Page 69 - 2019 Travel Guide to California

of Point Reyes National Seashore is home
to a dozen beaches, with drive-up Drakes
Beach and hike-in Limantour as favorites.
Make your way to park headlands in early
spring to view the gray whale migration.
Edging the entrance to San Francisco Bay,
the beaches and cliff trails of the Golden
Gate National Recreation Area are the gate-
ways to urban adventures and historic sites
such as Alcatraz Island.
Continuing down the coast to Santa Cruz
and Monterey, surfing spots alternate with
quiet coves that are home to sea otters and
seals. Behold the thousands of monarch but-
terflies that winter at Natural Bridges State
Beach. In Carmel, whose beauty has been long
favored by plein air artists, Point Lobos State
Natural Reserve is a must-visit for everyone.
Big Sur’s Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park offers
stunning views of the rugged coast from its
cliff-side trails. Access to Pfeiffer Beach, a day
beach, is just south of the Big Sur Ranger Sta-
tion. The road to Big Sur has reopened after the
2017 landslides but check park websites for
current trail and park access information.
At mid coast, rocky cliffs finally give way
to warm water and California’s famous end-
less flat beaches. Movie buffs can camp at
Malibu Creek State Park where M*A*S*H
and Planet of the Apes were filmed. And
then there’s Huntington Beach, a.k.a. Surf
City USA. Huntington State Beach’s soft
sand, safe swimming and good surfing
make it the California classic.
Rocks to Castles
California is more than its geography. Living
history programs bring the past to life in
many parks. At Railtown 1897 Historic State
Park, ride the vintage trains that often appear
in films, television productions and com-
mercials. At Indian Grinding Rock State
Historic Park, visit a reconstructed village
with a ceremonial roundhouse and presen-
tations by descendants of the Miwoks. The
21 missions founded by the Spanish along El
Camino Real, or the King’s Highway, pre-
serve the arrival of non-natives to California.
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, with
its restored plaza and adobes, captures the
period when San Diego grew from a Mexican
pueblo into an American town. And then
there’s gold fever. Pan for gold at Marshall
Gold Discovery State Historic Park where the
mineral was first discovered. Visualize a
miner’s life at Bodie State Historic Park, an
intact ghost town from the era.
No place reflects California’s big
dreamers better than the Hearst San Simeon
State Historical Monument, a testament to
publisher William Randolph Hearst and
architect Julia Morgan. Tour the 115-room
castle and imagine the presidents, pub-
lishing luminaries and Hollywood stars who
gathered there. Also at mid state, climbers
and birders will not be disappointed at Pin-
nacles, California’s newest national park.
Whatever kind of experience you seek,
from a city adventure to a high country trek,
California’s parks have a surprise in store for
you. And whatever your destination, always
check current conditions and access infor-
mation before heading out.
ARMSTRONG REDWOODS STATE Natural
Reserve in Guerneville, Sonoma County,
opposite top; California suncup desert
wildflower, opposite bottom; one of the
world’s hottest places in summer, Death
Valley, above, also contains the lowest point
in North America, and this is just 85 miles
from Mount Whitney, the continental U.S.’s
highest point.
» FIND
YOUR PARK
Individual State Parks
www.parks.ca.gov
National Parks
nps.gov/state/CA
Campsites & Lodging Reservations
State Parks: reservecalifornia.com
National Parks: recreation.gov
Lighthouses
(many open to the public, some
offering accommodations)
nps.gov/maritime/inventories/
lights/ca.htm
Wildflower Updates at
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Wildflower Hotline
760-767-4684
Or check the park’s website
at www.parks.ca.gov.
2019 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA 67