California State Parks Seeks Public Feedback on Proposal to Restore Mutsun Placename tooyohtak to Fremont Peak State Park
Contact:
Amanda Blosser
Cultural Resources Program Manager
Diablo Range District
(925) 758-2962
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Fremont Peak State Park. Photo from California State Parks.
What you need to know: As part of its Reexamining Our Past initiative, California State Parks is seeking public feedback on a proposed name change to Fremont Peak State Park to restore the traditional Mutsun placename. Following public feedback, the proposed name of tooyohtak (too-YOH-tahk) State Park will be presented at a future California State Park and Recreation Commission meeting before it can become official.
SACRAMENTO —California State Parks wants to hear from the public for the next 30 days on a proposal to restore the traditional Mutsun placename tooyohtak (too-YOH-tahk) to Fremont Peak State Park in San Benito County. The proposed name, tooyohtak State Park, would honor the longstanding relationship between the Mutsun people and this culturally significant landscape.
The proposal follows a formal request in October 2019 from the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band asking State Parks to reconsider the use of the name “Fremont Peak” due to John C. Frémont’s documented role in violence against Native Americans during the mid-19th century. The tribe requested that the park’s traditional Mutsun name be restored.
Fremont Peak State Park lies within the ancestral lands of the Mutsun people. The traditional name tooyohtak means “bee place” or “at the bees” and has been used by the Mutsun since time immemorial. The park opened in 1936, named for its association with Frémont; however, historical research has found disagreement about whether this mountain is the peak where Frémont planted an American flag in 1846.
The California State Park and Recreation Commission has jurisdiction over the naming of units of the State Park System. Following the public feedback, the proposed name change will be presented at a future commission meeting. If approved by the commission, tooyohtak State Park would become the second California state park renamed as part of the Reexamining Our Past Initiative, following the renaming of Patrick’s Point State Park to Sue-meg State Park in 2021.
State Parks’ Reexamining Our Past Initiative supports efforts to identify and address discriminatory names, inappropriate honorifics, and incomplete interpretation within the State Park System. The initiative also supports the restoration of traditional placenames and expanded recognition of California Native American history and culture.
Public comments may be submitted by email to feedback.diablorange@parks.ca.gov with “Fremont Peak Name Change” in the subject line.
Members of the public may also provide feedback through an online survey at this weblink.
Public feedback will be accepted through close of business on Oct. 23, 2026.
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