Kirk’s Rock is the unofficial name for the arguably most popular or prominent rock formation in Vasquez Rocks County Park.
All rocks in the park were formed some 25 million years ago as horizontal layers of sandstone. Seismic activity compressed, folded, and uplifted these layers over time and erosive forces stripped away the loose soil. Today, many of these layers stand as impressive, spectacular, jutting slabs. The coarse-grained rock invites for fun slab climbing. Some of the slabs reach about 50 degrees and more than 150 feet high. Kirk’s Rock got its unofficial name from several Star Trek episodes that were filmed in the park. In particular, scenes from the “Arena” episode from Star Trek: The Original Series (first season) were filmed at this rock. In these scenes Captain Kirk faced a one-on-one battle with the Gorn, a humanoid reptile. Subsequently, many other Star Trek episodes were filmed here.
With amusement, I've seen these rocks in a number of other TV westerns and movies. And I always think "Kirk's peak" !
But I think Hollywood used it for location filming, dating back even before it was first used in Star Trek.
![[Linked Image from images-sp.summitpost.org]](https://images-sp.summitpost.org/tr:e-sharpen,e-contrast-1,fit-max,q-60,h-800/690044.jpg)
