi!

you can park on the residential street otherwise it's $10. I went to go bird watching and to walk on the beach. Lovely beach.

It was peaceful and a beautiful walk, great little coves and met some really nice people on the trail

The coastside trail is a treat whether you walk or ride a bike. Bluffs and beach, the smell of the ocean...breaking waves. It goes on for miles and so can you.

We walked for several miles along the trail, but got fairly bored with the views after several miles.There was no stunning scenery just miles of beach one side and flat dune like sandy grass on the other with a tarmacadam walkway along a large part, used by walkers and cyclists.

Sadly the bridge is out on one end of the trail, and reconnecting is challenging, but running early in the morning, or walking late in the evening was one of the pleasures of our trip.

We love to see and walk on the beach. We went to pebble beach which is not sand beach but rocky beach and it was pretty to see ocean.

Good walk near coastal area.But nothing special.I visited this place after couple of beaches so haven't found excited.

Do not confuse this trail with the one that runs near the highway. The coastal trail is a delight, mostly level, paved, with bridges over creeks, its runs the entire bay on state property along the bluff's, so unobstructed views of the ocean, great place to walk, jog, and ride your bike - dog friendly with leash as there is ample wildlife.

Sadly, an unthinking State Parks employee drove a tractor over the John Hernandez Bridge, leading to a small section of the bridge collapsing. As a result, our (almost) daily bike rides have been reduced from 8 miles to 4. Since Cal State Parks has no money allocated for repairs, it seems like it will be many months before the bridge is fixed.

Have rode this trail a few times. Easy for ages of all. Takes about 45 minutes to get to the end. The end there is a small, old fashioned house coffee shop. Nice outdoor seating and very casual. Just nice to sit and relax and watch people. Next to this is a restaurant that if very fancy shmancy with valet parking. Didn't feel comfortable eating here since we rode up on our bikes. Basically at the end of the trail you just turn around and go back. On this trip the bridge at Half Moon Bay was closed down due to a partial bridge collapse. Very beautiful ocean scenery the entire route.

Really had no complaints on the coastside trail...we enjoyed it both walking and on our bikes. Can't wait to go back.