50 Fun Facts About Pinnacles National Park

Pinnacles National Park is in which U.S. state?

It sits about 80 miles southeast of San Jose and 40 miles inland from the Pacific.

The park's rock spires are the eroded remains of what?

Only the western half is here; the eastern half sits near Lancaster, roughly 200 miles to the southeast.

Which famous fault carried the park's rocks some 195 miles northwest from where they erupted?

The fault itself has since shifted about four miles east of the park; its old line is visible as the Chalone Creek fault.

What is the name of the long-dead volcano, near present-day Lancaster, that the park's rocks came from?

Ten rock types match in the same order at both sites, which made the pair a textbook example of plate tectonics.

Roughly how long ago did that volcano erupt?

The fault has moved the two halves apart at about 1.5 centimetres a year, roughly six inches a decade.

Which president made Pinnacles a national monument in 1908?

The chief forester suggested using the brand-new Antiquities Act; the first monument was just 2,080 acres.

In what year did Pinnacles become a national park?

Rep. Sam Farr wrote the bill; it made Pinnacles the ninth national park in its state.

Which president signed the law making Pinnacles a national park?

Bill Clinton had already added 7,900 acres and more caves to the monument in 2000.

Which homesteader's name did the 2013 law attach to its wilderness?

Hain arrived from Michigan in 1891, ran the Bear Valley post office and led cave tours to drum up support for protection.

Which two groups of the Ohlone people lived in the Pinnacles region before the Spanish arrived?

Thirteen native sites have been found in the park, one about 2,000 years old; the last Chalon were gone by 1810.

Before the 1890s the formations were known locally by what name?

Newspaper articles between 1889 and 1891 gradually switched to the current name.

Which Stanford geologist's admiring visit in 1893 inspired the local campaign to publicise the Pinnacles?

A 1904 visit by Stanford president David Starr Jordan then pulled in a congressman and the chief forester.

Why was the name 'Vancouver's Pinnacles', used from 1903 to 1955, dropped?

Hain had convinced himself the spires were the 'extraordinary mountain' pictured by John Sykes on the Vancouver Expedition.

What geological term describes the park's caves, formed when boulders wedged into narrow gorges?

The east-side and west-side caves are both open seasonally, and trails run right through them.

Which cave on the park's east side is seasonally open, along with Balconies Cave on the west?

Both close during bat pupping season and can flood in high water.

Roughly how many bat species have been documented in the park?

The caves are breeding sites for Townsend's big-eared bats, which is why they close during pupping.

Which endangered bird has been released at Pinnacles under a programme running since 2003?

The first wild nest since reintroduction was built in 2010, and the park now manages about 25 free-flying birds.

The condor has the widest wingspan of any North American bird; roughly how wide?

They are so big they are sometimes mistaken for small, distant aeroplanes.

In what year was the last wild condor captured, leaving the species extinct in the wild?

Only 27 birds existed at that point; every condor alive today descends from 22 founders.

What is the leading cause of death among adult and juvenile wild condors?

The state's 2008 Ridley-Tree Act requires hunters in condor country to use non-lead ammunition.

Which raptor breeds in the park at some of the highest densities anywhere in North America?

Peregrines have returned to breed too, but in far smaller numbers.

A 1990s census found the park has more of what insect per unit area than anywhere else known on Earth?

Around 450 species, mostly solitary bees that live just three or four weeks each.

Which invasive animal was eradicated from the park's core by 2006 after a 20-year, $1.6 million campaign?

A 26-mile exclusion fence still rings the core, and hikers on the South Wilderness Trail haul themselves up 'The Pig Fence'.

Roughly how long is the exclusion fence that keeps feral pigs out of the park's core?

Outside the fence, the animals still roam the surrounding ranch country.

How are the park's East and West Divisions connected?

Roads approach from the west and from south of Hollister on the east but never meet.

Which town about five miles west is the gateway to the park's West side?

A Spanish mission at Soledad hastened the decline of the local Ohlone in the 18th century.

Which mountains, part of the state's Coast Ranges, hold the park?

The Santa Lucias stand between the park and the ocean, blocking the sea's moderating effect on temperatures.

What is the highest point in the park, at 3,304 feet?

A CCC fire lookout stood on Chalone Peak from 1935 until fire destroyed it in 1951.

Roughly what share of the park is designated wilderness?

Congress added it to the National Wilderness Preservation System in 1976.

Which endangered amphibian lives in the creeks and canyons of the park's wilderness?

Mark Twain's celebrated jumping frog of Calaveras County was this same species.

Which two volcanic rock types make up the park's formations?

Climbers know the volcanic breccia can break under load, which is why the routes are for the experienced.

Roughly what percentage of the park's vegetation is chaparral?

Greasewood, manzanita, gray pine and blue oak dominate the warmer slopes.

When is the park usually busiest, given the fierce summer heat?

The record high of 116 F has been hit three times, most recently in September 2020, and March-April brings the wildflowers.

Which federal programme set up a camp of about 200 men at Pinnacles in 1933 to build trails and a dam?

Its crews built the east-side reservoir dam and improved the caves; the stone visitor centre followed in 1936-37.

A 1922 report by Yosemite's superintendent, after a 45-minute visit, recommended what for the monument?

A rival report from the General Land Office won out, and Herman Hermansen became caretaker in 1923.

Which president's 1931 proclamation added land donated by San Benito County to the monument?

Harding (1923) and Coolidge (1924) had each enlarged it earlier.

Which forestry chief pushed Roosevelt to protect Pinnacles despite favouring productive forest use?

The Forest Service kept effective control until about 1911, and no agency wanted the place until the 1920s.

Bear Valley's post office was originally named 'Cook' in 1894 after what?

It was renamed Pinnacles in 1924.

Roughly how much rain does the park get in a typical year?

The driest calendar year on record, 2013, brought just 2.7 inches.

Which large native mammals, now gone from most of the region, once roamed Pinnacles?

Grizzly and black bears also survived there until the end of the 19th century.

Which trail features a tunnel blasted in the early 1930s through the park's spires?

Steep sections use steps and rails cut into the rock itself.

Roughly how far is the park from the Pacific Ocean?

It is also about 45 miles south of the San Francisco Bay Area.

A mated female condor lays how many eggs?

Breeders remove the first egg to trigger a second, doubling output; condors can live 60 years.

How large was the original Pinnacles National Monument created by Theodore Roosevelt in 1908?

It has since grown to 26,606 acres through a series of additions, including the Mission 66 projects.

Which bat species breeds in the park's talus caves, prompting seasonal closures during pupping?

The caves can also flood at high water; the Park Service posts their status online.

Which mountain range blocks the Pacific's moderating influence, giving the park big day-night temperature swings?

Daily temperature ranges of 30 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit are typical, far larger than on the nearby coast.

In what year was the first California condor nest built at Pinnacles after reintroduction?

The park's managed flock has numbered about 25 free-flying condors.

What do hikers call the strenuous stretch of the South Wilderness Trail that follows a barrier?

At times hikers must grab the fence itself to haul themselves up the steep slope.

The CCC built a lookout tower on Chalone Peak in 1935. What happened to it in 1951?

A frame structure replaced it the next year; the park's stone visitor centre dates from 1936-37.

Roughly how far southeast of San Jose is Pinnacles National Park?

The park lies east of the Salinas Valley, about five miles east of the town of Soledad.