Monday, the scorched and dry hills.

Today, the dramatic cliffs and crashing surf of Montana de Oro State Park.

The latter is pretty much immune to the California drought — and it made for a very fine Central Coast hike.

One of the easiest state parks to reach. Drive towards San Luis Obispo, take the Los Osos exit … and drive west until you can’t go any further. You then are in the parking lot of the Montana de Oro State Park.

The “beach cliff trail” follows the edge of the limestone cliffs, which have been tumbling into the Pacific Ocean for centuries.

It makes for spectacular viewing.

The rock erodes at different speeds, creating interesting formations in the rock, where the softer material has been washed away by the pounding of the surf.

Caves carved out under the rock … holes bored through standing rocks. Small islands separated from the mainland, with dozens of birds perched on them.

It is an enormous parcel of land, and it is nice to know that it is a state park, which can be entered at no cost, and walk along miles of coastline that has not been developed in any way — aside from signs warning hikers and bicyclists not to stand too close to the cliff.

On, and at least one set of stairs dug into the side of a hill, leading down to the water level at what has become, over the ages, a sand beach of about 100 yards.

At one end of this hidden jewel are tide pools, and if you study the clear water closely you can see little creatures scurrying around in the inch of water between rock and sky.

The hike is mostly flat, so we were not surprised to see some Golden Agers hiking in a group, with a guide. (Apparently, running shoes are not the correct apparel for hiking. Need something more “hiking-bootish” … and brown. And a backpack. And perhaps a walking stick. The floppy hat, I have.)

My daughter and son-in-law were the impetus for the hike, which covered about four miles, out and back, with not much elevation change, and required about 90 minutes, going at a steady pace.

Being with someone, and being able to exclaim, “That’s amazing!” and take a photo … makes it even better.

Montana de Oro — Gold Mountain. A reminder that California has more than its share of amazing waterfront scenery.