J. CARROLL

Hikers on the trail looking toward Hartford's Pier in San Luis Bay. The Pecho Coast trail is a good place to watch migrating gray whales.
 ALONG MOST OF THE California coast, Highway 1 winds along the edge of the Pacific, offering endless vistas of shore and ocean. In a few places, however, it veers inland, skirting an expanse of rugged coast. That happens in northern Mendocino County, leaving the hard-to-reach "Lost Coast" isolated and wild, and also in San Luis Obispo County, between Morro Bay and Avila Beach, where a 13-mile stretch of coastline remained closed to the public for 140 years. Part of that area can now be visited.
The Pacific Gas & Electric Company controls this coastal reach and, until four years ago, kept it entirely off-limits to the public as a security measure for the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, which stands on a coastal terrace. Until the 1960s, the land was owned by large-scale ranchers and farmers. The coastal highway was routed inland of their property.
In 1993, PG&E opened the 3.7-mile Pecho Coast Trail (a 7-mile hike round trip), allowing the public to see a coast that had been shut off since the Spanish mission days. The trail is open for docent-led walks, by reservation only. It starts at Port San Luis, climbs to views of the Nipomo Dunes, passes by the Point San Luis Lighthouse (soon to be restored), and continues along the coastal terrace to Rattlesnake Canyon, with sweeping views upcoast.
The creation of the Pecho Coast Trail took ten years, beginning in 1983, when PG&E applied for a Coastal Commission permit to expand its facility. The Commission granted the permit on condition that the company offer a strip of coastal land for a future trail and pay a fee for construction and several years of maintenance. PG&E hired experts to study the characteristics of the area. Remarkable information was discovered: sea otters were pupping in coves along the coastal terrace; a range of plant and animal life was thriving in the tidepools; there were Chumash Indian sites.
A unique partnership was formed among the California Coastal Commission, PG&E, the Nature Conservancy, and the Port San Luis Harbor District. The Nature Conservancy directed the trail's construction, developed a docent program, and led tours for the first three years. PG&E has managed the trail. Multiple goals have been achieved: the natural and archeological resources are protected, power plant security is maintained, and the public is allowed to view this beautiful area. Monitoring has shown no impacts on wildlife.
The tours are given twice weekly, for up to 20 people per tour. Docents help people learn about natural features, wildlife, and cultural history, and also keep visitors from straying into sensitive areas. Beaches are reserved for the sea otter families, for instance, so they are off-limits to humans. What the human visitors get, however, is a unique and exhilarating coastal experience.

Linda Locklin is access program manager for the Coastal Commission.

Want to walk this trail?
Call (805) 541-TREK to make a reservation.

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