Islay Hill Hike, SLO

The hike up Islay Hill is fairly steep. It is a narrow, hard-packed dirt path with some boulders or rocks strewn in the path sometimes. In spring there are wonderful flowers along the path, like little bouquets. For the entire hike, there are sweeping views of SLO town, a lovely sight!
The hike is a 1.5 mile out-and-back hike shaped like an upside down T- if you want a shorter hike, you can skip the steep 0.4 mile additional trail to the top, and stay on the straight line that goes only halfway up the hill. If you want to make the hike into a loop, you can walk back to your car via the sidewalk on Spanish Oaks Drive. The trail starts at 1620 Huckleberry Lane and ends at the dead end of Sweet Bay Lane. There is another very steep trailhead at 4463 Spanish Oaks Drive that skips the main trail and just heads up to the top.
In winter this hike can get muddy which isn't much fun. SLO city sometimes even closes it because of the mud, so check the trail status on their website.
The hike is exposed and can get windy, especially in the afternoon.
If you have sore knees, beware because this hike reaches 27% grade in steepness. You can skip some of the steep parts though.
These photos of green hills are taken in April, but the rest of the year when there is less rain, the hills are yellow-brown in color.
Below the trail is an awesome playground with unique play structures, called Islay Park. From this park you can do a nice greenway walk.
San Luis Obispo has many morros, or volcanic mountains, running through it in a line. It is what makes the area so charming. You can hike up most of them. The next one is Righetti Hill, then Cerro San Luis, then Bishop's Peak. If you drive east along Orcutt Road for two miles to Baileyana Winery, and then turn around and drive back, you can see them in a row. But you can also see them from the hike!

Islay Hill Hike, SLO

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