Must-See State Parks

Driving the sleepy stretch of winding Highway 49 between Auburn and Placerville, it’s hard to believe the region was the booming heart of one of the most significant events in California history. Here, in a stretch of the snowmelt-fed American River that slides past the don’t-blink town of Coloma, a sawmill employee named James Marshall first discovered glints of the precious metal in the river’s silt. The 1849 Gold Rush was on.

Coloma mushroomed into a town with some 10,000 people, and up went a schoolhouse, a general store, and a tin-roofed post office. These and other historic buildings are now protected as part of Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park. There’s an interesting Gold Discovery Museum, and kids can give gold-panning a try. Follow leafy trails along the river to find a shady picnic spot. Stick around for supper; dinners at Café Mahjaic, housed in an 1855 brick building in the even tinier nearby town of Lotus, are a wonder, with local ingredients shining in dishes such as free-range chicken roasted with shallots, bacon, and crimini mushrooms.

There's something eerily appropriate about bumping down the dusty desert road that winds the final few miles into Bodie State Historic Park. Round the final bend in the careworn road, drive by the lonely graveyard on the sagebrush-dotted hill on the southwest side of town, and look down upon the tattered remnants of a forgotten time, and a nearly forgotten town. Back in the late 1800s, Bodie was a booming mining community with nearly 10,000 residents. Over time, the townsfolk began to fade away with the gold, and roughly a half-century ago, the final residents packed up and left Bodie, leaving the buildings alone and at the mercy of the dry desert winds.

Today, you can walk the dusty, silent streets of this fascinating ghost town, with shops, hotels, and simple homes carefully preserved to look as they did when Bodie ceased to be. Look for period images on newspapers stuffed into the walls as makeshift insulation. Old trucks and gas pumps, a weathered wood church, and that lonely cemetery paint a picture of life—and death—in this remote corner of California’s high desert.

Be sure to bring food; there are no concessions in the park (though there is potable water). A bookstore is well stocked with interesting information, and the self-guided walking tour is well worth doing.

Look down on the astounding bay at Emerald Bay State Park and you can see why Mark Twain, in his 1871 travel book Roughing It, dubbed Lake Tahoe "the fairest picture the whole earth affords." The park does indeed offer some of the best Lake Tahoe views, but fast forward nearly a century and a half and you’ll find the area offers a lot more than just a picture. What better place to hike, tour a stone castle, Instagram from the deck of a boat cruise, or simply dive in? You can do it all at Emerald Bay State Park.

While Lake Tahoe’s main lake is as blue as a topaz, a color created by the waters’ remarkable clarity and depth, this somewhat shallower bay on the lake’s west shore takes on a startling and beautiful blue-green. It’s made all the more striking by the perfect dot of tiny Fannette Island—the only islet in Lake Tahoe—right in the middle of the bay.

From large pullout areas off Highway 89, see if you can spot the ruins of a tiny stone teahouse perched on the top of the island. The teahouse, and the 38-room stone castle known as Vikingsholm that’s built on the nearby shore, were constructed by Lora Knight, an extraordinary woman who married into extreme wealth, then used her money to educate young people who could otherwise not afford it. Learn about her and walk through her richly detailed, hand-built home, the design of which was inspired by buildings in Scandinavia dating as far back as the 11th century, on tours offered several times daily, late-May through Labor Day. It’s about a one-mile (and fairly steep) walk down from the parking lot to get there, but it’s definitely worth it. 

"Look down on this astounding bay and you can see why Mark Twain dubbed Lake Tahoe 'the fairest picture the whole earth affords.'"

You can also access Emerald Bay on the popular and easy Rubicon Trail, which follows the edge of the lake from D.L. Bliss State Park four miles south to the bay. Another short hike with a big reward is the one-mile trail that starts across the highway from Emerald Bay and leads up to the icy cascades of Eagle Falls and a panoramic view of Emerald Bay and Lake Tahoe. 

Cruises on paddle wheelers such as the M.S. Dixie II visit Emerald Bay; you can also simply use the bay as a great destination if you rent a boat at South Shore. For a big splurge, book a private yacht cruise with Lake Tahoe Boat Rides; along the way, the captain sheds light on the region’s history.

If you’d like to have a truly unique experience—and one that’s the first of its kind in California—the underwater Emerald Bay Maritime Heritage Trail will scratch that itch. Using scuba or snorkeling gear (there are several dive shops nearby where you can rent gear), visitors can follow an underwater “trail” of watery graves of fishing boats, recreational skiffs, and barges from the early part of the 20th century. Waterproof cards are issued with information about the scuttled boats and the history behind them, which make up the largest and most diverse group of small sunken watercraft in their original location in the country.

