California State Parks

Kids2Parks: The Power of Field Trips

Kids2Parks gives students an opportunity to experience history, nature and science at local state parks and beaches. Photo: Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks

Title 1 schools have until August 18 to sign up for field trips, with guidance from State Parks staff and transportation funding provided.

Paying to Park Pays Off for Parks (and You)

Want to help keep your "backyard" beautiful? Pay to park. Photo: Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks

Five reasons to take the high-road into your favorite state park’s parking lot.

Tribute Tables Celebrate State Parks in Coastal San Mateo County

Tribute Tables are a thoughtful gift to mark milestones, celebrate relationships and honor a loved one. Each table is custom-engraved and is tax deductible. Photo: FOSCSP

Dedicating a picnic table at your favorite park or beach makes a perfect and enduring gift for a graduation, birthday, or memorial to a loved one.

10 Ways to Play at Castle Rock State Park

Castle Rock State Park, which sits along the crest of the Santa Cruz Mountains between Saratoga and Boulder Creek, offers commanding views. Photo by Mike Kahn.

Just up the hill from Silicon Valley, this rock climber’s paradise offers recreational opportunities from trail running to backpacking.

Reimagining Big Basin Incorporates Public Input

Touching a charred but living old-growth redwood with a new shoot rising up at Big Basin. Credit: Mike Kahn.

San Jose photographer Andrew P. Hill and Carrie Stevens Walter from the San Jose Woman’s Club were instrumental in the original protection of Big Basin at the turn of the previous century, and it became California's first State Park in 1902.

California State Parks Purchase from Sempervirens Fund Expands Castle Rock

Celebrating the breathtaking view at Castle Rock State Park. Photo copyright Mike Kahn.

This is the first addition to Castle Rock since 2004 and the first California State Parks purchase since 2011. Castle Rock is known for its coastal redwoods and steep canyons that make it not just a popular hiking destination but also one of the most-visited rock climbing spots in the area.

Google Trekker Captures California State Parks

Many of the California state parks Google has photographed with its Street View Trekker, including Point Lobos State Reserve, are in or around Big Sur.

The latest Google team isn’t in Silicon Valley. You’re more likely to spot them wearing hiking boots and backpacks equipped with soccer ball-shaped technological contraptions.

Castle Rock Visitor Center Gets Green Light

Reed Holderman of Sempervirens Fund displays an artist's rendering of the new Castle Rock entryway. Mike Kahn photo.

The Santa Cruz Board of Supervisors unanimously approved Sempervirens Fund's proposal for a new LEED-certified visitors center for Castle Rock State Park.

Yosemite, The First California State Park

President Roosevelt and John Muir at Glacier Point in 1903. Their impromptu three-day camping trip led to the federal government taking back Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove from the state of California. National Park Service Historic Photo.

On the 150th anniversary of California State Parks, a look back at Yosemite—the place it all began and the one that got away.