Best time to visit Pinnacles National Park
May is the best balance at Pinnacles: mild and dry for the park (an average high of 80°F), with very busy crowds. April is busiest, with about 44,000 visitors. January is the quietest.
- Quiet
- Moderate
- Busy
- Very busy
- Few or no visits (may be closed)
- Best months
Month by month
- Station
- Pinnacles NM, CA USC00046926
- Lat / lon
- 36.48, -121.18
- Elevation
- 1,307 ft
- From park center
- 0.7 mi
- Normals
- 1991–2020
- Visits
- 2023–2025
| Field | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | Maybest | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High, °F | 63° | 64° | 68° | 72° | 80° | 89° | 96° | 96° | 92° | 83° | 70° | 62° | 78° |
| Low, °F | 34° | 36° | 38° | 39° | 43° | 47° | 50° | 50° | 48° | 43° | 37° | 33° | 41° |
| Precipitation, in | 3.5 | 3.5 | 2.8 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.1 | T | T | 0.1 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 3.1 | 16.6 |
| Snow, in | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
| Daylight, h:mm | 9:55 | 10:48 | 11:51 | 13:04 | 14:05 | 14:38 | 14:25 | 13:33 | 12:22 | 11:12 | 10:11 | 9:41 | |
| Visitors, thousands | 21 | 23 | 38 | 44 | 39 | 31 | 30 | 24 | 21 | 22 | 26 | 27 | 346 |
| Crowds | Moderate | Moderate | Very busy | Very busy | Very busy | Busy | Busy | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate | Busy | Busy | |
| Weather | Mild, wet | Mild, wet | Mild, wet | Mild, wet | Mild | Hot | Very hot | Very hot | Very hot | Hot | Mild, wet | Mild, wet |
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip., in | Snow, in | Daylight | Visitors | Crowds | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 34° | 3.5 | 0.1 | 9:55 | 21,000 | Moderate | Mild, wet |
| February | 64° | 36° | 3.5 | 0 | 10:48 | 23,000 | Moderate | Mild, wet |
| March | 68° | 38° | 2.8 | 0 | 11:51 | 38,000 | Very busy | Mild, wet |
| April | 72° | 39° | 1.0 | 0 | 13:04 | 44,000 | Very busy | Mild, wet |
| Maybest | 80° | 43° | 0.6 | 0 | 14:05 | 39,000 | Very busy | Mild |
| June | 89° | 47° | 0.1 | 0 | 14:38 | 31,000 | Busy | Hot |
| July | 96° | 50° | T | 0 | 14:25 | 30,000 | Busy | Very hot |
| August | 96° | 50° | T | 0 | 13:33 | 24,000 | Moderate | Very hot |
| September | 92° | 48° | 0.1 | 0 | 12:22 | 21,000 | Moderate | Very hot |
| October | 83° | 43° | 0.7 | 0 | 11:12 | 22,000 | Moderate | Hot |
| November | 70° | 37° | 1.3 | 0 | 10:11 | 26,000 | Busy | Mild, wet |
| December | 62° | 33° | 3.1 | 0 | 9:41 | 27,000 | Busy | Mild, wet |
| Year | 78° | 41° | 16.6 | 0.1 | 346,000 | |||
Year: average high and low, total precipitation and snowfall, total visitors. T = trace (under 0.05 in). – = not measured at this station. Updated .
- Hottest July, average high 96°F
- Coldest nights December, average low 33°F
- Source NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information; National Park Service
- Visitors a year about 346,000 (2023–2025 average)
- State California
Closures, reservations and alerts: Pinnacles National Park on nps.gov
Nearby
- San Francisco Maritime National Historical ParkBest: May, Sep and Oct · California
- Fort Point National Historic SiteBest: May, Jun and Jul · California
- Muir Woods National MonumentBest: May, Jun and Oct · California
- Yosemite National ParkBest: May and Oct · California