Complete California State Parks List with Map & Travel Tips

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This insanely thorough list of California State Parks will help you find your own perfect park. It lists all of the California State parks (even the ones under development) along with a map and travel tips for how to plan your park visit.

California state-parks Prarie Redwoods State Park. Redwood Forest
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.

California’s state park website provides a lot of useful information about the individual parks. However, it does a poor job of allowing you to sort by geography or interests. Do you want to find dog-friendly California state beach parks in Central California? Are you interested in visiting forested parks in Mendocino county? Good luck finding that on the CA site without doing a lot of hunting.

No worries, we’ve got you covered. Design your own California State Park bucket list with our resource. Subscribe in the box below and you’ll get special access to a customizable, sortable resource that let’s you find parks based upon 12 different factors like: region, county, camping available, forest, coastal, historic and more.

And if you are a completist, we also have a list of ALL California National Park sites for you to peruse.

If you don’t want to subscribe or you are just looking for some quick information, keep scrolling. The California State Parks list below is organized by region and county with links to articles that feature the parks. There is also a California state parks map on the bottom so that you can visualize where all of the parks are located.

There’s a lot here, so you can use this handy table of contents to jump around

California State Park FAQ
State Parks in Northern California
State Parks in Central California
State Parks in Southern California
California State Parks Map

California State Parks List: Tips & FAQ

How Many California State Parks Are There?

There are 281 parks, including a handful that are under development.

What is the largest CA State Park?

Anza Borrego takes the win at 660,000 acres.

How Much is an Annual Pass?

The most popular and convenient pass is the annual Poppy Pass, which is $125. But California has 12 different annual passes, so use our guide to find a discounted parks pass that works for your needs.

What Are Typical Day Use Fees in California State Parks?

Most day use fees are $5-10. Guided tours are often extra.

What are Typical Camping Fees?

Camping fees run $35-65, plus a $7 online reservation fee. Rates are lower for tent sites and higher for RV sites with hook-ups. Many of the parks are very popular and fill up quickly. You can reserve six months in advance on a daily rolling schedule. You can also sometimes snag a great last-minute slot if someone cancels. Reserve a spot on the Reserve California reservation system.

Are California State Parks Dog-friendly?

Sort of. 206 of the 281 parks allow dogs. 60 parks are very dog-friendly and the remaining have restrictions, such as only allowing dogs on selected trails or just in the parking lots and campgrounds. The State Park website isn’t very clear on this and you sometimes have to dig into the park brochure to suss out the rules. But if you subscribe to the tool above, you can sort on which ones are a clear “yes” and which are “limited”.

California State Park list Bodie State Park
Bodie State Park.

Here’s the full list of California State Parks:

Northern California State Parks

Alameda County

  • Albany State Marine Reserve
  • Bethany Reservoir State Recreation Area
  • Carnegie SVRA (also partly in San Joaquin County)
  • Emeryville Crescent State Marine Reserve (also partly in Contra Costa County)
  • Lake Del Valle State Recreation Area
  • McLaughlin Eastshore State Park State Seashore
  • Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach

Alpine County

  • Grover Hot Springs State Park

Amador County

  • Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park

Butte County

  • Bidwell Mansion State Historic Park
  • Bidwell-Sacramento River State Park (also partly in Glenn County)
  • Butte City Project Park Property
  • Clay Pit SVRA
  • Lake Oroville State Recreation Area

Table Mountain near Oroville isn’t strictly a state park, but it is managed by the CA Fish and Wildlife service and the spring wildflower hiking there is not to be missed.

Colusa County

  • Colusa-Sacramento River State Recreation Area

Contra Costa County

  • Franks Tract State Recreation Area
  • Marsh Creek State Historic Park
  • Mount Diablo State Park

Del Norte County

  • Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park
  • Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park
  • Pelican State Beach
  • Tolowa Dunes State Park

El Dorado County

  • Auburn State Recreation Area
  • D. L. Bliss State Park
  • Ed Z’berg Sugar Pine Point State Park
  • Emerald Bay State Park
  • Folsom Lake State Recreation Area (also partly in both Placer and Sacramento counties)
  • Lake Valley State Recreation Area
  • Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park
  • Washoe Meadows State Park

DL Bliss, Ed Z’berg and Emerald Bay are featured stops in this scenic drive around Lake Tahoe.

