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California State Parks

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Death Valley National Park © George Bowers
Kings Canyon National Park © Ben Prepelka
Grizzly Falls
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks © Dewese Milstead
Death Valley National Park Death Valley National Park © Rafael Zhadanovskiy
Death Valley National Park, Zabriskie Point, California, January 2007
Yosemite National Park Sunny Tourist Day © Don Wong
Yosemite National Park Yosemite valley © Edward Hardam
View of Yosemite valley with El Capitan and Bridelveil Fall.
Yosemite National Park Lumbert Dome and River © John Cartlidge
Lumbert Dome in Yosemite NP California
Point Reyes National Seashore McClures Beach © Rob Nuti
Wave crash looking south from McClures Beach
Valley Quail © stateparks.com
Valley Quail
Campfire and Hotdogs © stateparks.com
Roasting hot dogs over an open fire.
Picnic Table © stateparks.com
It is always a great day for a picnic in the park.
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California's Southern Region Parks

25
State Parks
1
State Reserve
1
Metro and City Parks
1
National Monument
6
National Wildlife Refuges
1
National Park and Preserve
2
National Recreation Trails
3
National Forests
1
National Recreation Area
1
State Fish Hatchery
2
National Parks
Parks in this region are near these California Cities (click city name to see parks within 25 miles)
NORWALK
LOS ANGELES
PACOIMA
BELL GARDENS
FONTANA
SOUTH GATE
LONG BEACH
HAWTHORNE
SYLMAR
WESTMINSTER
SANTA ANA
ANAHEIM
LA PUENTE
RIVERSIDE
CHULA VISTA
OXNARD
Alamitos Park
Visiting the beach is always an amusing thing to do, and Alamitos Bay Beach in Los Angeles County, California is the outdoors at its greatest. The campgrounds here at Alamitos Bay Beach are relatively great. As if Alamitos Bay Beach wasn't enough you can also go boating, swimming, golfing, and fishing, ........more >
Angeles National Forest
Located in southern California, lies the Angeles National Forest, encompassing 694,187 acres including almost the entire San Gabriel Mountain range. The Forest provides the striking backdrop to southern Californiaaposs largest metropolitan area, the city of Los Angeles. Topography on the forest ranges ........more >
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
With over 600,000 acres, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is the largest state park in California. 500 miles of dirt roads, 12 wilderness areas and miles of hiking trails provide visitors with an unparalleled opportunity to experience the wonders of the Colorado Desert. The park is named after Spanish ........more >
Bolsa Chica State Beach
Bolsa Chica State Beach is a popular place for surf fishing for perch, corbina, croaker, cabezon and sand shark. Also popular is in the summer is bare-handed fishing for California grunion, a species that only spawns on sandy southern California beaches. The beach extends three miles from Seal Beach ........more >
Border Field State Park
Border Field State Park is on the very southwestern corner of the United States and 15 miles south of San Diego. Border Field is located within the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, an important wildlife habitat. The sand dunes and salt marshes give refuge to critically threatened and ........more >
Castle Mountains National Monument
Castle Mountains represents some of the most unique elements of the Mojave Desert. Nestled between the Nevada state line and Mojave National Preserve, the nearly 21,000 acres of Castle Mountains boasts Joshua tree forests, unbroken natural landscapes, rare desert grasslands, and rich human history. ........more >
Channel Islands National Park
Comprised of five in a chain of eight southern California islands near Los Angeles, Channel Islands National Park is home to a wide variety of nationally and internationally significant natural and cultural resources. Over 2,000 species of plants and animals can be found within the park. However only ........more >
Chino Hills State Park
Chino Hills State Park, a premier natural open-space area in the hills of Santa Ana Canyon near Riverside, is a critical link in the Puente-Chino Hills biological corridor. Its 12,452 acres encompass stands of oaks, sycamores and rolling, grassy hills that stretch nearly 31 miles, from the Santa Ana ........more >
Cibola National Wildlife Refuge
Cibola NWR is located in the floodplain of the lower Colorado River and surrounded by a fringe of desert ridges and washes. The refuge encompasses both the historic Colorado River channel as well as a channelized portion constructed in the late 1960's. Along with these main waterbodies, several important ........more >
Cleveland National Forest
In 1869, gold was discovered near Julian attracting hordes of miners from the Mother Lode and swelling the town to a population greater than that of San Diego. Also, during this period, zinc, lead, and silver mines were booming in the western canyons of the Santa Anas hence, Silverado Canyon. Nearby, ........more >
Crystal Cove State Park
The Crystal Cove Historic District is a 12.3-acre coastal portion of the 2,791-acre Crystal Cove State Park. The federally listed Historic District is an enclave of 46 vintage rustic coastal cottages originally built in the 1920s and 1930s nestled around the mouth of Los Trancos Creek. It is one of ........more >
