Junipero Serra Peak is the highest mountain in the Santa Lucia range of central California with a height of 1,785 metres (5,856 feet).

[1] It is also the highest peak in Monterey County, and is located within the boundaries of Los Padres National Forest.

[2] It is named after Saint Junípero Serra, the Spanish Franciscan priest who founded the California Missions in the 18th century.

Astronomers scratched a trail to the summit in January 1880 to observe a total eclipse of the sun.

Wanting to honor Junípero Serra, the Native Daughters of the Golden West had bestowed his name upon a Sierra Nevada peak in June 1905.

[6][7] Since the peak is over 5,000 feet (1,500 m), temperatures in winter are low enough to support snowfall and relatively high amounts of precipitation compared to the Salinas Valley and places farther east in the Coast Ranges.

[11] The Junípero Serra Peak pines are surrounded by a vast area of scrubby mixed hardwood forest and chaparral.

[13] More recently, the Dolan Fire burned the southern slopes and upper portions of the northern summit in the fall of 2020.