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Pinnacles National Park
Half of an ancient volcano, carried north by the San Andreas Fault
The spires and crags of Pinnacles are the remains of the Neenach Volcano, which erupted about 23 million years ago near present-day Lancaster, California. Movement along the San Andreas Fault split the volcano and has carried this western half about 195 miles (314 km) to the northwest, where erosion carved its breccia into towers, cliffs and talus caves. The fault itself now runs a few miles east of the park. Boulders wedged in narrow gorges formed Bear Gulch and Balconies caves, which close seasonally to protect colonies of Townsend's big-eared bats.
In 2003 the park became a release site for California condors, North America's largest land bird, and it now manages a free-flying flock that nests among the rocks. Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Pinnacles National Monument in 1908, and President Barack Obama signed the bill making it a national park in 2013. No road crosses the park, so the east entrance near Hollister and the west entrance near Soledad are separate trips. The Chalon and Mutsun peoples, part of the Ohlone, lived in the surrounding valleys and foothills of the Gabilan Range.