One of SLO County’s top hiking trails is about to start charging for parking
If you love hiking at one of San Luis Obispo County’s top trail systems with ocean views, get ready to cough up some cash.
Starting Thursday, guests looking to enjoy the 880-acre Pismo Preserve off of Highway 101 will have to pay to park in the trailhead parking lot, where parking had previously been free, according to the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County, which maintains the preserve.
Guests will pay $5 to park for a day or $50 for an annual parking pass, according to the Land Conservancy’s website.
Land Conservancy development and community engagement director Jamie Bell said the decision to add parking fees was made in response to a funding shortfall in operational funding for the preserve, which costs around $200,000 each year to maintain.
Since opening in January 2020, the Preserve has routinely hosted around 180,000 guests each year, but hasn’t seen donation funding keep up with its popularity, with the Preserve itself receiving around $50,000 a year in donations, Bell said.
“The Land Conservancy is a 501c3 nonprofit land trust, so we don’t see any local or state tax revenue for ongoing operations,” Bell said. “We fully rely on donations to keep the Pismo Preserve open, and unfortunately, donations have been declining each year since we opened, so resorting to paid parking is what we felt we needed to do to make sure we keep this place open for everybody to enjoy.”
Effective Thursday, Land Conservancy staff will be on hand to monitor paid parking at the lot, which holds 46 standard spaces, four motorcycle spaces, three equestrian or school bus parking spaces and three Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant spaces, Bell said.
Guests can still walk or bike in for free without parking in the lot, and staff will prioritize communication with guests over the fee, only resorting to towing vehicles that repeatedly violate the new parking rules, Bell said.
“Direct feedback to our organization has been very positive,” Bell said. “Of course, we’ve got a few people who are disappointed that we’ve had to make this change, but we have strived to make it as affordable and accessible as possible.”
This story was originally published October 14, 2025 at 1:31 PM.
