California is a topographically and ecologically diverse state that is home to a number of national parks, national monuments, and state parks. Here's a list of the 25 largest parks and monuments in California and what they have to offer!

 

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National Parks

Managed by the National Park Service

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• Channel Islands National Park​​

  • 250,000 acres - Sometimes referred to as the Galápagos of the United States, this park consists of several islands located off the coast near Santa Barbara. The park protects some of the last-remaining coastal chaparral in Southern California. The three largest islands in the park are Santa Cruz Island, Santa Rosa Island, and San Miguel Island. Santa Cruz Island is the largest and most-visited island, with plenty of sea caves, coastal bluffs, wildlife. The majority of the island is contained within a private nature reserve managed by the Nature Conservancy. Santa Rosa Island the second-largest island and is situated between Santa Cruz and San Miguel Islands. It has numerous beaches and sandstone formations and is one of the two last remaining habitats for the critically-endangered Torrey pine. San Miguel Island is most westward-situated and also the smallest of the three. Although the island is prone to high winds, its beaches are a popular nesting spot for wildlife.​

• Death Valley National Park

  • 3,400,000 acres - The largest U.S. National Park outside of Alaska. A portion of it is located in Nevada. It has the lowest point in North America, Badwater, at 282 feet below sea level, and is also arguably the hottest place in the world with a record high temperature of 134 degrees Fahrenheit. The park showcases phenomenal geological diversity though its numerous sand dune fields (e.g. Eureka Dunes, the tallest dunes in California), salt flats (e.g. The Racetrack, known for its mysterious moving rocks), slot canyons, colorful rock formations, volcanic craters, and springs. The park is also rich in historic sites, including the famous Scotty's Castle as well as hundreds of abandoned mines and ghost towns scattered across the desolate landscape. The park is designated as an International Dark Sky Park, having some of the best stargazing opportunities thanks to the absence of light pollution.​

• Joshua Tree National Park

  • 800,000 acres - Although most well-known for the iconic Joshua tree, this park has much more to offer including high-elevation pine forest, historic water tanks and mining structures, and scenic boulder fields perfect for rock climbing. During the springtime, if there has been sufficient precipitation, beautiful fields of wildflowers bloom across the park in spectacular shades of yellow and violet. There are numerous mountain peaks that provide panoramic views of the Salton Sea, Coachella Valley, and San Jacinto Mountains outside of the park. Many researchers predict that around 90% of Joshua tree habitat in the park will be gone by the end of the century due to climate change.​

• Kings Canyon National Park

  • 460,000 acres - Named for a large subalpine canyon reminiscent of the more well-known Yosemite Valley, but with much fewer crowds and still plenty to see and do. The park has several sequoia groves, including Grant Grove, home to the second-largest tree in the world. The namesake Kings Canyon serves as a gateway to numerous waterfalls in the canyon tributaries and hundreds of alpine lakes in the high Sierras. The eastern portion of the park is a popular thru-hike route for John Muir Trail / Pacific Crest Trail hikers. The northwestern section of the park remains relatively undeveloped and contains some of the most remote and difficult-to-access terrain of the Sierra Nevada.​

• Lassen Volcanic National Park

  • 110,000 acres - Located at the southern end of the Cascade Range, this park is a geological wonder reminiscent of the Yellowstone Caldera with its variety of volcanic cones, lava fields, hot springs, waterfalls, as the towering Lassen Peak, the second-tallest volcano in California. The park has some of the largest natural and undammed alpine lakes in California.​

• Pinnacles National Park

  • 27,000 acres - The newest National Park in California and also the smallest in area. This park protects nesting habitat of the endangered California condor and has a beautiful landscape of eroded volcanic rocks, chaparral, and oak woodlands. The erosion of the landscape over millions of years has created multiple talus caves, some of which can be explored by developed trail.​

• Redwood National and State Parks

  • 140,000 acres - This park is a cooperatively-managed unit combining the federally-owned Redwood National Park and the state-owned Prairie Creek, Del Norte Coast, and Jedidiah Smith Redwoods State Parks. The park protects some of the last-remaining expanses of old-growth redwood forest, 95% of which has been cut down within the last two centuries due to extensive logging along the coast. In addition to redwood trees, the tallest trees on Earth, the park has a wonderful coastline of bluffs, lagoons, and sandy beaches. The park receives plenty of rainfall, mainly during the winter.​

