Los Osos Oaks Reserve Trail

Los Osos Oaks Reserve Trail

Location: Los Osos, San Luis Obispo County, CA
Miles: 2 miles
Difficulty: Easy
Duration: 1 hour
Users: Hikers only. No dogs, horses, or mountain bikes permitted. No wheelchair access.

Photo Source: Baywood Los Osos

The Hike:

You can only hike in the area during the daylight hours, so you should plan your trip accordingly. When you begin your hike you will hear the noise from the road. However, as you get further into the park you will begin to hear the water trickling and the birds singing.

Los Osos Oaks Reserve is a natural reserve that offers sand dunes that are covered with live oak trees that are centuries old. The reserve is located in the Los Osos Valley on Los Osos Valley Road. This area is about halfway between the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The weather can change quickly so it is recommended that you wear layers when hiking in this area!

There are 5 major plant communities that thrive in this reserve according to botanists, including riparian, coast live oak, central coastal scrub, coastal sage scrub, and dune oak scrub. Each of the oak communities are close to one another, but they all have their own characteristics. The average size of these coastal oak trees is between six and eight feet.

Top 3 Adventure Hacks

1) Wear comfortable clothes

This hike is basically a nature walk and is best enjoyed when you’re comfortable when you take the trail. So, wear what you’re comfortable in.

2) Avoid poison oak

There are a lot of features on this trail such as Pygmy Oaks, Mushrooms, Ivy, Ferns, Streams, a Hidden Lake, and Wildlife. But make sure you avoid once that could hurt you like poison oak.

3) Protect yourself from bugs

You can wear a hiking hat that could cover a great deal of exposed facial areas that bugs might possibly bite!