Mount Toro (Monterey County, California)

Mount Toro
Mount Toro is located in California
Mount Toro
Mount Toro
Mount Toro is located in the United States
Mount Toro
Mount Toro
Highest point
Elevation3,560 ft (1,090 m)[1]
Prominence1,080 ft (330 m)[2]
Coordinates36°31′34″N 121°35′35″W / 36.52611°N 121.59306°W / 36.52611; -121.59306
Geography
LocationMonterey County, California, US
Parent rangeSanta Lucia Mountains
Topo mapMount Toro
Climbing
Easiest routeTrail hike

Mount Toro is a mountain peak in the Santa Lucia range in Monterey County, California.[3][4][1] It is located within the boundaries of Los Padres National Forest. The name comes from the word "Toro," which in Spanish means "Bull".

The highest point in the area is the Sierra de Salinas mountain range, 3,560 ft (1,090 m) above sea level,[1] ten point six miles (17 km) southeast of Mount Toro and 1,080 ft (330 m) above the surrounding terrain.[2] There are about 16 people per square kilometer around Mount Toro. The land around Mount Toro is mountainous. The nearest town is Salinas, fifteen miles (24 km) north of Mount Toro.[5] The area around Mount Toro is covered with dirt and mud.

Mount Toro is not accessible to the public. In the past, it had been used for winter recreational activities during rare events of snowfall.[6] Magnificent views can be seen of the entire shoreline of Monterey Bay, the Corral de Tierra basin, Monterey, Watsonville, Castroville, Salinas, Santa Rita, Natividad, Chualar, Gonzales, and Soledad with the naked eye. Using a telescope you can see Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton, and Mount Diablo and the snow-covered Sierras one hundred and fifty miles (241 km) eastward.[7]

The KPRC-FM, KWAV, KLVM (FM), KION-TV, KOTR-LD and other transmitters are on Mount Toro, located ten miles (16 km) to the south of Salinas.[8] The Monterey County Superintendent of Schools began building a network of K31OL-D translators in the early 1960s to rebroadcast public television from KQED in San Francisco, with the first, channel 72 from Mount Toro, going on air in September 1964.[9]

Dorrance Ranch, having conservation easements with the Big Sur Land Trust is about 10 miles (16 km) south of Salinas and 15 miles (24 km) east/southeast of Monterey in the Sierra de Salinas Mountain Range of Monterey County on Mount Toro's northern ridge.[10] The land has oak savannas, ponds, wetlands, and grasslands, habitat for golden eagle, California red-legged frog, California tiger salamander, burrowing owl, and California condor.[11]

Mount Toro is one of Monterey County's most familiar vistas. John Steinbeck characterized Carmel Valley as "Pastures of Heaven.”

They climbed stiffly from their seats and stood on the ridge peak and looked down into the Pastures of Heaven. And the air was as golden gauze in the last of the sun. The land below them was plotted in squares of green orchard trees and in squares of yellow grain and in squares of violet earth. From the sturdy farmhouses, set in their gardens, the smoke of the evening fires drifted upward until the hillbreeze swept it cleanly off. Cowbells were softly clashing in the valley; a dog barked so far away that the sound rose up to the travelers in sharp little whispers. Directly below the ridge a band of sheep had gathered under an oak tree against the night. "It's called Las Pasturas del Cielo," the driver said. "They raise good vegetables there good berries and fruit earlier here than any place else. The name means Pastures of Heaven."

— John Steinbeck[12]

The River Fire was a wildfire that broke out from a lightning storm early on August 16, 2020, in Monterey County, south of Salinas, near River Road and Mount Toro.[13][14] Within its first day, it spread to 2,000 acres (810 ha) and was 10% contained; mandatory evacuations were ordered, while air and ground crews worked the fire.[15]

  1. ^ a b c "Junipero Serra Peak, California". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved August 7, 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Mount Toro". Peakvisor. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  3. ^ Mount Toro sa Geonames.org (cc-by); post updated February 19, 2010; database download sa February 28, 2017
  4. ^ "Mount Toro". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved August 7, 2009.
  5. ^ "Toro, Mount". List of Peaks. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  6. ^ "Many Enjoy Winter Sports on Mount Toro". The Californian. Salinas, California. February 9, 1948. p. 1. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  7. ^ "A Magnificent View". The Californian. Salinas, California. September 30, 1899. p. 4. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  8. ^ "Radio and TV Stations on Mount Toro". FCCInfo.com. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  9. ^ "Education Out of Thin Air Links Coast Area Counties". The Californian. December 21, 1966. pp. 20A, 21A. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  10. ^ Parsons, Larry (2008). "Ranch With a View Will be Preserved". Monterey Herald. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
  11. ^ "Monterey's Iconic Mt Toro Vista Protected". Big Sur Land Trust. March 11, 2008. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
  12. ^ Steinbeck, John (April 1995). The pastures of heaven. Penguin. p. 199. ISBN 9780140187489. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  13. ^ Szydlowski, Joe (August 18, 2020). "Here's how a freak storm ignited, and then inflamed, the River Fire in Monterey County". The Californian. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  14. ^ Cabral, Angelica; Cimini, Kate (August 18, 2020). "UPDATE: New evacuation orders on 4,500-acre River Fire, which is still only 10% contained". The Californian. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  15. ^ "Mandatory evacuations issued for 2,000-acre River Fire burning near Salinas". ksbw.com. August 16, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2020.