Pinnacles National Park is a U.S. national park that protects a mountainous area in Central California, east of the Salinas Valley. It is located about five miles (8 km) east of Soledad and 80 miles (130 km) southeast of San Jose. The park's name comes from its famous pinnacles, which are the eroded remains of the western part of an extinct volcano. This volcano moved 200 miles (320 km) from its original location on the San Andreas Fault and is now found in part of the California Pacific Coast Ranges. The park is managed by the National Park Service, and most of the land is protected as wilderness.

The park is divided into two areas, the East and West Divisions, by rock formations. These areas are connected only by foot trails. The east side has more shade and water, while the west side has tall rock walls. The rock formations create impressive pinnacles that attract rock climbers. The park also has unusual talus caves that are home to at least 13 species of bats. Pinnacles is most often visited in spring or fall because summer temperatures are very hot. The park's lands provide important habitat for prairie falcons and are a place where California condors, born in captivity, are released into the wild.

Pinnacles was first created as a national monument in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt. It was later changed to a national park in 2013 by Congress.

History

Native Americans in the Pinnacles area were part of the Ohlone people, including the Chalon and Mutsun groups. These groups left behind stone tools and other items in the park. The arrival of the Spanish in the 1700s brought new diseases and changed the lives of the Native people. A Spanish mission built near Soledad helped speed up the decline of the native population through disease and forced movement. Archaeologists have found 13 Native American sites in the park. Twelve of these were built before the missions arrived. One site is about 2,000 years old. By 1810, the last Chalon had either died or left the area. From 1810 to 1865, the Pinnacles region was not used by people and remained a wild area.

By the 1880s, the Pinnacles, then called the Palisades, became a place for picnics and camping. The first written description of the area appeared in 1881, focusing on the Balconies region. Between 1889 and 1891, newspapers began using the name "Pinnacles" instead of "Palisades." Interest in the area grew, and a reporter from the Hollister Free Lance visited the Pinnacles. Local officials also came to see the area. Investors from San Francisco considered building a resort hotel, but the plan did not happen. In 1894, a post office was opened in Bear Valley. Schuyler Hain, the postmaster, named it "Cook" after his wife’s family name because another Bear Valley existed in California. In 1924, the post office was renamed "Pinnacles."

Schuyler Hain moved to the Pinnacles area in 1891 from Michigan with his family. His cousin, A. W. White, was a student at Stanford University. White brought his professor, G. K. Gilbert, to visit the Pinnacles in 1893. Gilbert liked the scenery and encouraged Hain to share the area with others. Hain led tours and worked to protect the Pinnacles. His efforts led to a visit by Stanford’s president, David Starr Jordan, who asked Congress to help create a forest reserve. Jordan and Congressman James C. Needham worked with Gifford Pinchot to ask President Theodore Roosevelt to establish the Pinnacles Forest Reserve in 1906. Pinchot wanted to manage forests for use, not just protection. He used the Antiquities Act to make part of the area a national monument, which Roosevelt created in 1908. This change moved control of the area from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of the Interior, but the U.S. Forest Service kept control until about 1911.

Hain believed the Pinnacles were the same "extraordinary mountain" described by Captain George Vancouver and shown in a book by John Sykes. He called the mountain "Vancouver’s Pinnacles," a name used in a 1903 article. This name was used until 1955, when it was found that the mountain Vancouver described was near Fort Ord, not the Pinnacles.

The Pinnacles was first set aside as a forest reserve in 1906. It has been managed by different federal agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service, the General Land Office, and the National Park Service. In 1908, Roosevelt made the Pinnacles a national monument using the Antiquities Act. The original area was 2,080 acres. The Forest Service gave up control in 1911, but no agency had taken over. Roads to the park were not yet built. People from Hollister pushed for road funds. In 1913, Congressman Everis A. Hayes visited the Pinnacles to support the road project. By 1914, simple roads reached Bear Valley.

The National Park Service was created in 1916, but the Pinnacles was not seen as important enough to get resources. A mining claim blocked access to popular picnic areas. In 1922, local residents asked the Park Service to help. W.B. Lewis, a Yosemite superintendent, visited the Pinnacles and reported that the most scenic areas were owned by private individuals. The General Land Office also received complaints and recommended adding public lands to the monument. In 1923, Herman Hermansen became the first caretaker, and the monument was expanded by President Warren G. Harding.

