About an hour southeast of Salinas, California, the Pinnacles area was named a national monument in 1908 and gained national park status in 2013. Its 26,000 acres look nothing like the area around it, where foothills make up much of the landscape. In addition to the monoliths seen in the photos below, the park also has boulder-covered "caves" (more like a narrow passage through boulders that have been heaped into a pile) where bats have made their home, sheer-walled canyons, and a reservoir.
We spent our time making a couple of hikes in the Bear Gulch area of the park. We took the Condor Gulch Trail up to the observation point so we could get a good look at the High Peaks. Our second hike was through the Bear Gulch Cave down to the Bear Gulch Reservoir. We didn't get to see any bats because the area of the cave where the bats breed was closed off so as not to disturb them.
High Peaks Through the Trees
Bear Gulch Reservoir and Dam
Bear Gulch Reservoir - Is that a face in the rock?