When I talk to people on the Monterey Peninsula who walk the preserves and parks in the area, they often mention Jacks Peak County Park. My sister and her canine companion, Harry, recently came up from Santa Barbara for a visit, and we decided to rendezvous in Monterey for a short hike. Since Monterey’s county parks are dog-friendly, it seemed like a perfect time to go to Jacks Peak and see what everybody has been talking about.
Whether or not you know about Jacks Peak, you brush past it any time you visit the Monterey Peninsula. Southbound on Highway 1, as you pass the city of Monterey, the road climbs toward Carmel and Pacific Grove. Along this stretch of road, the pine-covered slope on your left is the lower portion of the hill that rises up to Jacks Peak, the highest point on the Monterey Peninsula.
Don’t come to Jack’s Peak too early or plan on a barbecue dinner there. We pulled up to the park entrance at 9 a.m., surprised to see that it didn’t open until 10. Depending on the time of year, the park closes anywhere from 5 p.m. to 7.
As we drove up Jacks Peak Drive to the entrance gate, a dense forest of Monterey Pines enveloped us. While the Monterey Pine is one of the world’s most widely planted pine trees, there are only three native stands of this species anywhere. Jacks Peak and the surrounding area is one of the three. The knobcone pine and the bishop pine are close relatives and the three are called fire pines due to their tightly closed cones that open in the heat of a fire and quickly regenerate scorched slopes.
Past the entrance station ($4/weekdays, $5/weekends), the road divides, and we turned right toward the Jack’s Peak parking area. In my mind’s eye, I had expected Jacks Peak to be an open summit with an expansive 360-degree view. But Monterey Pines run the show at Jacks Peak, so views appear only occasionally through the forest canopy.
We leashed up Harry and set out on the Jacks Peak Trail and the Skyline Trail, which roam the south flank of Jacks Peak. Beneath the pines, coast live oaks and madrone trees filled the gaps. When the forest allowed, we were able to look across Carmel Bay to Point Lobos and far out to sea.
Back at the parking lot, we had walked barely a mile, and we were ready for more. Just across the picnic area, we hopped on the Pine Trail which edges across the slope of Jacks Peak on the north side. We were struck by the contrast between the sunny south slope where we had just been and the shadier and wetter north slope. The forest was thicker and each tree was a towering monarch. Wispy lichen swung from every branch and off the trail the undergrowth was impenetrable. When views opened up, we overlooked Seaside, Monterey and across Monterey Bay toward Santa Cruz.
The walking we did at Jacks Peak hardly constitutes hiking. The going was easy, the footing soft and the distances moderate. While the Monterey pine forest curtailed the view, looking through them added a feeling of mystery and magic to the scene.
While we usually visit Monterey and Carmel for other reasons – shopping or dinner out – it would take little time or effort to accessorize your visit to the peninsula with a short walk at Jacks Peak. To get there, from Highway 1 as you reach Monterey turn onto Highway 68 toward Salinas. Two miles later, turn right on Olmsted Road, then after a mile, turn left onto Jacks Peak Road.
