photo credit: Wsiegmund

Mark your calendar on August 25 and September 26, 2015 for FREE entrance to all of California’s 24+ National parks, monuments and sites located right here in our own state.

Here is a complete list of all 24 of them to enjoy with your family over the next two months!

1. Death Valley National Park

Most of the year, this vast and rugged expanse of eastern Californian desert is brutally hot, but visit in winter or early spring, you’ll find a surprisingly beautiful and vibrant place.  First-time visitors are often awestruck by the desert’s vivid colours.  The park has nine campsites and several air-conditioned lodges, including the historic Furnace Creek Inn.

2. Yosemite National Park

Yosemite located 200 miles east of San Francisco and known for fantastic hiking, rafting, fishing, wildlife watching and being a mecca for big-wall rock climbing.   Yosemite is often crowded in the summer, but transforms in the winter into a quiet snowy paradise.  Yosemite is best explored over several days and accommodations range from wilderness camping to cabins to the luxurious hotels.

3. Point Reyes National Seashore

Point Reyes national seashore, located 37 miles north of San Francisco, is one of California’s few wild beaches. The 180-square-mile park is a beautiful habitat for seals, raptors and nesting sea birds.  Point Reyes is popular year-round, but especially from late December to mid-March, when as many as 20,000 grey whales migrate past the peninsula from their Alaskan feeding grounds to their breeding grounds off Baja California.  The park offers back country, boat-in camping and numerous hiking trails.  No car or RV camping is available, so prepare to rough it if you want to go camping.

4. Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree is located 125 miles east of Los Angeles, near the desert oases of Twenty-nine Palms and Palm Springs.  The park is named after the unusually tall species of yuccae trees that surround the park and offers amazing rock formations that rock climbers come from all over the world to climb.  At night time the Milky Way is overwhelmingly vivid.  Summers in the Mojave Desert are sweltering, but the weather in early spring, late fall and winter is usually delightful.

5. Lassen Volcanic National Park, Mineral

Lassen Volcanic National Park consists of what is known as Lassen Peak, the world’s largest volcanic dome towering at 10,462-feet.  After Lassen’s 1915 volcanic blast, Lassen Volcanic national park was created to preserve the devastated areas for future observation and study.  In the summer, Lassen offers over 150 miles of hiking trails and in the winter the park turns into a winter wonderland popular with snowshoers, cross-country and backcountry skiers.  Lassen has eight seasonal campsites and rustic cabins from May to October.

6. Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

Sequoia and Kings Canyon, just south-east of Yosemite, are two distinct parks, but share a border and are co-managed by the National Parks Service.  Lodging and camping are available within both parks.  However, to get the best view you need to hike on the rugged trails.  Sequoia is home to the largest tree in the world, by volume.  Kings Canyon national park protects the headwaters of the south and middle forks of the Kings river and the south fork of the San Joaquin river, two of the most picturesque and pristine rivers in California.

7. Pinnacles National Park

The dramatic cliffs 40 miles southeast of Salinas, previously known as Pinnacles National Monument,  became the nation’s newest national park in January 2013.  The massive spires and sheer canyons are actually the remains of an ancient volcano that was split in two by the San Andreas Fault and hauled 150 miles from its original location.  The spectacular walls attract rock climbers as well as bats, falcons and one of the rarest birds in the world: the California condor.  Pinnacles has only one campsite within the park.

8. Devils Postpile National Monument

The Devils Postpile, near Mammoth Lakes on the east side of Yosemite, was created when a mass of basaltic lava cooled at a relatively uniform rate.  The half-mile walk from the campsite to the base of the Postpile is easy and the hike to the top takes only about 15 minutes of moderate uphill hiking.

9. King Range National Conservation Area

The King Range national conservation area is a 65-mile stretch of wild beach in California known as the Lost Coast.  Since there are no roads into the Lost Coast, you have to walk to see it.  The hike is mostly flat, but can be cumberson, so plan to come prepared.

10. Redwood National and State Parks

The Redwood national and state parks in Northern California boast the tallest trees, including 115.7m Hyperion, the world’s tallest living tree.  Four campsites are scattered through the parks, but no indoor accommodation is available inside the park boundaries. Quaint lodgings can be found in the nearby small towns of Klamath, Requa and Orrick, with larger hotels in Crescent City, Arcata and Eureka.

