National Park Service Sites in California
Zabriskie Point's banded sandstone
I think we all know that California has some incredible National Parks, but how many of us have ever toured any of the National Historic Sites? ...or followed the National Historic Trails? I haven't been to Yosemite since they implemented the mass transit system in Yosemite Valley... something about the hordes of people and the wish to see things without tinted bus windows in between...
I spent a couple years living on the edge of Golden Gate National Recreation Area, within walking distance of Muir Woods. California was crowded even then but you could still drive your own vehicle in Yosemite Valley. And Muir Woods was quiet and peaceful even when the tour buses were in. I remember going out to Point Reyes and standing in the surf as a child (with an adult on either side of me holding my hands so I wouldn't get lost in the crashing waves). You can't get in the water at Point Reyes at all any more, you can hardly get access to the beach. So everyone goes up by the lighthouse and looks for whale spouts in the water... parking spots are usually a couple miles away.
The Golden Gate Bridge and National Recreation Area from Point Lobos
National Park Services Sites in California
- Alcatraz Island
- American Discovery Trail
- Cabrillo National Monument
- California National Historic Trail
- Castle Mountains National Monument
- Channel Islands National Park
- Death Valley National Park
- Devils Postpile National Monument
- Eugene O'Neill National Historic Site
- Fort Point National Historic Site
- Golden Gate National Recreation Area
- John Muir National Historic Site
- Joshua Tree National Park
- Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
- Kings Canyon National Park
- Lassen Volcanic National Park
- Lava Beds National Monument
- Manzanar National Historic Site
- Mojave National Preserve
- Muir Woods National Monument
- Old Spanish National Historic Trail
- Pinnacles National Park
- Point Reyes National Seashore
- Pony Express National Historic Trail
- Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial
- Presidio of San Francisco
- Redwood National Park
- "Rosie the Riveter" WWII Home Front National Historical Park
- San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
- Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
- Sequoia National Park
- Whiskeytown National Recreation Area
- World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument
- Yosemite National Park
Alcatraz Island through an early morning fog
West Anacapa Island in Channel Islands National Park
Photo of Channel Islands National Park courtesy of the National Park Service
Photo of Golden Gate National Recreation Area courtesy of Wikipedia userid Leaflet
Photo of Death Valley National Parks courtesy of Phil Armitage
Photo of Alcatraz Island courtesy of Ben Peoples, CCA 2.5 License
Map courtesy of Cartesia MapArt US Terrain