5 Things to Know Before Visiting a California State Park

Every State Park has a CA.gov website which lists information on any special notices or closures, park hours, dog policies, etc. When planning any State Park trip, I always start here and go directly to the brochures link to find the park brochure. The brochure will contain educational information about the park, as well as a map. I love using the map to determine how much hiking is in the area and start budgeting time for the trails I want to hit.

Also keep an eye out for the entrance fee. Some State Parks are unmanned, requiring you to bring cash and place it in an envelope, then inside a lock box at the park.

Along with doing other online research, I’ve also found that visiting the local visitor’s center in town can be a great way to get local insight into the pro’s and con’s of parks in the area. The centers generally have hard-copy brochures of the parks in the area, as well.

On our latest trip to Mendocino, a lovely volunteer in the visitor’s center helped us prioritize our last few days and let us know which parks to visit, which to skip, and the best time of the day to go.

Here’s where the brochures come in handy…in some places, cell reception gets spotty. I always recommend downloading a copy of the brochure to your phone so you always have a map handy, regardless of your service. You can use the map to locate parking, day use areas, bathrooms, and other landmarks.

It’s also wise not to rely on whatever location your map lands on when you type in the park name. Make sure it’s leading you to the actual park entrance and not just generally, the park, somewhere, in some random place (yes, speaking from recent experience here). Go a step further to make sure you know where you want to head once inside the park. Larger parks have several roads and routes leading to different places — campgrounds, hiking, picnic areas, etc. If you find yourself in a pickle, things should be well marked in case you need to reorient so…

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