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Pinnacles National Park, Paicines

4.5
#77 of 619 in Nature in California
Must see · National Park · Nature / Park
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Pinnacles National Park is an American national park protecting a mountainous area located east of the Salinas Valley in Central California, about five miles (8.0 km) east of Soledad and 80 miles (130 km) southeast of San Jose. The park's namesakes are the eroded leftovers of the western half of an extinct volcano that has moved 200 miles (320 km) from its original location on the San Andreas Fault, embedded in a portion of the California Pacific Coast Ranges. Pinnacles is managed by the National Park Service and the majority of the park is protected as wilderness.

The national park is divided by the rock formations into East and West Divisions, connected only by foot trails. The east side has shade and water, the west has high walls. The rock formations provide for spectacular pinnacles that attract rock climbers. The park features unusual talus caves that house at least 13 species of bats. Pinnacles is most often visited in spring or fall because of the intense heat during the summer. Park lands are prime habitat for prairie falcons, and are a release site for California condors that have been hatched in captivity.

Pinnacles was originally established as a national monument in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt, and was redesignated as a national park in 2013.

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Pinnacles National Park reviews

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TripAdvisor traveler rating
TripAdvisor traveler rating 4.5
592 reviews
Google
4.7
TripAdvisor
  • This was a great day trip from the central coast. We went on the Moses spring/rim trail loop which allowed us to explore the caves and see the reservoir. It was a perfect hike for our 4 year old son. 
    This was a great day trip from the central coast. We went on the Moses spring/rim trail loop which allowed us to explore the caves and see the reservoir. It was a perfect hike for our 4 year old son.  more »
  • Not sure about weekends, but we had a 3 night stay during the week and had no problem with parking or having great stretches of the trails to ourselves. Nights are seriously cold (down in the 30s... 
    Not sure about weekends, but we had a 3 night stay during the week and had no problem with parking or having great stretches of the trails to ourselves. Nights are seriously cold (down in the 30s...  more »
Google
  • Wonderful family friendly hiking adventure! Fantastic and challenging caves, lots of stairs/steps but you will be rewarded with a picturesque view of the reservoir with the Wonderful views of the rocks formations on the backdrop. So much fun!
  • Such a beautiful national park. Went on a trip here for my geology class. Be prepared to walk a lot. Bring comfortable shoes, water bottle, and a flash light. Give yourself at least two hours to get through the cave portion and back. If you wanted to walk the whole area, you'll need many more hours! The view was almost too pretty to be real!

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