Page 37 - 2024/2025 Travel Guide to CALIFORNIA

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 butterflies 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 cliffside trails. Access to Pfeiffer Beach, a day beach, is just south of the Big Sur Ranger Station.
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 The Sand Pebbles, Planet of the Apes and outdoor scenes from the TV show M*A*S*H 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 State Historic 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, preserve 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 Pinnacles, 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.
FIND
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.
Virtual Visits
California State Parks in partnership with Google Maps offers virtual visits to 110 state parks www.parks.ca.gov/googletrekker
2024-25 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA 35
YOUR PARK
M01229/CREATIVE COMMONS/FLICKR; NOANYFRAMES/SHUTTERSTOCK. OPPOSITE: VISIT CARMEL; LARRY HABEGGER