Jacks Peak Park facts for kids

Jacks Peak Park is a county park in Monterey County, California. Its central feature is Jacks Peak, the highest point on the Monterey Peninsula, rising 1,068 feet (325 m) above Monterey and Carmel. The park encompasses 525 acres under control of the Monterey County Parks Department.

View of Monterey and Monterey Bay from Jacks Peak.

History

The park is part of the Pueblo Lands tract acquired in 1859 by Scottish immigrant David Jack. The first 55 acres (220,000 m²) that were to become the park were purchased by Talcott and Margaret Pardee Bates in 1964. They sold it to the Nature Conservancy, who eventually sold it to Monterey County. In 1971, the county purchased the remaining acres for the park from Del Monte Properties. The park opened in January, 1977.

Facilities

Hiking in Jacks Peak Park

The park allows picnics and day hiking. Several miles of trails, including a self-guided nature trail, wrap around Jacks Peak and through the rest of the park.

Environment and Monterey Pines

The park includes one of only three remaining native stands of the Monterey Pine. Flora in the park also includes madrone (arbutus menziesii), coastal scrub (including coyote brush (baccharis pilularis), California sagebrush, black sage, and ceanothus), poison oak, and the coast live oak.