Cone Peak

Just over 5.3 kilometers (3.3 miles) from the Pacific, Cone Peak with an elevation of 1,571 meters (5,155 feet) is the highest point in the contiguous 48 States rising directly from the ocean. (See Limekiln Creek)

On the mountain there is a variety of habitats, with the mixed evergreen forest of unusual interest. Stands of the Santa Lucia fir, Abies bracteata, which is geographically isolated from other California firs and is restricted to the Santa Lucia Mountains in a narrow strip some 80 kilometers (50 miles) long, are most accessible here. A disjunct population of the sugar pine, Pinus lambertiana, is found on the Peak and on nearby Junipero Serra Peak; these are the only stands of the tree in the South Coast Ranges. Other conifers include the Douglas fir, Pseudotsuga menziesii, which nears its main southern distribution here (see Harris Ranch), Coulter and knobcone pine, Pinus coulteri and Pinus attenuata, and incense cedar, Calocedrus decurrens.

Other communities include riparian and chaparral.

Several rare plants are found in the area, including Galium californicum ssp. luciense, Galium clementis, and Lupinus cervinus. This area is the southernmost limit of many of the species typical of the wet Pacific Coast forests and, additionally, there are a number of localized endemics and taxa with relictual distribution.

Much of the mountain consists of pre-Cretaceous metamorphic rock, primarily dolomite with occasional small limestone lenses. Metamorphic rocks of the granulite and amphibolite facies on the Peak suggest that the crystalline block must have been uplifted many kilometers relative to the adjacent unmetamorphosed rocks.

Integrity: The area is virtually undisturbed.

Use: Educational, research, observational, light recreational.

Ref: Compton, R. R. 1960. Charnockitic Rocks of the Santa Lucia Range, California. Am. Jour. Sci. Vol. 258 (9), pp. 609-636.
Stebbins, G. L. and J. Major, 1965. Endemism and Speciation in the California Flora. Eco. Monog. 35, pp. 1-35.

September 1975