Andrew Molera State Park is located off of Highway 1 in California's central coast region known as Big Sur. Since this park is one of the more popular state parks, it does not take the Golden Poppy Vehicle Day Use Pass but there are areas off the highway you park as well as spots in the parking lot which is only $10 and you support the parks! We packed a picnic and hit the trail around noon. We crossed over the river by foot from the parking lot and started off on the Beach Trail which was mostly flat and took us to the beach. From the beach we walked up the Bluffs Trail and saw amazing views of the cliffs on the coast. We took a detour down Spring Trail to the beach to have lunch. Just a word of caution that in order to get to the beach you have to walk over several feet of chopped wood chunks. The beach is fairly secluded and you won't find too many people there with you. Remember to bring a jacket as it tends to get windy by the water. The beach is sprinkled with purple sand. After lunch, we walked back up the Spring Trail and took the Panorama Trail up to the Ridge Trail. Make sure you wear pants since parts of the Panorama Trail does have overgrown brush which includes poison oak. There is a bench at the top before the Ridge Trail to take another break. The Ridge Trail is fairly easy with a couple of dips while the Panorama Trail is moderate to strenuous with a 600 ft gain in elevation. Once down the Ridge Trail, we took the Creamery Meadow Trail down to the river and walked back to the parking lot.
