Chance to see condors worth the trek to Pinnacles National Park

The High Peaks Trail at Pinnacles National Park traces a rugged route through vertical cliffs and volcanic spires, gaining about 1,000 feet of elevation along the way. It’s a strenuous 5½-mile hike, especially when summer sunshine pushes the daytime highs above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

With that challenge, however, comes a reward: the chance to spot California condors soaring through the park.

“Here at the Pinnacles, it’s easy to forget how extremely endangered California condors really are. Of their total world population, only about 275 birds live in the wild — and you might see 10 of them flying around here in one day,” says Rachel Wolstenholme, condor program manager at Pinnacles National Park.

Nearly 90 of the world’s 446 California condors live in Central California, and researchers have identified at least eight active nests in Monterey County. The largest flying birds in North America, they have a wingspan of up to 9½ feet and can cover more than 100 miles in a single flight. Because of their rare status, condors are managed and monitored with identification tags, radio transmitters and GPS equipment.

Wolstenholme’s crew at the Pinnacles co-manages the Monterey County flock with the Ventana Wildlife Society, a nonprofit conservation group based in Salinas and Big Sur. The organization led efforts to restore California’s bald eagle population in the 1980s and 1990s, before turning its attention to condors.

The birds first made the federal endangered species list in 1967. By 1982, only 22 California condors remained in the wild. Biologists took them into captivity, stepped up breeding and recovery work, and reintroduced the first captive-bred condors in 1992.

Ventana Wildlife Society researchers began releasing condors in Big Sur five years later; releases at the Pinnacles kicked off in 2003.

“We started with zero free-flying condors in the region. As of the last official count in December 2016, 166 live in California,” says Executive Director Kelly Sorenson.

The recovery stems, in part, from long-term efforts to curb the use of lead ammunition. When condors feed on the remains of animals hunted with lead, those bullet fragments can poison the birds. To combat the problem, Sorenson and his team have distributed more than $120,000 worth of non-lead ammunition to regional hunters — at no cost to recipients — since 2012.

“Until we get lead out of the environment, we’ll have to intensively manage these flocks. ... We’re not out of the woods yet, but education is making a difference,” says Pinnacles condor program volunteer Richard Neidhardt. He regularly travels from Morro Bay (San Luis Obispo County) to southern Monterey County to help track birds, and he leads public tours in the park.

Though Neidhardt pauses his tours during the hot summer months, he still hikes the trails and shares viewing tips with Pinnacles visitors. For an alternative to the challenging High Peaks Trail, he recommends visiting the campground on the park’s east side.

“If you’re facing the visitor center, you’ll see a ridge to your right. Condors often roost in those trees in the early morning and late afternoon. Come at the right time and you can watch them fly out for a day of foraging,” he says.

To spot condors, and to distinguish them from other birds in at the Pinnacles, Neidhardt suggests starting with the wings. Numbered identification tags are often visible on the wings of perched condors. Adult condors in flight have an elongated white triangle on the leading edge of their underwings. That white looks a bit patchier on juvenile condors.

“Condors in flight also hold their wings flat and straight out from their bodies,” Neidhardt says. “Turkey vultures have their wings in a V shape, and they look a little wobbly in the air. When condors fly, they are steady and don’t rock at all.”

Condors have been especially active at the Pinnacles this spring, adds Wolstenholme, and that’s created exceptional opportunities for viewing and photographing the birds.

“Nothing beats the look on someone’s face when they see a condor flying in real life. People are absolutely amazed by how big they are,” she says. “We love that people can enjoy nature here and be inspired by this amazing species.”

If you go

Guided condor tours at Pinnacles National Park take place in the spring and fall, and park naturalists lead periodic condor talks in the park.

Recommended viewing spots include the High Peaks Trail (accessible from the east and west sides of the park) and the ridge south of Pinnacles Campground (accessible from the park’s east side; look for spotting scopes on the Bench Trail near Pinnacles Visitor Center). Information is available at park visitor centers, and biologists and volunteers who track birds while hiking trails at the Pinnacles can also answer condor questions.

For event schedules and trail closure updates, visit www.nps.gov/pinn or call the park headquarters at (831) 389-4486.

Big Sur condor tours by the Ventana Wildlife Society are on hold while crews rebuild the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge on Highway 1. Construction is scheduled to end in September; tours will resume after the road reopens. Visit www.ventanaws.org or call (831) 455-9514 for updates.