California Parks and Recreation Areas - Page 3

Comprised of five in a chain of eight southern California islands near Los Angeles, Channel Islands National Park is home to a wide variety of nationally and internationally significant natural and cultural resources. Over 2,000 species of plants and animals can be found within the park. However only four mammals are endemic to the islands. One hundred and forty-five of these species are unique to the islands and found nowhere else in the world.

Phone: 805-658-5730   Price Range: $0 - $735   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes
Nearest Popular City: Ventura   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Park   Activities: Backpacking, Birding, Boating and Watercraft, Fishing, Hiking, Kayaking, Swimming, Wildlife Watching, Nature Walks, Star Gazing   Details Provided By: Channel Islands

For thousands of years, Native Americans called the Ohlone managed and harvested the natural bounty of what is now the Presidio. In 1776, Spanish soldiers and missionaries arrived, forever disrupting Ohlone culture and beginning 218 years of military use of the area just south of the Golden Gate.

Phone: (415) 561-4323   Price Range: N/A   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes
Nearest Popular City: San Francisco   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Park   Activities: Biking / Bicycling, Birding, Fishing, Hiking, Auto Touring, Nature Walks   Details Provided By: Presidio of San Francisco

These parks are home to giants: immense mountains, deep canyons, and huge trees. Thanks to their huge elevational range, 1,500' to 14,491', these parks protect stunningly diverse habitats. The Generals Highway climbs over 5000 feet from chaparral and oak-studded foothills to the awe-inspiring sequoia groves. From there, trails lead to the high-alpine wilderness which makes up most of these parks. Beneath the surface lie over 200 fascinating caverns.

Phone: 1-559-565-3341   Price Range: $0 - $5   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes
Nearest Popular City: Three Rivers   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Park   Activities: Backpacking, Biking / Bicycling, Cross Country Skiing, Hiking, Rock Climbing, Sightseeing, Wildlife Watching, Auto Touring, Interpretive Programs, Star Gazing, Tours   Details Provided By: Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks

Death Valley is a land of extremes. It is one of the hottest places on the surface of the Earth with summer temperatures averaging well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It encompasses the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere at 282 feet below the level of the sea, and it is the driest place in North America with an average rainfall of only 1.96 inches a year.

Phone: (760) 786-3200   Price Range: $5 - $10   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes
Nearest Popular City: Death Valley   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Park   Activities: Backpacking, Biking / Bicycling, Birding, Hiking, Horseback Riding, Swimming, Wildlife Watching, Auto Touring, Nature Walks, Interpretive Programs, Star Gazing   Details Provided By: Death Valley National Park

Point Reyes National Seashore contains unique elements of biological and historical interest in a spectacularly scenic panorama of thunderous ocean breakers, open grasslands, bushy hillsides and forested ridges. Native land mammals number about 37 species and marine mammals augment this total by another dozen species. The biological diversity stems from a favorable location in the middle of California and the natural occurrence of many distinct habitats. Nearly 20% of the State's flowering plant species are represented on the peninsula and over 45% of the bird species in North America have been sighted. The Point Reyes National Seashore was established by President John F. Kennedy on September 13, 1962.

Phone: (415) 464-5100   Price Range: N/A   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes
Nearest Popular City: Point Reyes Station   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Park   Activities: Backpacking, Biking / Bicycling, Birding, Hiking, Horseback Riding, Kayaking, Wildlife Watching, Nature Walks, Interpretive Programs   Details Provided By: Point Reyes National Seashore

Eugene Gladstone O'Neill, the only Nobel Prize winning playwright from the United States and the architect of modern American theater, lived at Tao House in the hills above Danville from 1937 to 1944. It was at this site that he wrote his final and most successful plays; The Iceman Cometh, Long Day's Journey Into Night, and A Moon For the Misbegotten. Since 1980, the National Park Service has been restoring Tao House, the courtyard and orchards and telling the story of O'Neill, his work and his influence on American theater.

Phone: (925) 838-0249   Price Range: N/A   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes
Nearest Popular City: Danville   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Historic Site   Activities: Birding, Nature Walks   Details Provided By: Eugene O'Neill

Rising out of the chaparral-covered Gabilan Mountains, east of central California's Salinas Valley, are the spectacular remains of an ancient volcano. Massive monoliths, spires, sheer-walled canyons and talus passages define millions of years of erosion, faulting and tectonic plate movement. Within the monument's boundaries lie 24,000 acres of diverse wildlands. The monument is renowned for the beauty and variety of its spring wildflowers. A rich diversity of wildlife can be observed throughout the year.

Phone: 831-389-4485   Price Range: $3 - $5   Open Season: N/A   Camping: Yes
Nearest Popular City: Paicines   Nearest Lake or River: N/A   Park Type: National Monument   Activities: Birding, Hiking, Rock Climbing, Sightseeing, Wildlife Watching, Interpretive Programs   Details Provided By: Pinnacles National Monument