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Cone Peak, located midway along the Big Sur coast of Monterey County, rises directly from sea level to an elevation of 5120 feet, making it the highest point on the immediate coastal ridge. From its summit one can look down Limekiln Creek canyon to the surf, a mere two and a half miles away.

A forest service fire lookout (now unused) sits right on top, commanding a staggering 360° view across the Ventana Wilderness Area in Los Padres National Forest. Almost the entire area visible in this view was burned in the enormous Marble Cone forest fire of 1978, and much of the immediate vicinity was burned again in the Rat Creek fire of 1986. Though signs of the fires are still obvious, the vegetation is fire adapted and regrowing well.

The rare Santa Lucia Fir (Abies bracteata), a species of narrow endemic distribution (found only in this mountain range), clings to the steep east face of the peak. A forest of majestic sugar pines (Pinus lambertiana) crowns Twin Peak, a mile to the northwest.

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Next: Nacimiento Canyon