Monterey: Hiking Jacks Peak via Olmsted Road

Hiked part of the Jacks Peak via Olmsted Road trail in Monterey today. Jacks Peak is the highest point on the Monterey Peninsula at 1,068 feet and lies within one of the three remaining natural stands of Monterey Pine in the United States.

The trail starts on Olmsted road and is fairly steep at the beginning (muddy in the rainy season). Once you climb a bit, it changes from a pine forest to a fairly rocky landscape covered in manzanitas and other dryer climate plants. The top becomes flat with some really interesting landscapes. The views are spectacular from several points along the trail!

It was peak wildflower season, too! Lots of gorgeous flowers all over and the variety changed with altitude and microclimate.

Jacks Peak County Park has a bit of a layered history. The land was originally part of the Pueblo Lands tract acquired in 1859 by Scottish immigrant David Jacks (Yes, the Monterey Jack cheese guy). The county acquired the land in stages through the 1960s and 70s, and the park opened in 1977.

The park is now adjacent to the Joyce Stevens Monterey Pine Preserve, an 851-acre property the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District purchased from Pebble Beach Company in 2014 for $7.45 million. The preserve is currently closed to the public, but together with Jacks Peak County Park it protects part of the largest contiguous Monterey Pine habitat remaining on the planet. The California Native Plant Society describes the native Monterey Pine forest as forming “plant and animal communities found nowhere else on earth,” home to ten rare and endangered species including Yadon’s rein orchid (Piperia yadonii), a federally listed endangered plant.

Photos from the Hike