Visiting this 14,000-acre/5,666-hectare park is like walking through a portal into a world where everything is giant and green—a rainforest where ferns arc over mossy trails in a dappled world of light and shadow. Start with a hike among the ancient redwoods on the 3.2-mile/5.1-km Prairie Creek and Cathedral Tree loop, which begins at Prairie Creek Redwoods’ visitor center. From your first steps, “lush” is the operative word.

"Visiting this park is like walking through a portal into a world where everything is giant and green."

Moss covers rocks, lichens hang from branches, clover-like redwood sorrel carpets the ground, and trees grow to gargantuan size. Be suitably awed and humbled, then step out of the bowers and head over to Elk Prairie, a grassy, golden meadow where you’ve got a great chance of seeing Roosevelt elk. These regal beasts are California’s largest land animals, weighing up to 1,100 pounds. Although they seem docile as they languidly munch on grass, it’s wise to give them some space, especially big males during the autumn rut. While at Elk Prairie, consider a walk on Trillium Falls Trail, a 2.5-mile/4-km loop through ancient redwoods.

Next, go for a drive. The paved, 10-mile/16-km Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, the scenic alternative to Highway 101, winds past silent groves that reach for the sky. Pull over for a quick walk to the aptly named Big Tree, and watch for more wild elk herds.

For the more adventurous driver, the unpaved Davison Road travels to Gold Bluffs Beach, a 10-mile stretch of waterfront where 1850s prospectors mined for gold dust in the sand. You can camp on the beach, but don’t forget to stake your tent—the wind can be fierce. Continue past Gold Bluffs to the end of the road and Fern Canyon trailhead. Here you have two options: a one-mile loop through spectacular Fern Canyon, or a longer walk on the Coastal Trail past three mini-waterfalls. 

Make a stop along Highway 1 to visit Limekiln State Park, where you’ll discover a piece of 19th-century history while hiking trails through towering coastal redwoods. At this Big Sur park two miles south of Lucia, camping, swimming (in Limekiln Creek and at a beach), and spotting marine life carries huge appeal, but it’s undoubtedly the historic kilns that are the park’s signature attraction.

As the name suggests, Limekiln State Park was once the site of a booming limekiln operation (more on that below, if you’re scratching your head), and short walks let you not only explore the limekiln ruins but also visit the aforementioned beach and Limekiln Falls.

History explains how, in the late 1880s, limestone was harvested from a nearby slope, then fed into the hulking kilns. Intense heat—with kiln fires fueled by felled redwoods—extracted pure lime, a key ingredient in construction cement, which was used in buildings in San Francisco and Monterey.

Once all the nearby reserves of limestone and redwoods were used up, the kilns were abandoned. Slowly, the forest recovered, and the second-growth redwood stands in this park today make for a pleasant and shady escape (not to mention one with an interesting past). In the midst of this intensely naturalistic setting, the four iron-and-stone kilns rise, scarred and imposing, like monuments to some bygone civilization. It’s a dramatic contrast that’s likely to spark even the most seasoned sightseer’s imagination.

Pitch a tent—car and RV camping is not accommodated—in one of the 29 campsites located creekside, on the beachfront, and in the forest. You can reserve a site up to six months in advance.

A wild and beautiful meeting of land and sea, Salt Point State Park encompasses 6,000 acres along the Sonoma coast, about 95 miles north of San Francisco. Grassy terraces crown wind-lashed headlands where sandstone cliffs drop abruptly to the Pacific. Tidepools and kelp beds teem with marine life; in fact, the park’s offshore waters are protected as one of California’s first underwater parks: Salt Point State Marine Conservation Area.

Bisected by Highway 1, this beautiful coastal park, 17 miles north of the mouth of the Russian River and the hamlet of Jenner, gives you plenty of reasons to pull over and start Instagramming. Better yet, get out and explore: choose from some 20 miles of trails leading to sights such as wind and water-carved tafoni, or honeycombed sandstone formations. Take the steep but short hike up to the park’s pygmy forest of stunted cypress and pine trees. Head north from the main park entrance to Fisk Mill Cove, popular for abalone diving, to follow a bluff-top trail. This level path meanders through a forest with rhododendrons and ferns to peek-a-boo views of rocky pocket beaches with crashing waves, playful seals, and abalone divers. Save energy to climb to the top of Sentinel Rock for a striking coastal overlook.

Insider tip: Salt Point State Park has two campgrounds—perfect for first time family campers. Best on calm days, Gerstle Cove Campground, on the ocean side of the highway, features exciting sea views, while pine-shaded Woodside Campground, on the more protected east side of the highway, offers better shelter on windy days.