By state
National parks in California
Every national park and public-land unit in California, scored and ranked by our Experience Score.
California has 36 National Park Service units, more than any other state. These parks stretch from the northern redwood coast to the salt flats of Death Valley in the south. Lassen's volcanic highlands, Channel Islands' offshore wilderness, and Yosemite's granite formations also fall within this range. Some parks are well known, while others offer quieter alternatives. Pinnacles and Mojave National Preserve are less famous options. They are also considered among the best dark-sky destinations in the park system. Golden Gate National Recreation Area provides hiking and camping within the Bay Area. These parks offer options for various travelers. They suit those seeking variety on one trip, backpackers wanting solitude, or families planning a first national park experience during a California road trip.
100DOES IT ALL
Tim Hauf, timhaufphotography.com
National Park · CA
Channel Islands National Park
Channel Islands National Park offers a genuinely wild experience, one that requires deliberate effort.
100DOES IT ALL
NPS
National Park · CA
Death Valley National Park
Death Valley demands respect.
100DOES IT ALL
NPS photo/Will Elder
National Recreation Area · CA
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Golden Gate National Recreation Area stands as a uniquely accessible and ambitious unit within the NPS system.
100DOES IT ALL
NPS Photo / Scott Arnaz
National Park · CA
Lassen Volcanic National Park
Lassen Volcanic National Park merits a perfect Experience Score, delivering broadly across categories of outdoor recreation.
100DOES IT ALL
NPS
National Preserve · CA
Mojave National Preserve
Mojave National Preserve offers 1.6 million acres of Mojave Desert wilderness.
100DOES IT ALL
National Park Service/Oscar Garcia
National Park · CA
Pinnacles National Park
Pinnacles National Park provides a singular experience within the National Park Service.
100DOES IT ALL
NPS Photo / Steve Olson
National and State Parks · CA
Redwood National and State Parks
Redwood National and State Parks stands as an irreplaceable unit within the American park system.
100DOES IT ALL
NPS / Cindy Jacoby
National Park · CA
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite lives up to its formidable reputation.
95DOES IT ALL
NPS Photo
National Seashore · CA
Point Reyes National Seashore
Point Reyes National Seashore earns a 95 experience score, with free entry.
90DOES IT ALL
NPS / Emily Hassell
National Park · CA
Joshua Tree National Park
Joshua Tree's 90 Experience Score reflects its documented versatility.
90DOES IT ALL
NPS Photo / Nathan Charlton
National Monument · CA
Lava Beds National Monument
Lava Beds National Monument earns its 90 experience score through documented depth and access.
90DOES IT ALL
NPS/Rick Cain
National Parks · CA
Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks present a compelling, multifaceted wilderness experience in the American West.
90DOES IT ALL
NPS Matthew Switzer
National Recreation Area · CA
Whiskeytown National Recreation Area
Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, a 42,000-acre unit in California's foothills west of Redding, offers a broad spectrum of activities.
88DOES IT ALL
NPS
National Recreation Area · CA
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area offers a genuinely large and varied recreation corridor.
86DOES IT ALL
NPS Photo
National Historical Park · CA
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park punches well above its 50-acre footprint.
80WIDE RANGE
NPS Photo
National Monument · CA
Devils Postpile National Monument
Devils Postpile National Monument presents a compelling case for a focused visit.
80WIDE RANGE
Photo by BLM
Recreation Area · CA
South Yuba Recreation Area
South Yuba Recreation Area is a multi-agency outdoor playground anchored by the South Yuba River canyon, sitting about 10 miles northeast of Nevada City in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California.
78WIDE RANGE
Claire Fackler/NOAA
Recreation Area · CA
Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary is undeniably a water-first destination.
76WIDE RANGE
Photo by Jesse Pluim/BLM
Recreation Area · CA
Knoxville Management Area
The Knoxville Management Area, a 17,700-acre expanse in California's inner Coast Range, offers diverse recreation.
76WIDE RANGE
Dorothea Lange
National Historic Site · CA
Manzanar National Historic Site
Manzanar is a site for national reckoning, not recreation.
76WIDE RANGE
Photos by David Greenwood, BLM
Recreation Area · CA
Merced River Recreation Management Area
The Merced River Recreation Management Area offers the Yosemite watershed experience without the national park crowds.
74WIDE RANGE
National Historic Trail · AZ
Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail
The Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail presents a unique proposition.
69GOOD RANGE
Kristen Moore, Share the Experience
Lake & Reservoir · CA
Boca Reservoir
Boca Reservoir, a 980-surface-acre working reservoir on the Little Truckee River, offers a distinct, unpolished Sierra Nevada experience.
