State Park Closures Trip

Whoops! The Standish-Hickey State Recreation Area almost slipped through a crack in my blog. My friend Patty and I visited the park for a few hours on a hot August day last summer. Standish-Hickey began as a campground acquired by the Save-the-Redwo...

Although the hike to the peak of Saddleback Butte State Park is only 1.6 miles, the fact that I was 1) hiking alone and, 2) most of the 1,000 foot elevation gain was in the last half mile, had me a bit nervous. At the age of 57, I consider myself a mo...

McGrath State Beach in Ventura is having a tough time. Named for theMcGrath family which had extensive coastal land holdings in Ventura dating back to 1874, this beach received enough funding last September to remain open an extra few months while the...

Six months into my State Park trips I finally made it to one of the State Beaches on the closure list. Morro Strand State Beach is a mile and a half stretch of pristine, swimming and surfing beach, with the south end of the beach ending at the iconic ...

Curved pathways and double doors were built at the Weaverville Joss House State Historic Park with the belief that they would confuse the evil spirits and keep them out of the Taoist Temple of the Forest Beneath the Clouds. We can only hope this method...

It was a typical overcast day when Patty and I visited Fort Humboldt State Historic Park in the Northern California town of Eureka. Sitting on a bluff overlooking the rugged Humboldt Bay, (California's second largest bay port,) Fort Humboldt is two pa...

When I originally planned my visit to Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, I had no idea it would involve a hike to the end of our Solar System. Sugarloaf Ridge is a 4900 acre park that offers camping, hiking and picnicking, as well as accom-modating horsebac...

Bread is my favorite food group. My palette would be happy with a grains only diet. So what better park to visit on Thanksgiving weekend celebrating food, harvest and abundance, than Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park.When the mill was first built b...

The trains at Railtown 1897 State Historic Park run on weekends from April through October, the steam train on Saturdays and the diesel train on Sundays. I squeaked in on the last Saturday in October - Halloween! - for a ride on the steam train with ...

Great News! Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park - along with Tomales Bay and Samuel P. Taylor State Parks - have been removed from the closures list! In a press release this week, California State Parks has announced these three parks will remain ope...