To understand how Pinnacles National Park originated, imagine watching a time-lapse video that spans the past 60 million years, all the way to the present. As you fast-forward through this geological history, you witness the dramatic transformation of the landscape, revealing the story of Pinnacles. When the video starts, the continents resemble their current forms. Most of the world’s great mountain ranges are already in place, but the Pacific Ocean extends much farther inland, and many of California’s coastal mountains have yet to rise. These mountains, however, are on the brink of formation—thanks to the powerful forces of plate tectonics. The movement of the Earth’s tectonic plates, including the interaction of the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, sets the stage for the creation of the landscape we now know as Pinnacles National Park.