Pinnacles National Park

Pinnacles National Park
IUCN category II (national park)
Rock formations at Pinnacles National Park
Location in California Show map of California Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	San Benito County & Monterey County, California, United States
Nearest city	Soledad, California
Coordinates	36°29′13″N 121°10′01″W / 36.48694°N 121.16694°W / 36.48694; -121.16694
Area	26,606 acres (107.67 km2)[1]
Established	January 16, 1908 (1908-01-16) as a national monument January 10, 2013 (2013-01-10) as a national park
Visitors	275,023 (in 2022)[2]
Governing body	National Park Service
Website	nps.gov/pinn

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 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, while 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.