Miles of scenic trails at Monterey County's Fort Ord

Entry and parking at the former Army base are free. Entry and parking at the former Army base are free. Photo: Christine Delsol, Special To SFGate Photo: Christine Delsol, Special To SFGate Image 1 of / 19 Caption Close Miles of scenic trails at Monterey County's Fort Ord 1 / 19 Back to Gallery

President Obama's declaration of Fort Ord, in northern Monterey County, as the country's newest national monument is a great move for many reasons, not the least of which is that it will preserve a rare and diverse landscape for the foreseeable future. For me, and undoubtedly for many others of the Vietnam War generation, it's more personal: Now, instead of the place that snatched my boyfriend as soon as we graduated from high school, it is a place to enjoy.

The former Army base's new status finally overcame the old associations that kept me from visiting even after the Army base was closed in 1994. This is a paradise for hikers, with 86 miles of trails through a native landscape ranging from streams to coastal scrub to thick woods to the classic California golden grassy hills studded with billowing oak trees, all framed by views that go on forever. Many of the trails are especially well suited for mountain biking and horseback riding.

A couple of special treats: Fort Ord entry and parking are free, and dogs are allowed off-leash except in posted sheep-grazing areas.

A work in progress

Unlike Fort Ord Dunes State Park, a small and easily reached coastal strip west of Highway 1, Fort Ord National Monument is huge — more than 14,000 acres, about the same size as the three cities surrounding it combined — and finding your way in can be a challenge. The website, which presumably will be beefed up is basically the existing site maintained by the Bureau of Land Management, which continues to manage what were the Fort Ord Public Lands after the base closed. Signs at entry points still bear the old name. Three of the four accesses have their own pages, but the information is scanty. The "Directions" and "FAQ" links are empty, and while the numbered trails reached from each access point are listed, the trails are not described anywhere on the site.

The website does have a decent trail map — the same one you'll find in brochures at the trail access points — but without street directions, finding your way to the access points can be an adventure. Here are a few pointers.

Creekside Trailhead Access Point

Located at the intersection of Reservation Road and Highway 68, this is the easiest access — if you're driving west to east. I came on Highway 68 from Salinas, took the Reservation Road exit, and unknowingly sailed right past it. It didn't help that I immediately saw a sign showing Fort Ord 4 miles away and sped merrily toward the city of Marina. The Fort Ord turnoff comes immediately after you exit Highway 68 onto Reservation Road, which isn't obvious from the trail map.

This was my favorite access point; it also happens to be the only one with a bathroom and a drinking fountain (for four-legged as well as two-legged hikers). I scaled Trail 30, a narrow dirt track, up the mountainside and found a massive rock wall carved by centuries of erosion into fantastic shapes that made me think of Jordan's stone city of Petra. With my back to the wall, I was looking over a sea of farm fields — the workers looked like miniature versions of the gargantuan figures at The Farm, which I passed on the way to the park — and the Salinas River. Huge stands of light orange sticky monkey-flower brightened the trail most of the way.

When I was there, most visitors took to the paved road, which leads to other trails in other parts of this corner of the park. I only encountered two other hikers and one mountain-biker.

Toro Creek Trail Access Point

I cleverly took Portola Drive, which parallels Highway 68, through long a residential strip to get to this access point, which according to the map lies right at the end of the road. The problem is, you can't get there from Portola Drive's dead end. You can see it, but you can't get there. Even from the highway, it's not obvious (it's just east of Toro Place, on the opposite side of the road). The only sign the day I was there advertised someone — absent at the time — selling cherries. Look for cars and trucks parked in a huge pullout immediately after the end of the housing development — you'll likely see people loading and unloading kids, bikes, dogs and maybe horses; this is the most convenient place for equestrians to park and enter Fort Ord. It's just east of Toro Place cafe, on the opposite side of the road.

A wide dirt road heads for the (distant) hills, but I went for the narrow dirt trail through some thick woods sheltering lupine and some of the tallest cow parsley I've ever seen. It soon opens out onto meadow, and then connects to Guidotti Road and heads for the hills. This area is flatter and less varied than Creekside, and it seems to be used more by locals walking their dogs and jogging with their MP3 players than by dedicated hikers and bicyclists.

Laguna Seca Trail Access Point

This is by far the strangest way to get into Fort Ord, though Laguna Seca is well known, and this would logically be the most frequently used entry — especially since camping is available. I didn't see a soul the day I was there. Getting to Laguna Seca, also off Highway 68, is no problem, but finding Fort Ord once you're there can be an adventure. Nothing but a tiny BLM sign, which doesn't mention Fort Ord, gives you a clue where to go: through the toll booth and through several campgrounds to a high ridge behind campsite No. 139.

This spot has the most expansive views of the bunch, over hills and valleys to residential areas and more hills beyond. Sheep graze on the grassy hills, so dogs will have to be tethered. The trail quickly plunges down the steep mountainside and connects to more distant trails that criss-cross the entire parkland. Trail No. 47 from this point is a big favorite for bicyclists. For more information on biking and horseback riding in Fort Ord, contact BETA (Bicycle-Equestrian Trails Assistance), which works closely with BLM, at www.ftordbeta.org.