Garrapata State Park, established in 1979 on the Monterey coast, preserves a compact but varied meeting of the Santa Lucia Range and the Pacific, with beachfront, bluffs, redwood groves, and ocean-view trails. Offshore, sea lions, harbor seals, sea otters, and migrating gray whales are regularly seen. The landscape also reflects deep human history, from Ohlone and Rumsien use to Mexican-era Rancho San Jose y Sur Chiquito, later Soberanes and Doud ranching operations, and artistic work by Edward Weston. In 2016, the Soberanes Fire began here from an illegal campfire, burned for more than two months, caused a fatality, destroyed 57 residences, and led to partial trail closures before reopening progressed by 2018.