Description

This easy hike to Bear Gulch Cave is one of the most popular hikes in Pinnacles National Park. The smooth, wide trail "ascends a beautiful boulder-filled gorge" to reach the talus cave, according to [HikesPeak.com](https://www.hikespeak.com/trails/bear-gulch-pinnacles-national-monument/).

Trees and vegetation along the stream bottom provide a cool, shaded hike, and the boulders are popular with climbers. The highlight of this hike is undoubtedly the cave itself! The NPS sometimes closes the cave to protect the bats that live here, but when it's open, you'll find a series of railings and steps that will aid your descent into the cave.

Be sure to bring a headlamp or flashlight—while "a few shafts of light slip through the boulder ceiling, other areas are pitch black," according to Hikes Peak.

Bear Gulch Creek also runs through the cave, "tumbling over rocks and adding a rich sound to the dark passageway.

Follow the trail up steps and across metal scaffolding to progress out of the talus cave and back into the daylight." While you can choose to return to the car on the Bear Gulch Cave Trail, you can also turn this into a mellow lollipop loop by utilizing the Moses Spring Trail for the return trip.