• Sequoia National Park

  • 400,000 acres - Home to the largest trees in the world, this park protects a variety of environments including lower-elevation chaparral and oak woodlands, mid-elevation mixed conifer forest that includes the sequoia groves, subalpine forest with scraggly stunted whitebark pines, and high-elevation alpine tundra that is mostly devoid of vegetation but is a wonderland of glacial lakes and towering jagged peaks. The park shares the summit of Mount Whitney (the highest point in the contiguous United States) with the adjacent Inyo National Forest.​

• ​Yosemite National Park

  • 760,000 acres - ​One of the most-visited national parks in California. The park is a magnificent landscape of alpine lakes, meadows, sequoia groves, gushing streams, and glacially-carved valleys dominated by towering cliff faces and speckled with roaring waterfalls. Yosemite Valley is home to most of the main attractions of the park, including the famous El Capitan and Half Dome, which are popular climbing destinations, as well as Yosemite Falls, one of the tallest waterfalls in the world. A few other destinations in the park include Tuolumne Meadows, a subalpine meadow along the Tuolumne River, and Hetch Hetchy Valley, which has a large reservoir and several giant waterfalls. John Muir, one of the advocates for the creation of Yosemite National Park, considered Hetch Hetchy Valley to be a rival of Yosemite Valley in terms of scenic beauty and fought unsuccessfully against its inundation for hydroelectricity and water storage.

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National Monuments

Managed by multiple federal agencies

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• Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument (BLM / USFS)

  • Protects a biodiverse region of the California Coast Ranges with oak savannas and mixed conifer forests at higher elevations.​

• Carrizo Plain National Monument (BLM)

  • One of the largest remaining areas of native grassland in California. Known for its colorful spring wildflower displays during wetter years. ​

• Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument (BLM)

  • Located at the intersection of the Sierra Nevada, Cascade Range, and Klamath-Siskiyou regions, this monument was established with the main goal protecting some of the most biodiverse temperate coniferous forests in the world. Much of the monument has been previously logged.​

• Giant Sequoia National Monument (USFS)

  • Protects the majority of the sequoia groves not found in the National Parks. The monument is also known for its granite rock formations and scenic river gorges.​

• Lava Beds National Monument (NPS)

  • 47,000 acres​ - A monument containing a vast lava field filled with numerous lava tubes, cinder cones, and other volcanic formations.

• Mojave Trails National Monument (BLM)

  • The largest National Monument in California. It is located adjacent to Mojave National Preserve and has a variety of geological sites including dune fields, lava fields, slot canyons, badlands, a river gorge. The monument also has several historic sites including old railroads and the National Trails Highway (Historic Route 66).​

• San Gabriel Mountains National Monument (USFS)

  • Comprises the majority of the San Gabriel Mountains, a rugged landscape of steep canyons, jagged ridges, and seasonal waterfalls. The lower elevations of the monument exhibit the typical chaparral landscape found across Southern California, which transitions into mixed-conifer forest and old-growth Jeffrey pine woodland at the higher elevations. A few notable destinations in the monument are Mount San Antonio, the highest point in the range, and Bridge to Nowhere, one of the most popular hikes in the Los Angeles area. ​

• Sand to Snow National Monument (BLM / USFS)

• Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument (BLM / USFS)

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OTHER NPS Units

Managed by the National Park Service

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• Golden Gate National Recreation Area

  • 82,000 acres​

• Mojave National Preserve

  • 1,500,000 acres​

• Point Reyes National Seashore

  • 71,000 acres​

• Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

  • 160,000 acres​ - The closest national park to UCLA at only 2 miles away from campus!

• Whiskeytown National Recreation Area

  • 43,000 acres ​

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State parks

Managed by the California Department of Parks & Recreation

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• Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

  • 610,000 acres​

• Henry W. Coe State Park

  • 89,000 acres ​

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OTHER Resources​

• Backpacker's Bible

• National Park Service (NPS)

• Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

• United States Forest Service (USFS)

• California Department of Parks & Recreation (CDPR)

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Author: Nathan Deng

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