Parque Nacional Sierra de San Pedro Mártir
| Sierra de San Pedro Mártir National Park | |
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IUCN category II (national park)
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| Location | Ensenada Municipality, Mexicali Municipality, Baja California, Mexico |
| Nearest city | San Felipe, Baja California |
| Coordinates | 30°54′19″N 115°30′04″W / 30.90528°N 115.50111°WCoordinates: 30°54′19″N 115°30′04″W / 30.90528°N 115.50111°W |
| Area | 72,909 hectares (180,160 acres) |
| Established | April 26, 1947 |
| Governing body | Secretariat of the Environment and Natural Resources |
Sierra de San Pedro Mártir National Park is a national park in the Mexican state of Baja California. The Park is part of the municipality of Ensenada, Baja California. The area was first explored by Europeans in 1701 by Eusebio Francisco Kino by Dominican orders.
The park is known for its pine trees and granite rock formations. Sierra de San Pedro Mártir is a mountain range that runs north-south along the middle part of northwestern Baja California, Mexico. with its name Spanish for "mountains of Saint Peter the Martyr. Picacho del Diablo (Devil's Peak) is the highest peak in the park and in Baja California with its summit reaching 3,096 meters (10,157 feet). Sierra de San Pedro Mártir National Park is one of the few pine forests that exists on the Baja California peninsula that is important habitat for native Bighorn Sheep. In addition the park is home to the California condor through re-introduction program by several international agencies.
The National Astronomical Observatory, built in 1971 on a neighboring peak, Cerro del la Cúpula, is home to Mexico's largest optical telescope, with a diameter of 2.12 meters, and a weight of 40 tons in total. The observatory is the second most important in Latin America.
The first explorations of the region were realized by the Jesuit order during the evangelization era of the neo-Hispanic territories of California. The regions of the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir are thought to have been explored by father Eusebio Francisco Kino and father Wenceslao Link in 1701. Later the Dominicans continuing the evangelization movement built the Misión de San Pedro Mártir de Verona in the southern part of the park, but only ruins are left of the site.
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Wikipedia