Cuyamaca State Park
The beautiful park offers camping and hiking in an oak woodland forest, with a sprinkling of pines and lovely meadows with creeks. There are over 100 miles of trails which accommodate hikers, bikers, and equestrians. The two family camps, Paso Picacho and Green Valley, are open and on the reservation ........more >
Dockweiler Beach
Dockweiler Beach is three-mile-long section of Los Angeles shoreline that's seldom crowded. A west-facing beach, Dockweiler is the only place in Los Angeles County where you can have a bonfire and it has the only beachfront RV park as well. Although it's in the middle of the city, this piece of sand ........more >
El Capitan Beach State Park
El Capitn State Beach offers visitors a sandy beach, rocky tidepools, and stands of sycamore and oaks along El Capitn Creek. Its a perfect setting for swimming, fishing, surfing, picnicking and camping. A stairway provides access from the bluffs to the beach area. ........more >
Gaviota State Park
Gaviota State Park takes its name from the Spanish word for seagull, given to the area by soldiers of the Portola Expedition who supposedly killed a seagull while camping here in 1769. Marked by a tall Southern Pacific railroad trestle that crosses Gaviota Creek high above the day-use parking lot, the ........more >
Havasu National Wildlife Refuge
From desert bighorn sheep to the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher, birds and other animals at Havasu National Wildlife Refuge rely on the life-giving waters of the lower Colorado River. The refuge protects 30 river miles - 300 miles of shoreline - from Needles, California, to Lake Havasu City, ........more >
Heart Bar State Park
Throughout the warm months highs here at Heart Bar Campground get into the 90's while night lows are frequently in the 60's. The winter comes with highs in the 60's winter nights come with lows in the 40's to Heart Bar Campground. This is such a scenic campground. You can never get enough of the nice ........more >
Huntington Beach State Park
Huntington Beach offers its visitors the best preserved beach on the Grand Strand. The parks freshwater lagoon, saltmarsh, maritime forest and beach are outstanding examples of the states natural coastal environment. These also provide such prime habitat for birds that the park is widely recognized ........more >
Imperial National Wildlife Refuge
Imperial National Wildlife Refuge protects wildlife habitat along 30 miles of the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California, including the last unchannelized section before the river enters Mexico. The river and its associated backwater lakes and wetlands are a green oasis, contrasting with ........more >
Joshua Tree National Park
Joshua Tree National Park is immense, nearly 800,000 acres, and infinitely variable. It can seem unwelcoming, even brutal during the heat of summer when, in fact, it is delicate and extremely fragile. This is a land shaped by strong winds, sudden torrents of rain, and climatic extremes. Rainfall is ........more >
Malibu Creek State Park
Just 25 miles from downtown Los Angeles, the park features hiking, fishing, bird watching and horseback riding opportunities. There are 15 miles of streamside trail through oak and sycamore woodlands an chaparral-covered slopes. Twenty-five-mile Malibu Creek in the park is the principal water-course ........more >
Manhattan Beach State Park
Manhattan Beach beaches are located south of Los Angeles International Airport and north of Hermosa Beach in the South Bay region of Los Angeles. The beaches are maintained under operations of the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors. For those who want to know the essence of ........more >
Mitchell Caverns State Park
Mitchell's Caverns are a trio of limestone caves, located at an elevation of 4300 ft. 1311 m, in the Providence Mountains State Recreation Area in Southern California. The Tecopa named for a Shoshone Indian chief and El Pakiva Devil's house caves are connected by a man-made tunnel and are open to guided ........more >
Mojave National Preserve
Singing sand dunes, cinder cone volcanoes, a large Joshua tree forest, and carpets of spring wildflowers are all found within this 1.6-million-acre park. A visit to its canyons, mountains, and mesas will reveal long-abandoned mines, homesteads, and rock-walled military outposts. Located between Los ........more >
Mojave State Fish Hatchery
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Mount San Jacinto State Park
The deeply weathered summit of Mount San Jacinto stands 10,804 feet above sea level, the highest point in the San Jacinto Range and second highest in Southern California. No more than a two hour drive from either Los Angeles or San Diego, the mountain's magnificent granite peaks, subalpine forests, ........more >
Pacific Crest National Recreation Trail
he Pacific Crest Trail is a long-distance mountain hiking and equestrian trail that runs from the United States border with Mexico to its border with Canada and follows the highest portion of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Range which parallel the Pacific Ocean by 100 to 150 miles. The Pacific Crest ........more >
Palomar Mountain State Park