66GOOD RANGE
NPS Photo / Dan Zeller
National Monument · CA
Cabrillo National Monument
Cabrillo National Monument, situated on San Diego's Point Loma peninsula, offers a surprisingly rich experience given its compact size.
64GOOD RANGE
NPS photo/Will Elder
Park · CA
Presidio of San Francisco
The Presidio of San Francisco, an urban national park unit, excels in offering diverse experiences within city limits.
63GOOD RANGE
Sara Heintzelman/NOAA
Recreation Area · CA
Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary
Greater Farallones is a marine sanctuary, not a terrestrial park.
62GOOD RANGE
NPS Photo
National Historic Trail · CA
California National Historic Trail
The California National Historic Trail is not a single park you drive to - it is a sprawling 5,000-plus-mile corridor threading through ten states, tracing the routes of more than 250,000 Gold Rush-era emigrants who headed west in the 1840s and 1850s.
62GOOD RANGE
Cow Mountain Recreation Area
Recreation Area · CA
Cow Mountain Recreation Management Area
Cow Mountain is a free-access recreation area in California providing genuine variety.
61GOOD RANGE
Shelley Smith Ellis, Share the Experience
Wilderness Area · CA
Bright Star Wilderness
Bright Star Wilderness presents a rugged, uncrowded expanse within the southern Sierra foothills, defined by Kelso Creek's canyon dissection between 3,000 and 5,800 feet.
61GOOD RANGE
NPS photo
National Historic Trail · CA
Pony Express National Historic Trail
The Pony Express National Historic Trail is less a park and more a vast historical concept.
57GOOD RANGE
NPS photo/Will Elder
National Historic Site · CA
Fort Point National Historic Site
Fort Point is a compact but genuinely compelling military history site wedged beneath the south anchorage of the Golden Gate Bridge.
57GOOD RANGE
NPS photo, Luther Bailey
National Historical Park · CA
Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park
Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park offers a focused, urban experience.
56GOOD RANGE
USFWS - Matthew Zmuda
National Wildlife Refuge · CA
Havasu National Wildlife Refuge
Havasu National Wildlife Refuge centers on 30 miles of the lower Colorado River, with its notable Topock Gorge.
56GOOD RANGE
Ryan O'Dell/BLM
Recreation Area · CA
Tumey Hills
Tumey Hills offers a quiet, free recreational experience within California's San Joaquin Valley.
55GOOD RANGE
Kyle Sullivan/BLM
Recreation Area · CA
Pacific Crest- Owens Peak Segment
The Owens Peak segment of the Pacific Crest Trail offers a serious, stripped-down experience.
54FOCUSED
NPS
Park · CA
Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Island presents a unique, multi-layered historical experience.
53FOCUSED
Photos by Bob Wick, BLM
Recreation Area · CA
North Fork American River
The North Fork American River offers a potent, albeit challenging, Sierra Nevada experience.
53FOCUSED
Steve Martarano/USFWS
National Wildlife Refuge · CA
San Luis National Wildlife Refuge
San Luis NWR foregrounds its identity as a working refuge, not a polished visitor attraction.
52FOCUSED
NPS
National Monument · CA
César E. Chávez National Monument
César E.
52FOCUSED
NPS
National Historic Trail · AZ
Old Spanish National Historic Trail
The Old Spanish National Historic Trail is not a park you visit in the conventional sense.
50FOCUSED
NPS Photo
National Historic Site · CA
John Muir National Historic Site
John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez, California, offers a biographical rather than a wilderness experience.
48FOCUSED
Recreation.gov
Lake & Reservoir · CA
Kaweah Lake
Kaweah Lake serves as a functional, free foothills reservoir.
48FOCUSED
NPS Photo
National Monument · CA
Muir Woods National Monument
Muir Woods offers an awe-inspiring, if narrow, experience within a compact old-growth coast redwood forest.
45FOCUSED
NPS Photo/Luther Bailey
National Historic Site · CA
Eugene O'Neill National Historic Site
Tao House delivers an intimate, literary experience.
45FOCUSED
NPS Photo
National Monument · CA
Tule Lake National Monument
Tule Lake National Monument offers a sobering, singular experience.
Behind the California ranking
We sort by the Experience Score, a like-for-like measure of what a unit offers on paper and how reachable it is, pulled from public data and capped so one factor never runs the table. Beauty and crowds are deliberately out of it. That is the lens on all 45 California entries here.
What the ranking cannot tell you: whether the views floor you, how packed a lot gets in July, trail conditions after rain, or how good a ranger walk is. A small, focused site can rank below a sprawling park and still be your better trip. Read the score for what is on offer, then open a unit for the verdict on who it actually suits.