Humboldt County

  • Azalea State Natural Reserve
  • Benbow State Recreation Area
  • Fort Humboldt State Historic Park
  • Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park
  • Harry A. Merlo State Recreation Area
  • Humboldt Lagoons State Park
  • Humboldt Redwoods State Park
  • John B. Dewitt Redwoods State Natural Reserve
  • Little River State Beach
  • Sue-Meg State Park (previously called Patrick’s Point State Park)
  • Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park
  • Richardson Grove State Park
  • Trinidad State Beach

Many of California’s best redwood forests are in Humboldt County. But you can also find them in Del Norte, the Bay Area, Big Sur, Yosemite and Sequoia/Kings Canyon.

Lake County

  • Anderson Marsh State Historic Park
  • Clear Lake State Park

Marin County

  • Angel Island State Park
  • China Camp State Park
  • Marconi Conference Center State Historic Park
  • Mount Tamalpais State Park
  • Olompali State Historic Park
  • Samuel P. Taylor State Park
  • Tomales Bay State Park

Mariposa County

  • California State Mining and Mineral Museum Park Property

Mendocino County

  • Admiral William Standley State Recreation Area
  • Caspar Headlands State Natural Reserve
  • Caspar Headlands State Beach
  • Greenwood State Beach
  • Hendy Woods State Park
  • Jug Handle State Natural Reserve
  • MacKerricher State Park
  • Mailliard Redwoods State Natural Reserve
  • Manchester State Park
  • Mendocino Headlands State Park
  • Mendocino Woodlands State Park
  • Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve
  • Navarro River Redwoods State Park
  • Point Cabrillo Light Station State Historic Park
  • Reynolds Wayside Campground
  • Russian Gulch State Park
  • Schooner Gulch State Beach
  • Sinkyone Wilderness State Park (also partly in Humboldt county)
  • Smithe Redwoods State Natural Reserve
  • Standish-Hickey State Recreation Area
  • Van Damme State Park
  • Westport-Union Landing State Beach

Find out why Fort Bragg and Mendocino’s amazing coastline puts them on our list of cool coastal towns in Northern California. And Hendy Redwoods and Van Damme are featured stops on our epic 5 day road trip from San Francisco to the redwoods.

Merced County

  • San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area
  • Wassama Round House State Historic Park
  • Pacheco State Park (also partly in Santa Clara County)

The Wassama Round House State Park features on our SF to Yosemite road trip.

Mono County

Napa County

  • Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park
  • Bothe-Napa Valley State Park (also partly in Sonoma County)
  • Robert Louis Stevenson State Park (also partly in both Sonoma and Lake Counties)

Nevada County

Empire Mine and Malakoff Diggins are just two towns feature on this list of California’s gold mining ghost towns.

Placer County

  • Burton Creek State Park
  • Tahoe State Recreation Area
  • Ward Creek Park Property

Plumas County

  • Plumas-Eureka State Park

Sacramento County

  • Brannan Island State Recreation Area
  • California State Capitol Museum
  • California State Railroad Museum Point of Interest
  • Delta Meadows Park Property
  • Folsom Powerhouse State Historic Park
  • Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park
  • Leland Stanford Mansion State Historic Park
  • Locke Boarding House Museum Point of Interest
  • Old Sacramento State Historic Park
  • Prairie City SVRA
  • State Indian Museum State Historic Park
  • Stone Lake Park Property
  • Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park

San Benito County

  • San Juan Bautista State Historic Park

San Francisco County

  • Candlestick Point State Recreation Area

San Joaquin

  • Caswell Memorial State Park

San Mateo County

  • Año Nuevo State Park
  • Bean Hollow State Beach
  • Burleigh H. Murray Ranch Park Property
  • Butano State Park
  • Gray Whale Cove
  • Half Moon Bay State Beach
  • Montara State Beach
  • Pacifica State Beach
  • Pescadero State Beach
  • Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park
  • Pomponio State Beach
  • Portola Redwoods State Park
  • San Bruno Mountain State Park
  • San Gregorio State Beach
  • Thornton State Beach

