Bishop Peak

Okay, from all the «great» reviews I figured I would take my bf here for our 5 years anniversary. He’s a hiker — I don’t consider myself one. I hike at least once a year. But why not give it a shot?
WORST HIKE OF MY LIFE! There’s literally no sign of which path leads to where. There were too many ‘random’ paths/​trails… which someone can get lost taking. We got lost. Had to do a few U-​wee. Which required more hiking up and down the rocky hill.
Don’t get me wrong, the hike was beautiful. The scenic view was breath taking. The BIG rocks were fun to climb over. I’m small so I had to literally use all four limbs.
From the level of 1 – 10 (10 being hard) I would say this trail is a good 7 – 8! Bring LOTS of water. The wind was very helpful. But sometimes it can get dry and hot too.
Would I come back? NO. Do I recommended it? Sure, just remember which trail you started from and where to go because you can EASILY get lost.

Visited SLO with the family after graduating from Poly long ago. Decided to take them on the Bishops hike not knowing how far they would make it. Our three kids are 3, 6, and 9 and even entering from the Foothill trailhead (didn’t realize there was an easier, second trailhead until afterwards) they were all troopers and made it to the top. Awesome view from the top and not too difficult of terrain. Highly recommend!

First of all, I was skeptical if 1 Highland Dr was the right place to park. Yes it is. Go all the way to the top. There is about 15 spots going down the street. There are other entrances but idk where those are (yet).
The trail starts with walking uphill a bumpy dirt road.
Then you climb some more dirt, small rocks, then gradually larger rocks.
The view is great the entire way since you walk on the side of the mountain (inner side of the valley). Luckily it’s not too windy.
The top: I’m sort of afraid of heights. I’m 5’4 and it took several attempts to climb certain rocks at the top. My friend helped me get to the highest Boulder. The view was soooo cool. I was half afraid of the rock rolling down the mountain and half thinking, «Yay me!»
Walking back to the car and climbing down was MUCH easier and faster.
I definitely recommend it!

Respect the trail, pack out your trash and enjoy the view. I hike it weekly. It is very challenging, wear boots and watch your step. Not for the inexperienced.

My husband and I were looking for a nice hike, and we search online for the nicest hiking trails in SLO and we find a list of five hiking trails. We were on our way to another hiking trail when we saw cars parked on the side and decided to see what was it about. We discovered this nice hiking trail!
The trail is about 6 miles long, that, if you decide to not keep walking after you reach the high point after the botanical national park. The trail is smooth, the is lots of space to walk with big groups. In fact, you can drive through the trail if you have a car that can manage the hills. We walked around 7 miles! The views were gorgeous.
If you are planning on doing this hike, make sure you bring enough water, and that you are prepared to walt 3.5 miles up a very high hill!
If you are thinking of camping, I understand you can but you need permission and you can access it through their website.

Yay!!! I can finally take this off my hiking bucket list. I’m not an advanced, extreme hiker. I hike for fun. With that being said, let’s talk about my experience at Bishop Peak. I parked in the residential area and walked up to the beginning of the trail. There’s an area where the trail splits. Right or left. I chose the left since I saw more people on that trail. There was shady areas with trees but once you start walking up the trail, no more shade. It gets rocky and kinda scary. No guard rails or anything. You’re practically walking in the edge of the mountain, sorta speak. I saw mostly students from Poly and not young children. Some people were running down the trail. My legs were starting to feel wobbly but I kept on going. I eventually made it to the top of the peak. Took about an hour and a half with few short water breaks in between. The view of SLO was so awesome!!! Totally worth it!!! Going back down was much easier. Clean trail, people brought their dogs on leashes. Be sure to bring water. There’s no drinking fountain anywhere. Enjoy your hike and be safe!

We spent 30 minutes trying to find the «start» position for this hike.
Being from Norcal, none of us had any familiarity with Bishop’s Peak. We’ve hiked Mt. Tam together as well as Mission Peak (the Norcal version of Bishop’s Peak) before, so we are not hiking amateurs. Bishop’s Peak does not have clear-​cut directions, so that was a bummer.
We started out parking in a residential area called «Brittany’s Circle.» The directions via Google Maps told us that that was the starting position for the hike. Just so y’all know, Brittany’s Circle is the back-​end of Bishop’s Peak… and most people truly BEGIN the hike on the «front side» of the mountain. Anyhoo, after struggling for tens of minutes to find the starting point (along with two other parties of lost first-​timer Bishop hikers), we finally got to the start.
We saw some families with smaller kids (don’t know how they did), lots of people bouldering, and mainly locals or big groups of people – probably students? We started the hike around 11AM, so it was pretty hot by the time we got to the top. It takes 2 hours to get to the top if you haven’t done this hike before. It wasn’t as strenuous as hikes like Mission Peak or Mt. Tam, but the «hardest» parts about this hike are the lack of shade. There’s lots of dust/​sand along the hike so bring sunnies and a hat! We also enjoyed preparing our lunch beforehand (got wraps and salads from Trader Joe’s) so we could sit on the peak and relax on the rocks. That was a plus.
In all, we loved this hike and it is definitely a must when you get to SLO. The only downside to this hike was the unclear start point. There aren’t enough signs… how are out of towners supposed to know where to begin?!

