Castle Crags State Park is a wonderful state park right off of Interstate-5 near the charming town of Dunsmuir. After embarking on this strenuous 5.4-mile hike (with a 2,200 ft elevation gain), you might want to drive into Dunsmuir to eat at Dunsmuir Brewry Works so that you can get a substantial meal like their salmon BLT.
See some gorgeous photos and one of my mom's paintings after the jump.
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McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park is in volcano country in California, in between Mount Shasta and Lassen National Park. The park features a stunning waterfall, which the parks service describes in the blurb below: The park's centerpiece is the 129-foot Burney Falls, which is not the highest or largest waterfall in the state, but possibly the most beautiful. Additional water comes from springs, joining to create a mist-filled basin. Burney Creek originates from the park's underground springs and flows to Lake Britton, getting larger along the way to the majestic falls. The park's landscape was created by volcanic activity as well as erosion from weather and streams. This volcanic region is surrounded by mountain peaks and is covered by black volcanic rock, or basalt. Created over a million years ago, the layered, porous basalt retains rainwater and snow melt, which forms a large underground reservoir. Within the park, the water emerges as springs at and above Burney Falls, where it flows at 100 million gallons every day. While my mom was painting the falls, I combined two loop trails, for a total of about 5.6 miles. See mom's painting and my trail descriptions after the jump!
Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park is part of Redwood National and State Parks.
The thing that sets Jed Smith apart from all of the other parks is the beautiful Smith River; its unusual blue-green color lends beauty to the lands surrounding it. Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park is part of Redwood National and State Parks.
The thing that makes Del Norte Coast stand out from the other redwood parks is its easy access to the Pacific Coast. Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park is part of Redwood National and State Parks.
This is a fantastic state park that features some of the world's best old-growth redwoods, a herd of Roosevelt elk, and the gorgeous Fern Canyon. Russian Gulch State Park is one of the Medocino Coast State Parks. I took two hikes in this park: one that went a bit inland into a mixed forest of coastal redwoods, rhododendrons, and cypress, leading to a gorgeous waterfall, and another that circled the exposed headlands, which were covered in wildflowers.
Hendy Woods State Park is a charming park that features two old-growth redwood groves and access to the popular Navaro River. The flat hike from the campground to the best of the two groves (i.e., Big Hendy) is about three miles round-trip.
Half Moon Bay State Beach is a series of four beaches (1. Roosevelt, 2. Dunes, 3. Venice, and 4. Francis) that have been collected into one state park that stretches about four miles along the shore in the town of Half Moon Bay. The Coastside Trail connects all the beaches and even extends beyond the borders of the park as far north as Pillar Point and as far south as Poplar and Redondo Beaches. The trail is easy and flat. It sometimes follows right along the cliffs and sometimes pulls further inland, but it is often even paved to be accessible for all people. There is a campground too, if you would like to trying camping right along the beach!
This 8-mile hike through the western tip of Henry W. Coe State Park only goes through a small portion of the 87,000 acre wilderness area east of San Jose, but it is a pretty impressive hike nonetheless!
Monte Bello Open Space Preserve is a lovely park that is part of the complex of parks in the South Skyline Region. This 6-mile loop is absolutely lovely and features a gorgeous mixture of hilly grasslands and densely wooded creeks.
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