In Part 1 of this article, I hiked Bishop Peak, Cerro San Luis, and Islay Hill. Each morro had a visually terrific summit, was free to hike, easy to park at, and provided just enough of a workout. It was so easy that I thought, 'Why don't I hike all nine of the Nine Sisters?'

"Try me," responded the Forbidden Sisters.

MORRO

Chumash Peak - The Sister That Got Away

Chumash Peak (1,257 ft) is practically adjacent to Bishop Peak (to the northwest) in the lineup.

There is mixed information about Chumash Peak on the internet. No trail is listed on AllTrails, but I could plainly see a trail to the summit. A trail exists. So I pieced together the best information I could find and set out to confirm whether this trail was open to the public.

On the map, I could see a small stream ahead. That stream leads to the Chumash Peak Trail. So I continued along Felsman Loop, and I hoped for the best. And, in a sense, I got it. I got clarity. The trail led me to a gate with a clear sign explicitly forbidding public access to the property Chumash Peak sits on.

Can you hike Chumash Peak? Someone can. But not me, and probably not you. We aren’t invited.

I was already considering hiking Bishop Peak again while I was in the area. And from this vantage point, I realized something new. The experience had been so great at the northeast spire of Bishop's Peak, I'd never made the scramble to the southwest side.

So I ascended Bishop Peak again. From the "end of trail" bench, I continued to the left (west). It was a significant and somewhat technical scramble with a lot of scraping against shrubs. But the reward was a wonderful golden-hour view of the next three peaks to the west: Chumash Peak, Romualdo Peak, and Hollister Peak.

MORRO

Cerro Romualdo - The Middle Sister

Cerro Romualdo (1,306 ft) is often spelled Romauldo, and I’ve read arguments for the accuracy of both spellings. When picking a “correct” spelling, I’ll often look at the history/origin of the name or see how the GPS maps spell it (because those spellings are crowd-sourced and often corrected if wrong). In this case, I’m trusting the spelling used by a local who lives on a slice of the Cerro Romualdo landscape.

I’d read that Cerro Romualdo could not be hiked. But, on a whim, I checked AllTrails. And it does show a hike. My adrenaline spiked. Do I get one more Morro hike?! I clicked the directions link on AllTrails and got after it. Here’s what I learned. If you follow the directions AllTrails provides, you will go to jail. Literally. There’s a jail there—and an active military installation. The trail is used for training.

Can you hike Cerro Romualdo San Luis Obispo? No. Not unless you’re military or police. The rest of us aren’t invited. 

But I didn’t know that yet. I just knew I’d arrived at a jail. So I pulled over for more research and to scope out another route. 

Way back in 2019, I have learned, some chaperoned civilian hikes were organized at Romualdo, but there’s no sign of anything since. 2019—the start of the pandemic—is the year a lot of things happened for the last time. I set my sights on viewpoints instead. As I followed roads around to the opposite side of the Morro, I found something lovely. 

The perimeter drive around Cerro Romualdo on O’Connor Way and Los Osos Valley Road felt like a victory lap recap of the SLO city morros—with opposite side views of Bishop Peak, Cerro San Luis, and Hollister Peak. A ranch on the far side of Cerro Romualdo had a “For Sale” sign up. The $3.5 million price tag is out of reach for me. But if one of you buys it—please invite me over for a tour!

I continued the drive. The farms and vineyards I’d seen from the summit of Islay Hill were now at eye level. A few minutes into this drive, my jaw was sore from smiling so hard. In this moment, I was the happiest tourist in the happiest place in the U.S.

MORRO

Hollister Peak - The Sister in Your Search History

Search data confirmed what I suspected: I'm not alone. Hikers frequently Google the question 'Can you hike Hollister Peak?' Let me rip the bandage off: Public access to Hollister Peak (1,404 ft) is not permitted.

Hollister Peak is the most dramatically shaped of all the Sisters. Its steep, theatrical profile rises abruptly from flat ranchland along Route 1. It's the peak that's launched a thousand AllTrails searches (that all come up empty). It is the second-tallest of the chain and arguably the most photogenic

Looking for Closure

With each of the three Forbidden Morros, I'd gone to great lengths to try and get permission to hike them. I'd circled the roads around them. I'd hiked right up to the fences and no trespassing signs. I still wanted more. So I sought out the best hikes, viewpoints, campsites, and car camping spots that would get me a better look.

Coming Up:

Part 3: The Viewpoints - Hikes, Drive-Up Vistas, and Car Camping

Part 4: The Morro Bay Sisters