We just hiked the Bishop’s Peak trail and we loved it! I agree with the fellow reviewer who says that it’s a but more difficult than «medium difficulty.» But, it was a fun hike. Good amount of people, everyone was cordial and mindful of others…
The hike starts pretty easy-​med, towards the end it gets a bit harder, but it’s so worth it! The view from the top is amazing :). Time-​wise, it depends on your pace of course! For us, it was 2hrs total — we stopped a couple of times to take in the scenery, take some pics and rest a bit. At the top we sat down for about 10mins. But, when actively walking we were going at a «fast walking pace.»
All in all, we really enjoyed it and would def recommend this!

When my son was five his father took him to the top of Bishop Peak. That hike preceded the cell phone era and they were gone so long that I began fearing that something had happened to his dad. Briefly, I harbored dark visions of my five year old wandering the mountain, lost and alone.
It took me fifteen years and ten minutes on the mountain to dispel that image completely for Bishop Peak is probably the most frequented hiking trail in all of San Luis Obispo County. It’s like everyone in town looks at each other sometime over the weekend and declares «Let’s go hike Bishop Peak». Even if my son had been lost and wandering he would’ve been found within 5 minutes tops. It’s a busy trail.
Bishop Peak is the highest in a chain of morros (extinct volcanoes) and has an easy to follow single-​track trail up to the top. The trail is anywhere from 3.5 — 4.5 miles round trip (depending on which publication you consult) with an elevation of 950 feet. The whole hike (in and out) will take you about 2 hours.
Despite being the highest of the peaks on view I had little appreciation for the intensity of this hike, and found it to be much more demanding than I’d anticipated. I attribute my experience to hiking in the heat of the day and hiking with a dog who kept getting too hot and tired out to continue. In addition, the rocky terrain on the upper half adds a lot of impact to your feet and knees.
Near the top you’ll see a bench etched with the words «end of trail». They’re just kidding. Almost everyone goes past that point, scaling the giant boulders to reach what is truly the peak. If your dog is with you though, you might just have to stop at the bench. I couldn’t discern a way to get her safely up and down those rocks and she wanted no part of me trying. Even if you can’t get much beyond the bench though, the views are great.
Bishop Peak is a very good, not too difficult hike, best tackled during the still cool, early morning hours. There are several entrance points but the one I took began at the top of Highland Drive, where hikers can park on the street.
If you want to see what everyone else in town is doing for exercise head on over to Bishop Peak. Great views, great workout, and bears the stamp of approval from my former five year old who, yes, made it to the top.

Review #800!
Loved this hike. There are 2 routes — 1 route veers to the right side of the mountain when you’re headed towards the main trailhead… this one is a shorter distance but considerably more challenging since it’s extremely steep. If you choose this route, expect to climb and use all four limbs for stability. The 2^nd route is the main route with all the switchbacks. It takes longer but it’s a pretty enjoyable hike. The hike will take approximately 2 hours.
At the end of the switchbacks, you’re at the top of Bishop’s Peak. To get to the very top of the peak you’ll have go bouldering and climb up there. Just go slow. If you have a fear of heights, you’ll probably be nervous on the very top. We brought our GoPro and got some awesome pictures.
There were a ton of SLO students hiking + families and doggies. It’s uncovered so wear a hat and bring sunscreen and water.

Climbed up via foothill, (park your car, climb over a fence, and then up a steep hill!) and total hike took a little over 2 hours.
Bishop’s peak looks awesome from afar, looks even cooler when you’re hiking it. It’s a perfect blend of trail, rock, and scenery.
I’m sort of new to hiking, so I’d call myself a beginner. The climb is sort of slippery between the rocks, so sneakers or hiking shoes are recommended. But it’s not impossible to do them in canvas shoes – you’ll just slip more. :)
I didn’t find this hike too taxing, it was really fun to climb up the rocks! If you’re in SLO– take some time to come up here!
Also, i highly recommend starting the hike in the evening before sunset– that’s when I did it. Around 6pm and came down a little after 8pm. :) you won’t get the sun beaming down at you and you get to see long beautiful afternoon casted shadows.