On Friday, April 3, 2026 we hiked the trail to Poly Canyon and the Cal Poly Architecture Graveyard for the first time in two years. Everyone succeeded brilliantly in navigating the parking challenges and payment app. Unlike when Russ scouted the route, there were a lot fewer cars in the lot due to it being an Easter holiday. The morning started with an extremely strong wind that blew maps and hats around. Fortunately, it calmed down a bit and warmed up we passed through campus to the trailhead. Originally planned as a two-option hike, interest in the Graveyard was greater than on previous trips so we decided to spend more time there and combine the hike into one four mile trek taking 2 hours and 45 minutes. The elevation change was 585 feet with a UP way-point total of 1207. So it was a decent hike. As can be seen in the map below, a good portion of the hike (over 1 mile round trip) was on campus to the trailhead. The circular portion at the top was in and around the Graveyard.
We found a small portion of the upper section of the trail overgrown, but it was clearly the mapped path because steps had been built into the hillside. We have quite a collection of pictures taken by Russ who was sorry that Barb was unable to join us. From the top down, we have Brad explaining the Moment Monument, Hal Thilmony exploring the village, Kyle Bell taking a picture of his father Rick Bell at the end of a suspension bridge over a stream, and Bill Sisler standing (or is it sitting) in for Barb on a swing. Ken MacRae brought some binoculars and pointed out a distant lone oak on an adjacent hill that he said had a swing. Russ researched it when he got home and found it was called Serenity Swing and is planning a hike to it from the bottom of Cuesta Grade at the Old Stagecoach Road trailhead. The swing and the route to it appear in the last photograph below.
Hikers asked how much property Cal Poly had and Russ found that it is over 10,000 acres. He has overlay-ed the holdings on the satellite image. All of the colored sections belong to Cal Poly. Remember you can zoom in on the pictures. If you look at the green section on the right, you will see the route to the Graveyard, the Serenity Swing and the beginnings of a route from the Old Stagecoach trailhead.
