Morro Rock is a 581-foot volcanic plug at the entrance to Morro Bay harbor, linked to shore by a causeway and protected as a state preserve. Part of a chain of 13 volcanic formations in the Morro Rock–Islay Hill Complex, it dates to roughly 27 to 23 million years ago and was later rotated geologically. Sacred to the Salinan and Chumash peoples, it has long held cultural and ceremonial importance, though access remains contested and public climbing is banned. Recorded by Spanish explorers in 1769 and quarried from 1889 to 1969, it is also a wildlife refuge for nesting seabirds, peregrine falcons, and nearby marine life.

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