Jacks Peak Park is a county park inMonterey County, California. Its central feature is Jacks Peak, the highest point on the Monterey Peninsula, rising 1,068 feet (325 m)[1] aboveMonterey andCarmel. The park encompasses 525[1] acres under control of the Monterey County Parks Department.
The park is part of the Pueblo Lands tract acquired in 1859 by Scottish immigrantDavid Jacks.[1] The first 55 acres (220,000 m2) that were to become the park were purchased by Talcott and Margaret Pardee Bates in 1964.[1] They sold it to theNature Conservancy, who eventually sold it to Monterey County.[1] In 1971, the county purchased the remaining acres for the park fromDel Monte Properties.[1] The park opened in January, 1977.[1] During the Cenozoic period water levels lowered making Jacks Peak Park an island causing shale and fossils to be commonly found in the area.
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.
The park includes one of only three remaining native stands of theMonterey Pine.[2] Flora in the park also includesmadrone (arbutus menziesii), coastal scrub (includingcoyote brush (baccharis pilularis),California sagebrush,black sage, andceanothus),poison oak, and thecoast live oak.[3]
Jack's Peak Park is located near the Joyce Stevens Monterey Pine Reserve and is adjacent to Highway 1. Nearby landmarks include All Saints Primary School, the Community Hospital of Monterey, and Pebble Beach Morse Gate.
36°33′39″N121°52′00″W / 36.560946°N 121.866789°W /36.560946; -121.866789
