Walking with the Devil

{NOTE January 2024: Due to rains, before visiting this spot check ahead for any road and trail closures and/or hazards before heading out, and exercise good judgement for overall safety.}

It used to be a treacherous stretch of highway. Today it’s a beautiful stretch of paved trail, perched high and hugging some of California's most scenic coastline. The Devil's Slide section of the California Coastal Trail is a 1.3-mile (one-way) multi-use path just south of Pacifica. It's usually much less crowded when gray skies and rain are around. And it's a prime spot for viewing all that's wild about the weather and the sea.

Bring your raincoat and start on the out-and-back asphalt path. Follow the path as it meanders and curves to huge cliff-hugging views of the Pacific, Pedro Rock, and numerous sea stacks and small islands often thrashed by storm-swelling waves. You're high enough to observe the drama safely and can take a closer look via an on-site viewing telescope (50 cents, please). Benches and informational placards pepper the pathway. Aside from the rumble-tumble of the Pacific, keep an eye out for jutting Egg Rock, home to the once endangered common murres now making a comeback due to conservation efforts. You'll also see the precipitous and off-limits stairway cutting up and into the side of a hulking cliff that was once a strategic military surveillance base. Return the way you came.

Map. Park at the Devil's Slide trailhead north parking lot, off Hwy. 1 just before the Devil's Slide Tunnel, heading southbound (there's another trailhead and parking lot at the southern end of the tunnel). Make sure to arrive early on weekends; the lot fills up quickly.