Traverse staggering monoliths, crags at Pinnacles

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To understand how the fantastical spires and ramparts of Pinnacles National Park were formed, it helps to consider their origins 23 million years ago about 195 miles to the southeast of their current location.

Rising out of the chaparral-covered Gabilan Mountains, east of California’s Salinas Valley, are the remains of the Miocene-era Neenach Volcano. Located near the San Andreas Fault, at the boundary of the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, these rock formations are the remains of the wandering volcano, creeping north at a rate of about 3 to 6 centimeters per year from its birthplace. Adding to the geologic forces, erosion helped create the eerie-looking monoliths and crags of today’s Pinnacles.

In its early days, the area was intermittently occupied by Native peoples, including the Chalon and Mutsun tribes. In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt established the Pinnacles as a national monument. Since then, the monument has increased in size from 2,500 to 26,000 acres, and in 2013, President Barack Obama designated the expansive terrain as the 59th National Park.

Most visitors enter Pinnacles by the main entrance on the east side of the Gabilan Range (Highway 25 near Hollister) for convenient access to the park’s only campground, but there are plenty of overlooked attractions on the western side, and abundant wildlife lives throughout the Pinnacles — from hummingbirds to condors, mountain lions to canyon bats. The park’s west entrance is on Highway 146, an approximately 20-minute drive from the town of Soledad in Monterey County.

The park’s more than 30 miles of trails are often what first lure visitors. Routes range from easy strolls with little elevation gain to moderate hikes that include talus caves to strenuous uphill climbs to the rock features that loom overhead. Bring water on your hike, as well as a flashlight (for the talus caves).

On a day trip from Monterey, choose between the 2.4-mile round-trip Balconies Cliffs-Cave Loop (which leads to one of the park’s two talus caves: Balconies Cave) and the 4.3-mile round-trip Juniper Canyon Loop (which runs through the spires of the High Peaks Trail, home to California condors). Or make a true full day of it with the lengthier 8.4-mile round-trip High Peaks to Balconies Cave Loop that climbs into the High Peaks or the 9.3-mile round-trip North Wilderness Trail Loop that sweeps from ridge tops to the Chalone Creek bed.

Bear Gulch Cave is the other talus cave at Pinnacles. It has two sections that can operate independently of each other: The lower section remains open for much of the year, and the upper section is closed for most of the year to protect a colony of Townsend’s big-eared bats, who raise their young there in late spring and summer. During pupping season, both caves are closed. They may also be closed suddenly because of storms and high water, so check with the ranger station before planning your trip.

The Pinnacles area became a part of the California Condor Recovery Program in 2003 and is the only National Park Service unit that manages a release site for captive-bred California condors. Climbing high into the rocky spires, hikers can often get views of soaring condors or even condor nesting sites. The variety of habitat types in the park — chaparral, oak and pine woodland, riparian, grassland and scree — attract more than 160 documented bird species, as well as birders who are eager to spot them.

From easy top-ropes to multi-pitch climbs, Pinnacles has a host of routes that call to climbers. Some of the volcanic breccia formations, however, are closed from January through July to protect nesting raptors. If you’re planning to climb during these months, check with park rangers to learn if your route is in a sensitive area.

The blooming season in Pinnacles National Park usually runs from March through May, though flowers may begin opening as early as January and continue into July. During this time, more than 80 percent of the park’s plants are in bloom.

Whether you’re searching for shooting stars, monkeyflower, California poppy or bush lupine, do those plants a favor and stay on trail. It may be tempting to snap a selfie in an ocean of wildflowers, but these habitats are susceptible to damage by people going off trail and trampling plants and the community of life beneath the surface.

Traveling with children? Download the Junior Ranger booklet from the Pinnacles National Park site to give them a way to learn valuable information about the park, its landscape and the animals and plants that call it home. With activities for ages 3 and up, the book is a great cure for those who are easily bored. The incentive to get a Junior Ranger badge for completing just six activities may inspire kids to tap into their curiosity, and perhaps leave the door open to a more serendipitous discovery in nature.