Map of the Carrizo Plain National Monument
The 250,000-acre Carrizo Plain National Monument, ringed by mountains, contains the last significant remnant of intact San Joaquin Valley grasslands and is home to the highest concentration of endangered and threatened species in the nation. On the eastern edge of San Luis Obispo County, close to California Valley, the Carrizo Plain stretches 45 miles north to south and 10 miles east to west. Surrounded by the Temblor and Caliente ranges, the San Andreas Fault rises up through the Carrizo Plain's expansive valley floor.