Santa Clara County

  • Henry W. Coe State Park (also partly in Stanislaus County)
  • Martial Cottle Park State Recreation Area

Santa Cruz County

  • Big Basin Redwoods State Park
  • The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park
  • Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park
  • Lighthouse Field State Beach
  • Manresa State Beach
  • Natural Bridges State Beach
  • New Brighton State Beach
  • Rancho San Andrés Castro Adobe Park Property
  • Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park
  • Seacliff State Beach
  • Twin Lakes State Beach
  • Wilder Ranch State Park
  • Zmudowski State Beach (also partly in Monterey County)

The Forest of the Nisene and Natural Bridges are featured in this Santa Cruz Weekend Getaway.

Shasta County

  • Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park
  • Castle Crags State Park
  • McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park
  • Shasta State Historic Park

Solano County

  • Benicia State Recreation Area
  • Benicia Capitol State Historic Park

Sonoma County

  • Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve
  • Austin Creek State Recreation Area
  • Fort Ross State Historic Park
  • Jack London State Historic Park
  • Kruse Rhododendron State Natural Reserve
  • Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park
  • Salt Point State Park
  • Sonoma State Historic Park
  • Sonoma Coast State Park
  • Sugarloaf Ridge State Park
  • Trione-Annadel State Park

Armstrong Redwoods and the Sonoma Coast are featured in this Guerneville weekend getaway.

Stanislaus

  • Turlock State Recreation Area

Sutter County

  • Sutter Buttes State Park

Tehama County

  • William B. Ide Adobe State Historic Park
  • Woodson Bridge State Recreation Area

Trinity County

  • Weaverville Joss House State Historic Park

Tuolumne County

  • Railtown 1897 State Historic Park

Yolo County

  • California Indian Heritage Center Park Property
  • Woodland Opera House State Historic Park
McWay falls in southern Big Sur
McWay Falls at Pfieffer Big Sur State Park.

Central California State Parks

Calavaras County

  • Calaveras Big Trees State Park (also partly in Toulumne County)

Fresno County

  • Millerton Lake State Recreation Area (also partly in Madera County)

Kern County

  • Eastern Kern County Onyx Ranch SVRA
  • Fort Tejon State Historic Park
  • Red Rock Canyon State Park
  • Tomo-Kahni State Historic Park
  • Tule Elk State Natural Reserve

Merced County

  • George J. Hatfield State Recreation Area
  • Great Valley Grasslands State Park
  • McConnell State Recreation Area

Monterey County

  • Andrew Molera State Park
  • Asilomar State Beach
  • Carmel River State Beach
  • Fort Ord Dunes State Park
  • Fremont Peak State Park (also partly in San Benito County)
  • Garrapata State Park
  • Hatton Canyon Park Property
  • John Little State Natural Reserve
  • Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
  • Limekiln State Park
  • Marina State Beach
  • Monterey State Historic Park
  • Monterey State Beach
  • Moss Landing State Beach
  • Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park
  • Point Lobos State Natural Reserve
  • Point Lobos Ranch Park Property
  • Point Sur State Historic Park
  • Salinas River State Beach
  • Sunset State Beach

Moss Landing, Pfeiffer Big Sur and Point Lobos are all fun stops on this Pacific Coast Highway drive. We also have a Big Sur Day trip guide that includes Garrapata, Lime Kiln and Julia Pfeiffer State Parks. Check out our campground guide for Big Sur, which includes both public and private camp sites.

San Benito County

  • Hollister Hills SVRA

San Luis Obisbo County

  • Cambria State Marine Park
  • Cayucos State Beach
  • Estero Bluffs State Park
  • Harmony Headlands State Park
  • Hearst San Simeon State Park
  • Hearst San Simeon State Historical Monument
  • Los Osos Oaks State Natural Reserve
  • Montaña de Oro State Park
  • Morro Bay State Park
  • Morro Strand State Beach
  • Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area
  • Pismo State Beach

Cayucos State Beach and Estero Bluffs State Park are featured on our weekend getaway guide for Cayucos and we also have a guide for fun activities in Pismo Beach and our favorite Pismo beaches.

