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The Carrizo Plain Natural Area became the Carrizo Plain National Monument in January 2001 by presidential proclamation. The park is noted for its geologic features (including the San Andreas Fault and Soda Dry Lake), archeological sites, and wildlife. The park is the largest remaining remnant of the original San Joaquin Valley habitat. [It was rainning in the background.]

The national monument encompasses almost 250,000 acres. The land is cooperative managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the California Department of Fish and Game, and The Nature Conservancy. The preserve still encompasses private land holdings that are used for limited cattle ranching and dry-land farming.

Land management priority activities include restoration of the pre-colonial ecosystem and the protection of endangered species habitats while melding human use of the region's natural resources. The park is located about 160 miles north of Los Angeles, 260 miles south of San Francisco, about 55 miles west of Bakersfield, and and 50 miles north of Santa Barbara.

The Carrizo Plain is located in San Luis Obispo County, and part of the extreme northeastern portion is in Kern County. It is a narrow, undulating plain, about 10 miles wide (NE-SW) and 45 miles long (NW-SE).