Landscape view of the mountain from the air over Palomar Mountain State Park Palomar Mountain State Park features spectacular views of the Pacific, camping, picnicking, hiking, and fishing trout in Doane Pond. Coniferous forests cover much of the 1,862 acres, in contrast to the dry lowlands surrounding ........more >
Piedra Blanca National Recreation Trail
A 17.7 mile trail in the Sespe Wilderness through impressive white rocks to a number of wilderness campsites. Designated a National Recreation Trail in the Los Padres Condor Range and River Protection Act. Named for Gene Marshall, a leading advocate of wilderness designation for the Sespe who played ........more >
Placerita Canyon State Park
The purpose of Placerita Canyon State Park, in Los Angeles County, is to preserve and protect the site of the first discovery of gold in California, in 1842. Designated as a State Historic Landmark, the unit is situated in the transition zone between the San Gabrial Mountains and the Mojave Desert, ........more >
Point Sal Beach State Park
Point Sal State Beach SB is located in the northwestern part of Santa Barbara County, near the city of Guadalupe. The park consists of approximately 80 acres and includes just over 1 1/2 miles of ocean frontage. Lands above the beach and rocky shoreline have extremely steep slopes, and numerous landslides ........more >
Redondo Beach State Park
Redondo Beach is a southern California beach town located along Pacific Coast Highway 1. Once a commercial port, Redondo Beach has a beautiful pier that is now home to a variety of shops, restaurants, marinas, live music and a sport fishing fleet. There is also an oceanfront esplanade, which has been ........more >
Refugio Beach State Park
Refugio State Beach offers excellent coastal fishing as well as trails and picnic sites. Palm trees planted near Refugio Creek give a distinctive look to the beach and camping area. A bike trail along the beach bluff connects the beach with El Capitn State Beach 2.5 miles east.........more >
Saddleback Butte State Park
Saddleback Butte, elevation 3,651 feet, is a granite mountaintop that towers some thousand feet above the broad alluvial bottom land of the Antelope Valley about fifteen miles east of Lancaster, on the western edge of the Mojave Desert. The state park surrounding Saddleback Butte was created in 1960 ........more >
Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge
Sonny Bono Salton Sea Refuge management programs maintain and improve habitat for wintering waterfowl and shorebirds. Waterfowl programs are designed to limit waterfowl depredations to adjacent croplands. The refuge provides habitat for over 375 bird species for many as a critical wintering or migration ........more >
San Bernardino National Forest
If it weren't for the San Bernardino Mountains, Los Angeles probably would have sprawled all the way to Phoenix a long time ago. It takes a formidable wall of rock to contain a city the size of L.A., and the San Bernardinos are that. And the national forest, with its towering oaks and manzanitas, ........more >
Santa Monica Beach State Park
This beach is two miles long, has a picnic area, shops and pier. Visitor activities include volleyball, basketball and a running strip along the beach.........more >
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Santa Monica Mountains rise above Los Angeles, widen to meet the curve of Santa Monica Bay and reach their highest peaks facing the ocean, forming a beautiful and multi-faceted landscape. Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is a cooperative effort that joins federal, state and local park ........more >
Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge
Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge is located in southern coastal California and is 30 miles south of Los Angeles. It encompasses 911 acres of remnant saltwater marsh in the Anaheim Bay estuary and serves as a significant stopover and wintering area along the Pacific Flyway for shorebirds. As urban ........more >
Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge
Sweetwater Marsh NWR is in central San Diego Bay in San Diego County, California. The refuge protects the last remaining salt marsh in San Diego Bay.........more >
Torrey Pines State Reserve
Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve is located within San Diego city limits and yet remains one of the wildest stretches of land on our Southern California coast Because of the efforts and foresight of the people in this area, 2000 acres of land are as they were before San Diego was developed -with ........more >
White Point State Park
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Will Rogers Beach State Park
Will Rogers State Beach extends one and three-quarters mile along the shore. The beach features swimming and skin diving. Facilities include volleyball courts, playground and gymnastic equipment, as well as a bike path and walkway. A number of movies and TV shows have been filmed at this beach.........more >
Will Rogers State Park
n the early 1930s, Will Rogers was the most popular and highest paid actor in Hollywood. From his start in vaudeville theater with a trick roping act, he rose to world-wide fame as a columnist, philosopher, radio personality, and movie star. During the 1920s, he bought land in Santa Monica, where he ........more >
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