Pinnacles

The fourth and final park Rose and I visited on our 2017 California national park adventure was Pinnacles, a relatively small and more newly established park that rises high east of the Salinas Valley in the central part of the state. The park’s namesake rock formations are incredible to see in real life, which are actually eroded remnants of an extinct volcano. Rose and I hiked along two trails, taking the Condor Gulch Trail uphill until we reached the High Peaks Trail, where the best views of these fascinating formations were in every direction we looked. It was amazing to see the lofty pinnacles up close with the valley lying far below where we stood for a dramatic contrast. It was a pretty hot day, so by the time we were done hiking around for a few hours we were pretty exhausted, but I’m so glad we were able to include Pinnacles on this trip, as it is a park that often gets overlooked!