11. Channel Islands, Ventura

Channel Islands National Park encompasses five remarkable islands and their ocean environment, preserving and protecting a wealth of natural and cultural resources. Isolation over thousands of years has created unique animals, plants, and archeological resources found nowhere else on Earth and helped preserve a place where visitors can experience coastal southern California as it once was.

12. Cabrillo National Monument, San Diego

Climbing out of his boat and onto shore in 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo stepped into history as the first European to set foot on what is now the West Coast of the United States. In addition to telling the story of 16th century exploration, the park is home to a wealth of cultural and natural resources. Join us and embark on your own Voyage of Discovery.

13. César E. Chávez

Yes, we can! Widely recognized as the most important Latino leader in the United States during the twentieth century, César E. Chávez led farm workers and supporters in the establishment of the country’s first permanent agricultural union. His leadership brought sustained international attention to the plight of U.S. farm workers, and secured for them higher wages and safer working conditions

14. Eugene O’Neill, Danville

America’s only Nobel Prize winning playwright, Eugene O’Neill, chose to live in Northern California at the height of his writing career. Isolated from the world and within the walls of his home, O’Neill wrote his final and most memorable plays; The Iceman Cometh, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and A Moon for the Misbegotten. The park is closed for tours on Mondays and Tuesdays.

15. Fort Point, Presidio of San Francisco

From its vantage point overlooking the spectacular Golden Gate, Fort Point defended the San Francisco Bay following California’s Gold Rush through World War II. Its beautifully arched casemates display the art of 3rd system brick masonry and interacts gracefully with the Golden Gate Bridge.

16. John Muir, Martinez

John Muir played many roles in his life, all of which helped him succeed in his role as an advocate for Nature. As America’s most famous naturalist and conservationist, Muir fought to protect the wild places he loved, places we can still visit today. Muir’s writings convinced the U.S. government to protect Yosemite, Sequoia, Grand Canyon and Mt. Rainier as national parks.

17. Juan Bautista de Anza Nogales, AZ to San Francisco, CA

“Everyone mount up!” was the rousing call from Juan Bautista de Anza. In 1775-76, Anza led some 240 men, women, and children on an epic journey to establish the first non-Native settlement at San Francisco Bay. Today, the 1,200-mile Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail connects history, culture, and outdoor recreation from Nogales, Arizona, to the San Francisco Bay Area.

18. Lava Beds, Tulelake

Lava Beds National Monument is a land of turmoil, both geological and historical. Over the last half-million years, volcanic eruptions on the Medicine Lake shield volcano have created a rugged landscape dotted with diverse volcanic features. More than 700 caves, Native American rock art sites, historic battlefields and campsites, and a high desert wilderness experience await you!

19. Manzanar, Independence

In 1942, the United States government ordered more than 110,000 men, women, and children to leave their homes and detained them in remote, military-style camps. Manzanar War Relocation Center was one of ten camps where Japanese American citizens and resident Japanese aliens were interned during World War II.

20. Muir Woods, Mill Valley

When John Muir learned that William and Elizabeth Kent were naming a redwood forest near San Francisco in his honor, he declared, “This is the best tree-lovers monument that could possibly be found in all the forests of the world.” The couple had purchased the land to preserve its beauty and restful wilderness; and in 1908, they donated it to the federal government to protect it from destruction.

21. Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front, Richmond

Explore and honor the efforts and sacrifices of American civilians on the World War II home front. Find out how they lived, worked and got along. Many faces, many stories, many truths weave a complex tapestry of myths and realities from this time of opportunity and loss.

22. San Francisco Maritime, San Francisco

Stand on the stern of BALCLUTHA, face west to feel the fresh wind blowing in from the Pacific Ocean. Located in the Fisherman’s Wharf neighborhood, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park offers the sights, sounds, smells and stories of Pacific Coast maritime history.

23. Santa Monica Mountains, Thousand Oaks

Whiskeytown Lake’s beautiful sapphire-blue waters, surrounded by mountain peaks, are perhaps the most prominent feature of the park. However, water-based recreation is only a small part of what the park has to offer. The 39,000 acres surrounding the lake hold four waterfalls, pristine mountain creeks, 70 miles of trails, and opportunities to explore the history of the California Gold Rush.

For complete details about FREE admission to the National State Parks and Sites, please visit here.

Happy Field Tripping,

Jilleen

Disclosure: This post is for informational purposes only.  All points of view and opinions are my own.  Information for this article was sourced from the guardian.com and nps.gov.