Cone Peak
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Cone Peak rises to 1,572 m in California. Junipero Serra Peak stands 1,784 m to the north-northeast, 7.8 miles off. The nearest named place is Twin Peak, a peak 0.7 miles away. Big Sur Coast Highway - Route 1 passes 3.1 miles off.
The story
Cone Peak is the second highest mountain in the Santa Lucia Range in the Ventana Wilderness of the Los Padres National Forest. It rises nearly a vertical mile only 3 miles (4.8 km) from the coast as the crow flies. This is one of the steepest gradients from ocean to summit in the contiguous United States. The average gradient from sea level to summit is around 33%, which is steeper than the average gradient from Owens Valley to the summit of Mount Whitney. Near the mountain summit, the oak woodland and chaparral transitions to a pine forest with a few rare Santa Lucia Firs. Junipero Serra Peak at 5,865 feet (1,788 m) is the highest peak in the coastal region.
The peak is accessible by driving the Nacimiento-Fergusson Road and then hiking north 6 miles (9.7 km) on Forest Route 22S05. The very rough Coast Ridge Road rises to 3,800 feet (1,200 m). The peak is a popular hiking destination. From that point the summit is 2.25 miles (3.62 km) hike along the Cone Peak Trail (4E12). There are two trails from the coast to the summit of Cone Peak: via the Stone Ridge/Gamboa Trail or the Vicente Flat Trail. The peak is topped by the decommissioned Cone Peak Lookout built in 1923. The original 13 by 13 feet (4.0 by 4.0 m) wooden-sided ground-level cab house was built on a rock foundation. It originally had a hipped "dunce cap" roof, and was called a "California Lookout" design. The building was hauled in pieces by mules up the steep and narrow 2 miles (3.2 km) trail. During World War II, it was the site of an Aircraft Warning Service observation post.
In 1959. the U.S. Forest Service replaced the hipped roof with a flat roof that could be used to land a Bell-47 helicopter. The wood siding was replaced with metal which protected the structure from fire and vandalism. The lookout was last staffed in 1990. As of 2018, the building houses radio repeater equipment and cannot be easily reactivated for use as a fire tower once again. The lookout atop Cone Peak was one of six active fire lookouts in the Monterey Ranger District of the Los Padres National Forest. The others were located on Chews Ridge, Ventana Double Cone, Junipero Serra Peak, Pinyon Peak, and Three Peaks. The mountain slopes contain an old-growth Sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana) forest along with many colonies of Santa Lucia fir (Bristlecone fir, Abies bracteata), one of the rarest and most endemic fir in North America, and according to some, the world. Cone Peak was visited by notable botanists David Douglas in March 1831, Thomas Coulter in 1832 or 1833, Karl Theodor Hartweg in September 1847, and William Lobb in 1849.
From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wikidata Q35735646, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.
What the record says
- Elevation
- 1572 m
How to reach it
- 3.1 mi off the Big Sur Coast Highway - Route 1, National
- 19.6 mi off the San Luis Obispo North Coast Byway - Route 1, National
Overlooks nearby
- Bench · 13 mi
- Julia Pfieffer Burns Vista Point · 13 mi
- Breaker Point · 21 mi
- Point Sierra Nevada · 22 mi
Named places within 25 miles
- Twin Peak: 0.7 mi
- Lion Peak: 2.3 mi
- Round Tree Hill: 2.4 mi
- Redwood Spring Peak: 3.5 mi
- Chalk Peak: 5.8 mi
- Old oak park: 19.6 mi
- Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park Day Use Area: 21.0 mi
- Pine Meadows Park 1: 21.2 mi
- Pine Meadows Park 2: 21.2 mi
- Pine Canyon Mobile Estates Rec Area: 21.3 mi
- Redwood Spring: 3.4 mi
- Redondo Spring: 5.5 mi
- Hot Spring: 5.5 mi
- Jackhammer Spring: 9.5 mi
- Bane Spring: 11.9 mi
- Middle Fork Falls: 2.8 mi
- Devil's falls: 2.9 mi
- Canogas Falls: 3.3 mi
- Eagle Creek Falls: 7.1 mi
- McWay Falls: 12.3 mi
- Landels-Hill Big Creek Nature Reserve: 5.9 mi
- Big Creek State Marine Reserve: 8.1 mi
- John Little State Natural Reserve: 8.9 mi
- Ventana Wilderness: 10.1 mi
- Big Creek State Marine Conservation Area: 10.5 mi
- Limekilns: 2.9 mi
- Bill Cotta Memorial: 7.8 mi
- Santa Lucia Adobe: 11.7 mi
- Suzuki-Roshi: 12.9 mi
- Tin House: 13.5 mi
- Devil's Falls: 2.9 mi
- Drinking Fountain (abandoned): 3.3 mi
- Rigdon Drinking Fountain (disused): 5.2 mi
- Esalen Institute: 9.4 mi
- Pacific Valley Drinking Fountain (disused): 10.8 mi
- Mill Creek Day Use Area: 4.7 mi
- Sand Dollar Picnic Area and Beach: 9.1 mi
- Willow Creek Picnic Ground: 11.2 mi
- Arroyo Seco Day Use: 12.8 mi
- DeAnza Picnic Site: 22.1 mi
- Sand Dollar Beach: 9.0 mi
- Wreck Beach: 21.0 mi
- Pfeiffer Beach: 22.1 mi
- Puente Big Creek Bridge: 5.9 mi
- Father Junipero Serra: 14.0 mi
- Sykes Hot Spring: 17.5 mi
- Keyhole Arch: 22.1 mi
- Memorial Rose Garden: 22.9 mi
- The Shut-In: 24.7 mi
Other summits around it
The highest named summits within 23.2 miles of Cone Peak. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.
| Summit | Bearing | Elevation | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junipero Serra Peak | NNE 34° | 1,784 m | 7.8 mi |
| Pinyon Peak | NE 38° | 1,602 m | 10.3 mi |
| Chews Ridge | NNW 347° | 1,549 m | 18.4 mi |
| South Ventana Cone | NNW 333° | 1,517 m | 17.3 mi |
| Black Butte | N 350° | 1,497 m | 15.1 mi |
| Ventana Double Cone | NW 324° | 1,477 m | 20.9 mi |
| Twin Peak | W 275° | 1,468 m | 0.7 mi |
| Bear Mountain | NE 42° | 1,451 m | 9.9 mi |
When to go
Light through the year
| Date | Sunrise | Golden hour | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| March equinox | 07:10 | 18:44 | 19:18 |
| June solstice | 05:50 | 19:49 | 20:27 |
| September equinox | 06:55 | 18:31 | 19:04 |
| December solstice | 07:14 | 16:16 | 16:56 |
Local time (America/Los_Angeles).
Climate normals
Months averaging 50–80 °F: year-round.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg °F | 51 | 52 | 54 | 55 | 58 | 61 | 63 | 64 | 64 | 61 | 55 | 51 |
| Precip in | 9.5 | 8.6 | 6.7 | 2.9 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 4.2 | 9.2 |
1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — BIG SUR STN, 21 mi away.
Where this comes from
Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.
OpenStreetMapWikidata- USGS Geographic Names Information System feature 270577 — Cone Peak, Monterey County, California.
OpenStreetMap element node/358801093
Day trips start here
- King City · 23 mi
- Monterey County · 25 mi
- Soledad · 27 mi
Take the scenic way to Cone Peak.
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