Wender·Vista
Pinnacles National Park
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileUnited States
in the Gabilan Range, south-east of the Salinas Valley

Pinnacles National Park

— what is left of a volcano the San Andreas tore in half.

Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
a note from the studio

A small national park in central California, set in the dry chaparral hills east of Soledad. The rock spires are the eroded remnants of an extinct volcano that the San Andreas Fault carried roughly two hundred miles north from its original eruption site. Talus caves in the canyon bottoms hold cool air and bat colonies into summer, and California condors ride the morning thermals above the High Peaks. The east and west entrances do not connect by road. You pick a side and walk in.

from the studio
Pinnacles National Park
— bring it home

Pinnacles National Park, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

about Pinnacles National Park

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
the place

Pinnacles National Park sits in the Gabilan Range of central California, east of the Salinas Valley and the town of Soledad. The park covers about 26,000 acres across San Benito and Monterey counties and was redesignated from a national monument to a national park by Congress in 2013, more than a century after Theodore Roosevelt first proclaimed it in 1908. The park is reached by two separate entrances — west from Soledad off US 101 and east from Highway 25 near Hollister — that do not connect by road inside the park boundary.

the stone

The spires and walls are the eroded remnant of the Neenach Volcano, which erupted about twenty-three million years ago near present-day Lancaster in southern California. Movement along the San Andreas Fault has since carried this western half of the volcano roughly 195 miles north-west, leaving its other half behind in the Mojave. The visible rock is a mix of rhyolitic breccia and tuff, weathered into the High Peaks and into the boulder-choked canyons that form the park's distinctive talus caves at Bear Gulch and Balconies.

the visit

The park is best visited from late autumn through spring; summer temperatures in the canyons routinely exceed 100°F and the talus caves close seasonally to protect Townsend's big-eared bat maternity colonies. Pinnacles is one of the principal release sites for the California condor, and the High Peaks trail is among the most reliable places in the world to see the species in the wild. Camping is available only at the east-side campground; the west entrance is day-use, with the visitor contact station near Chaparral.

— informed by NPS — Plan Your Visit
where
United States · San Benito and Monterey Counties, California
within
Pinnacles National Park
position
36.4906° N · 121.1825° W
the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
19 km W
Soledad
Salinas Valley town
60 km S
Mission San Antonio de Padua
Spanish mission
80 km W
Monterey
coastal city
N
Pinnacles National Park
Soledad
Mission San Antonio de Padua
Monterey
common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Pinnacles National Park — and about bringing the piece home.
about the place

In the Gabilan Range of central California, east of the Salinas Valley. The west entrance is reached from Soledad off US 101; the east entrance from Highway 25 near Hollister. The two do not connect by road.

They are the eroded remains of the Neenach Volcano, which erupted about twenty-three million years ago. Movement along the San Andreas Fault has carried this half of the volcano roughly 195 miles north of where it formed.

Pinnacles was first proclaimed a national monument by Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 and was redesignated as a national park by Congress in 2013. It covers about 26,000 acres.

Yes. Pinnacles is a principal release site for the California condor recovery programme, and the High Peaks trail is among the most reliable places in the wild to see the birds, especially on morning thermals.

Narrow canyons roofed by jammed boulders, forming cave-like passages at Bear Gulch and Balconies. They hold cool air through summer and shelter maternity colonies of Townsend's big-eared bat, which trigger seasonal closures.

Late October through May. Summer canyon temperatures regularly exceed 100°F and parts of the cave system close. Wildflowers peak in March and April after a wet winter.

about the piece in your home

Yes. Pinnacles is a hiker's park rather than a roadside one, and the people who know it tend to know it well. A Small or Medium with a studio note reads as recognition of an under-postcarded place.

California rustic-modern interiors with warm wood and natural plaster. The dusty gold and chaparral palette also sits well in a desert-modern or Santa Fe room with terracotta and aged leather.

It fits the current desert-modern direction toward named California landscapes rather than generic Joshua Tree silhouettes. A Medium or Large reads as a specific volcanic place rather than a stock desert scene.

Above a sofa, a Large or a four-tile Mural. Above a narrow console, a Medium. For a long stair wall, a nine-tile Mural gives the High Peaks their full vertical run.

Yes, with Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and handle humidity, which makes them safe for backsplashes, powder rooms, and showers. Glossy is reserved for framed wall pieces.

Microfibre cloth and water. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, beneath a thin glossy finish, so it does not lift with normal cleaning. Skip abrasives and solvents.

Yes. Every WenderVista tile is original to a single studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. Nothing is licensed in or out, and the same eye curates every place that enters the atlas.

if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.