Santa Barbara County

  • Carpinteria State Beach (also partly in Ventura County)
  • Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park
  • El Capitán State Beach
  • El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park
  • Gaviota State Park
  • La Purísima Mission State Historic Park
  • Point Sal State Beach
  • Refugio State Beach

Tulare County

  • Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park

Toulumne County

  • Columbia State Historic Park
California State Parks list Anza Borrego
Sunset over Anza Borrego State Park.

Southern California State Parks

Imperial County

  • Heber Dunes SVRA
  • Picacho State Recreation Area
  • Salton Sea State Recreation Area (also partly in Riverside County)

Los Angeles County

  • Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve State Natural Reserve
  • Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland State Park
  • Castaic Lake State Recreation Area
  • Dockweiler State Beach
  • Hungry Valley SVRA (also partly in Ventura County)
  • Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area
  • Leo Carrillo State Park (also partly in Ventura County)
  • Los Angeles State Historic Park
  • Los Encinos State Historic Park
  • Malibu Creek State Park
  • Malibu Lagoon State Beach
  • Pío Pico State Historic Park
  • Placerita Canyon State Park
  • Point Dume State Beach
  • Point Mugu State Park
  • Rio de Los Angeles State Park State Recreation Area
  • Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach
  • Saddleback Butte State Park
  • Santa Monica State Beach
  • Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park
  • Topanga State Park
  • Verdugo Mountains Park Property
  • Watts Towers of Simon Rodia State Historic Park
  • Will Rogers State Beach
  • Will Rogers State Historic Park

Orange County

  • Bolsa Chica State Beach
  • Chino Hills State Park (also partly in Riverside and San Bernadino Counties)
  • Corona del Mar State Beach
  • Crystal Cove State Park
  • Doheny State Beach
  • Huntington State Beach
  • San Clemente State Beach

Riverside County

  • California Citrus State Historic Park
  • Indio Hills Palms Park Property
  • Lake Perris State Recreation Area
  • Mount San Jacinto State Park
  • San Timoteo Canyon Park Property
  • Wildwood Canyon Park Property

San Bernadino County

  • Providence Mountains State Recreation Area
  • Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area

San Diego County

  • Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
  • Border Field State Park
  • Cardiff State Beach
  • Carlsbad State Beach
  • Cuyamaca Rancho State Park
  • Leucadia State Beach
  • Moonlight State Beach
  • Ocotillo Wells SVRA
  • Old Town San Diego State Historic Park
  • Palomar Mountain State Park
  • San Elijo State Beach
  • San Onofre State Beach
  • San Pasqual Battlefield State Historic Park
  • Silver Strand State Beach
  • South Carlsbad State Beach
  • Tijuana Estuary NP Point of Interest
  • Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve
  • Torrey Pines State Beach

Ventura County

  • Emma Wood State Beach
  • Mandalay State Beach
  • McGrath State Beach
  • San Buenaventura State Beach
Jenner Beach Walk with Dog part of things to do in Russian Rivery Valley
Dog-friendly Sonoma State Beaches. This is Cocoa, isn’t she cute?

California State Parks Map

This list of California State Parks was was a beast to put together. So, if you see any mistakes, please comment below or use the contacts page to email us.

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4 thoughts on “Complete California State Parks List with Map & Travel Tips”

  1. After reading the loads of information for purchase of a pass. I have limited mobility in the colder months into late summer and is on record by my doctor. I’m unsure of how to proceed and have been waiting as my interest is including parks/rec for my leisure as a retiree (working part-ttime). Any input is helpful.

    Reply
    • They have an application process for the discounted pass for the disabled- you’ll need to fill it out and see if it’s accepted. If you are a senior, you may want to consider the Limited Use Golden Bear Pass, which is only good Memorial Day to Labor Day.

      Reply
  2. I was sure you were going to indicate which park campgrounds included hookups, water and electric. If you are interested, it’s a needed resource and the state site stinks for finding hookups.

    Reply

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