In 1924, Stephen Mather, the Park Service director, visited the monument. President Calvin Coolidge expanded the monument in 1924 to include water sources and campsites. A survey was done, and money was given to build a ranger’s cabin, completed in 1929. In 1927, plans were made to improve the park over five years. In 1929, the government tried to buy land from private owners, including a mining company. In 1931, San Benito County donated land to expand the monument. Trails were improved in the 1930s, including a tunnel for the High Peaks Trail.

In 1933, the Civilian Conservation Corps built a camp for 200 workers who helped expand trails. After legal battles, old mining claims were added to the monument in 1958. Workers improved roads, built cabins, and made a dam in Bear Gulch. A fire lookout was built on Chalone Peak in 1935 but burned down in 1951 and replaced. The visitor center and headquarters were built in 1936–37 using local stone. A superintendent’s home started in 1941 was finished in 1949. The Mission 66 project added land and improved the west side of the park.

In 1975, the park covered 16,721 acres. It grew to its current size of 26,606 acres through additions like the Pinnacles Ranch. In 2000, President Bill Clinton expanded the monument by 7,900 acres to include more caves.

Geography

Pinnacles National Park is located about 40 miles (64 km) away from the Pacific Ocean and approximately 45 miles (72 km) south of the San Francisco Bay Area. The park is in the southern part of the Gabilan Range, which is a section of California's Coast Ranges.

The elevation within the park ranges from 824 to 3,304 feet (251 to 1,007 meters), with North Chalone Peak being the highest point.

According to the Köppen climate classification system, the park has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa). The United States Department of Agriculture identifies the Plant Hardiness zone at the Painted Desert Visitor Center (1,056 feet or 322 meters) as 8b, with an average annual extreme minimum temperature of 19.3 °F (−7.1 °C).

The Santa Lucia Mountains are between the park and the Pacific Ocean. These mountains block the ocean's cooling effect, leading to larger temperature changes each day. Compared to nearby coastal areas, temperatures in the park vary more each day, by about 30 to 50 °F (16.7 to 27.8 °C), depending on the season. The park receives about 17 inches (430 mm) of rain each year. Small amounts of snow can fall at higher elevations between mid-December and January.

The National Weather Service has a weather station at the park's headquarters. In January, temperatures range from a high of 62.6 °F (17.0 °C) to a low of 34.0 °F (1.1 °C). In July, temperatures range from a high of 95.9 °F (35.5 °C) to a low of 50.4 °F (10.2 °C). The highest temperature ever recorded was 116 °F (46.7 °C), which occurred three times, with the most recent on September 7, 2020. The lowest temperature ever recorded was 10 °F (−12.2 °C), which happened on January 2, 1960, and on December 22 and 24, 1990.

The average annual rainfall is 16.57 inches (420.9 millimeters). The wettest year was from July 1982 to June 1983, with 33.45 inches (849.6 millimeters) of rain. The driest year was from July 1975 to June 1976, with 8.61 inches (218.7 millimeters) of rain. However, in 2013, only 2.70 inches (68.6 millimeters) of rain fell during the calendar year. The most rainfall in one month was 11.86 inches (301.2 millimeters) in February 1998. The most rainfall in 24 hours was 4.74 inches (120.4 millimeters) on February 3, 1998. The most snowfall in one month was 7.0 inches (0.18 meters) in January 1962.

Geology

The park is near the San Andreas Fault, which helped create the special rock formations the park protects. The Pinnacles are part of the Neenach Volcano, which erupted 23 million years ago near today’s Lancaster. The movement of the Pacific Plate along the San Andreas Fault separated a piece of rock from the main part of the volcano and moved it 195 miles (314 km) northwest. Scientists think the Pinnacles came from this volcano because of unique rock pieces found only in the Neenach Volcano. Over time, erosion and weathering shaped the Pinnacles we see today. The rocks are made of andesite and rhyolite, forming a section of land that sank and is now part of the Gabilan Range.

Large movements in the Earth formed the talus caves in the park. Deep, narrow gorges and cracks in the rock became caves when large rocks fell from above and filled the cracks, creating open spaces below.

Since the Pinnacles moved to their current location, the San Andreas Fault has shifted 4 miles (6.4 km) east of the park. The original path of the San Andreas Fault can be seen in the Chalone Creek fault. Two other faults, Miner’s Gulch and Pinnacles faults, also run through the park. These faults run parallel to the San Andreas Fault and were likely caused by the movement of the main fault. The way the Pinnacles and Neenach rocks moved helped scientists accept the idea of plate tectonics.

