Pinnacles National Park
Highway 146, 14 miles east of Soledad, (831) 389‑4486, nps.gov/pinn
Ancient volcanic and tectonic activity is responsible for the madcap peaks and caves at Pinnacles National Park. That same geologic activity made – for contemporary humans – some unimaginably beautiful ways to get high up and look down. Steinbeck almost certainly never hiked through the area, or his subject matter would have been different. Take the High Peaks trail to climb the namesake monolithic spires reaching skyward. Summit Chalone Peak to get even higher and to look down on these high peaks and a sweeping view of the Salinas Valley all the way to the sea. At the summit, you won’t be the highest of them all, though – that title is still held by the soaring California condors who call Pinnacles home.