Best parks and wilderness areas in California
Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
California’s north-central coast is lush with redwoods, ferns and coastal live oaks, a heavenly stretch of shoreline that is home to great Big Sur and Point Lobos parks. But Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park has a serene and rugged feel that sets it apart from other nearby enclaves. These 3,580 acres are in a redwood canyon that rises from the beach to about 1,500 feet. The cherry on top of this visual feast is the 80-foot McWay Waterfall, which crashes from a rocky cliff onto the sand in a wonderful, secluded cove. It’s an iconic scene no one should miss. The park is 37 miles south of Carmel along California 1. Info: (831) 667-2315, www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=578. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
Yosemite National Park
No list of California parks would be complete without a mention of Yosemite. It can be crowded and noisy in the summer, but if you stay clear of the tourist-clogged Yosemite Village, you will see why
Point Reyes National Seashore
Once upon a time, while wandering along the beach at this national seashore, I came across a herd of cattle strolling on the sand. Who can blame them? These 70,000 acres on a peninsula north of San Francisco, shrouded in cool fog and blanketed by green grass, resemble a postcard of the rocky shores of Ireland. But it’s the wildlife that sets Point Reyes apart: More than 1,000 species call the park home, including a menagerie of shorebirds and raptors. The park is about 30 miles from
Redwood National and State Parks
Want to put life and its annoying problems into perspective? Get lost in the land of the giants, home to some of the largest trees in the world. At Redwood National and State Parks, the union of three state parks and a national park near Orick, you’ll feel you are a part of a bigger, more beautiful world inhabited by bear, elk, Steller’s Jays and banana slugs. The stars of these parks are the coastal redwoods that soar more than 365 feet into the sky, span more than 22 feet in diameter and date back to the days of Christ. The parks are along U.S. 101, about 80 miles north of Eureka. Info: (707) 464-6101, www.nps.gov /redw/index.htm. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Joshua Tree National Park
Several California desert parks deserve inclusion in an ultimate list, particularly Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, where spring wildflowers turn the parched badlands into a sea of color and life. But the surreal rock formations at Joshua Tree, east of Palm Springs, give it that added magical feel, particularly if you visit during a new moon, when the stars gleam like crushed diamonds on black velvet. And then you have the Joshua trees, which Mormon pioneers believed resembled the upstretched arms of Joshua leading them to the promised land. For rock climbers and stargazers, Joshua Tree is the promised land. The park is 140 miles east of Los Angeles along Interstate 10. Info: (760) 367-5500, www.nps.gov/jotr. (Chris Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
John Muir Wilderness
California is home to 138 designated wilderness areas, protected by some of the nation’s strictest land protection laws. For hikers, the John Muir Wilderness, southwest of Mammoth Lakes, has few equals. With 590 miles of trails, dozens of pristine aquamarine lakes and the most spectacular peaks in the Sierra
