SACRAMENTO, Calif.— California State Parks today announced a new approach to reserving the highly sought after Steep Ravine Cabins at Mount Tamalpais State Park. Using a lottery-style system to make a reservation, the department’s new pilot program aims to enhance access and equity by allowing outdoor enthusiasts to apply for free for a reservation drawing up to eight months in advance. The drawings are selected randomly and conducted seven months ahead of the reservation dates through California’s state park reservation system, ReserveCalifornia.

SACRAMENTO, Calif.— California State Parks welcomes the public to start 2024 in a healthy way and to enjoy the fresh air with the annual First Day Hikes, on Monday, January 1. Currently, up to 60 state parks will be participating, with over 70 guided hikes taking place across the state. Californians and visitors from around the world can hike amongst the gentle redwoods or learn about the geology of the desert or catch a glimpse of bald eagles and other unique wildlife—California has some of the most unique and iconic parks in the country for everyone to explore.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California State Parks today announced recommendations to the National Park Service (NPS) for $35.6 million in Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) grants for 16 local park projects. Funding would provide public agencies with the ability to acquire land and/or develop recreational amenities such as playgrounds, sports fields and courts, exercise stations, dog and skate parks.

PESCADERO, Calif. – California State Parks today announced the selection of a contractor to rehabilitate the Pigeon Point Lighthouse, located within Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park. The $16 million rehabilitation project will start construction in early 2024 and is expected to be completed within two years.

ENCINO, Calif., — California State Parks and the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians (Tribe) today announced a historic agreement to formalize their cooperation and collaboration in the management and protection of natural and cultural resources and interpretation for state parks within the Tribe’s ancestral lands. They will collaborate on interpretation at the state parks, including for the Village of Siutcanga, incorporate traditional ecological knowledge into the management of natural resources, and cooperate on the protection of the landscapes.

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—California State Parks is now accepting applications from public entities to provide outdoor recreational experiences to their communities through the federal Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP) Program. In the seventh round of this competitive grant program, a total of approximately $224.1 million is available nationwide for communities with limited or no access to publicly available, close-by, outdoor recreation opportunities. Up to $15 million can be requested per project.

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SACRAMENTO, Calif.— Just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday, California State Parks, in partnership with First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom and the California Natural Resources Agency, is expanding its popular California State Park Adventure Pass from 19 select state parks to 54. The pilot program, currently in its third year, allows California fourth graders and fourth-grade teachers free admission to participating parks until Aug. 31, 2024. The public can find a park near them at parks.ca.gov/AdventurePass.

California State Parks and the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria (Bear River) formalized their relationship earlier this week to cooperate on the protection, preservation, and interpretation of parks that lie within Bear River’s ancestral homelands in the North Coast Redwoods District of State Parks.

SACRAMENTO, Calif.—California State Parks Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation (OHMVR) Division and partners are proud to announce the upcoming fall OHV Safety Week, taking place from November 11 to 19. This semiannual event promotes safe and responsible off-highway vehicle (OHV) recreation across California's dedicated OHV public lands. This year’s theme is “Be the Off-Road Hero,” and OHV enthusiasts can be heroes by following safety protocols and protecting the state’s natural resources.

California State Parks today announced that the two monarch giant sequoias known as “The Orphans” at Calaveras Big Trees State Park are alive and no longer stand alone. The sequoias were damaged during a prescribed burn in the park’s North Grove area last fall. Several scientists visited The Orphans on Thursday, October 5, and observed that they are alive and thousands of giant sequoia seedlings now surround them.