Among the honey-colored grasses that surround the trails of the Central Coast, you’ll find vibrant old California Oaks, golden California Poppies, and you may even catch a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. These things make sense. On one extraordinary trail though, you come across structures that should not call the hills home, adobe, and steal creations nestled into hillsides peek out from amongst the trees or on the crest of a hill. The Poly Canyon Experimental Structures Lab, also known as the “Architecture Graveyard” is tucked away in the Hills of San Luis Obispo and is a must-hike for all the lovers of the weird and wonderful of the world.

The hike into Poly Canyon is relatively flat and easy although finding it can be a bit tricky so, I’ve included the how-to find the trail.

Finding the Trail

Don’t follow the All Trails App for this -it will be far too confusing. Instead, head onto the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo campus and park at the Poly Canyon Village Parking Structure, there is a small day-use fee to park but when I went the machine was broken. Once parked you’re going to want to walk to the back of the parking structure (across from where the entrance to the structure is) and walk down the paved path towards a bridge. It’s treelined and a fairly obvious path.

You’ll walk over the bridge towards the Cal Poly Plant Conservatory. Then go up a flight of steps to get to the plant conservatory, once there turn left and walk about 50 feet until you see a dirt road with a yellow gate and a white post that says “Poly Canyon” with a large P and C. You’ll go beyond the yellow gate up the dirt road for about a mile until you come across a large stone arch, you can’t miss it.

This is the entrance to the trail. There is a wooden post that shows all the structures you’ll see along the way, take a picture with your phone for reference as there are no guides for the path along the way.

The Architecture

The trail is dotted with past projects from the students at Cal Poly SLO’s School of Architecture. Each year, for decades, students would create and design freely making anything their hearts desired. A few of the structures have plaques describing who made the projects and how. Most of the structures are open for you to explore inside, however many have been victims of vandalism and are covered in Graffiti. While you’re out exploring please don’t deface or destroy any of these spaces. Remember to respect your surroundings and nature.

A few of the structures are closed or have been removed because of their condition. Listen to the signs that tell you not to climb on the structures. The trail is mostly maintained however, the grasses are long in some places and poison oak was spotted in a few areas.

The shell house was my favorite structure, it’s incredibly unique, and the stained glass up at the very tippy-top of the house is a cool touch. In the wintertime, the hills are lush and verdant, a view different view than the golden grasses of the summer drought. In the summer bring water and a hat as there is little to no coverage from the sun’s rays.

If you’ve ever been on this hike, tell me your favorite structure. If you haven’t and you’re going to visit let me know how it goes in the comments!