Earthquakes happen often in the park. The United States Geological Survey has two seismometers inside the park’s boundaries to monitor activity. Signs of past and present earthquakes can be seen in streams that are shifted across faults. Valley floors and terraces show evidence of land rising over time.

Ecology

Animals that once lived in central California are no longer found there, including tule elk and pronghorn. Grizzly and black bears lived in the area until the end of the 19th century. Mammals and birds that live in this park today include prairie falcon, coyote, skunk, great horned owl, bobcat, California quail, raccoon, wild turkey, gray fox, golden eagle, and cougar.

Prairie falcons breed in this area at some of the highest numbers in North America. Peregrine falcons have also returned to the park to breed, but in much smaller numbers. A program to help California condors return to the area has been active since 2003. The first nest after reintroduction was built in 2010, and the park now supports a population of 25 condors that fly freely.

Thirteen types of bats have been recorded at Pinnacles, with three more types possibly living there. The talus caves provide homes for bats to rest and raise their young.

In the 1990s, a student biologist named Olivia Messinger studied bees at Pinnacles. She discovered the park has more bee species per area than anywhere else on Earth, with about 450 types. Most of these bees are solitary, not living in groups like European honeybees. Most bees live only three to four weeks, and because flowers bloom throughout the growing season, many different habitats are available for the bees.

Like many parks in central California, Pinnacles has faced challenges with wild pigs, which are a mix of feral domestic pigs and imported wild boars. By spring 2006, the main area of the park was free of pigs. A 20-year effort costing $1.6 million successfully removed pigs from the park’s core area. National Park Service workers and IWS helped remove pigs from the park and built a fence around the core area that is about 26 miles long. Wild pigs still live outside the fence, and the park monitors the fence regularly to prevent pigs from returning.

According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. Potential Natural Vegetation Types, Pinnacles National Park has a Chaparral (33) potential vegetation type with a California chaparral and woodlands (6) vegetation form. The vegetation is about 80% chaparral, with woodlands, riparian areas, and grasslands mixed in.

In the warmer parts of the park, large areas of greasewood cover slopes, along with manzanita, gray pine, canyon live oak, and blue oak. Cooler areas have more pines and oaks, along with California buckeye, hollyleaf cherry, and coffeeberry. Willows and elderberries grow along the park’s intermittent streams. Fire has greatly influenced the region’s plant life, both from natural causes and human actions. Native Americans used fire to grow preferred plants and to help hunt animals. Since Native Americans no longer lived in the area, the hills have become more covered with shrubs.

Hain Wilderness

More than 80% of the park (15,985 acres or 6,469 hectares) is set aside as the Hain Wilderness. This area was called the Pinnacles Wilderness before 2013. The wilderness designation offers more protection for the rock spires that give the park its name, as well as South Chalone Peak, the second-highest mountain in the park. The wilderness includes streams and canyons that are home to the endangered California red-legged frog. In 1976, the United States Congress passed Public Law 94-567, which added Pinnacles Wilderness and several other areas to the National Wilderness Preservation System.

Activities

Roads lead to the park from the west through Soledad and from the east through open lands south of Hollister, but these roads do not connect inside the park. Most of the park's facilities are located on the east side. Some parts of the park's road system are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Many trails are available for day hikers, and some are difficult to walk. Wildflowers are often seen in March and April, unless there is a very dry year. Trails offer views of hills and valleys on clear days. The San Andreas Fault can be seen from certain points along some trails. A famous hiking path, called "The Pig Fence," is part of the South Wilderness Trail. This section is very challenging and sometimes requires climbing a fence built to keep wild pigs out of the park. Other trails include paths along flat streams with wildflowers, trails that lead to caves, and trails with high views of rock formations called Pinnacles.

The caves at Pinnacles are called talus caves. They form when boulders fill narrow canyons, creating spaces between larger rocks. Bear Gulch Cave on the east side and Balconies Cave on the west side are open to visitors during certain times of the year. Trails lead to both caves. These caves are homes to Townsend's big-eared bats and are closed during the time when baby bats are born. The caves may also flood during heavy rains. The National Park Service provides a website showing whether the caves are open or closed.

Camping is available on the east side of the park in the Pinnacles Campground.

The park is popular with experienced rock climbers because of many difficult climbing routes. The park has bouldering, single-pitch, and multi-pitch climbs. The rock, called volcanic breccia, can break during climbing.