Climbing
Sorry, not too much in the way of good climbing in this forest, but if you're in the upper part of the forest, you're not more than an hour from Pinnacles National Monument, right outside of Soledad, just Northeast of the Santa Lucia Range. Only experienced, well-equipped climbers should attempt this craggy ancient volcano.

Wildlife
Tread lightly, and you can expect to see deer in this area. Black bear are uncommon but not unheard of. Wild turkeys and pigs also inhabit the Forest and band-tailed pigeons are plentiful during years of ample feed. Vegetation ranges from vast expanses of chaparral and grass to oak woodlands and, at higher elevations, forests of coniferous trees. Tree species in the Forest include: the pines - pinyon, Jeffrey, ponderosa, Coulter, limber, sugar, and knobcone, also coast liveoak (encinas), coastal redwood, big cone Douglas-fir, white fir, Sargent cypress, and Santa Lucia fir. The Santa Lucia or bristlecone fir is the rarest and most unusual fir in North America.

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