I was actually very surprised at how welcoming the staff a the gate were.
I drove back in (having already paid the $12 day pass earlier) at closing time 4:30pm. There is no physical gate, they just leave at that time but it's nice to pay them the fee before they go, or you can leave the money there.
The lady at the gate was obviously used to the hoards of photographers wanting sunset shots and even told me to stick around for the full moon!
Which I was already anticipating of course, and enjoyed the Pinnacles in the dark, and the full moonlight in the space of several hours
You can't camp there, but the short 4km loop offers plenty of various spots to pull over and shoot from.
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