Group: 26

(Southern and central California)

This group has not been visited yet.

This group runs from Los Angeles to San Francisco, though most parks are many miles inland.

Sitting off the coast near L.A. is Channel Islands National Park. This park alone kept this group from being a winter destination as no boats land in the park until spring. Nearby is the Santa Monica Mountains NRA with views back toward Los Angeles.

We will stop at the Cesar Chavez NM on way to the spectacular scenery of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Manzanar NHS, another American concentration camp is on the way to special geology of Devil's Postpile NM. Turning back toward the coast, we stop in Yosemite National Park and take in the grandeur of El Capitan.

Next up is Pinnacle National Park, known for its geological feature. The remaining sites cluster around San Francisco.

These include urban sites of Golden Gate NRA and Fort Point NHS, both in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge, along with San Francisco Maritime NHP.

Rosie the Riveter is remembered at the site bearing that name, and Port Chicago Naval Magazine NM remembers the worst domestic accident of WWII.

Conservationist John Muir and playwright Eugene O'Neill are remembered at respective National Historic Sites.

North of the Golden Gate Bridge, Muir Woods NM and Point Reyes National Seashore offer quiet and scenic sites to end the group.

Park units in this group

Click on any of the parks listed below to see the page specific to that park.

Park pages for unvisited sites include information about the unit and a link to the NPS website's page.

For sites that I have visited, the park page will have my comments about the site, photos and links to both the NPS official page and my blog entry for that park visit.

The interactive map to the right shows the location of each unit. You can zoom in and move around on the map. The rectangle icon in the top right will expand the map to full screen. Clicking on any unit in the map will open a small information window. The map and icons on it are based on the same information found in the Google Earth KML files, which you can download from the Home page.

• Cesar E. Chavez National Monument    (Keene, CA)
• Channel Islands National Park    (Ventura, CA)
• Devils Postpile National Monument    (Mammoth Lakes, CA)
• Eugene O'Neill National Historic Site    (Danville, CA)
• Fort Point National Historic Site    (San Francisco, CA)
• Golden Gate National Recreation Area    (San Francisco, CA)
• John Muir National Historic Site    (Martinez, CA)
• Kings Canyon National Park    (Three Rivers, CA)
• Manzanar National Historic Site    (Independence, CA)
• Muir Woods National Monument    (Mill Valley, CA)
• Pinnacles National Park    (Palcines, CA)
• Point Reyes National Seashore    (Point Reyes, CA)
• Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial    (Concord Naval Weapons Station, CA)
• Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park    (Richmond, CA)
• San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park    (San Francisco, CA)
• Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area    (Thousand Oaks, CA)
• Sequoia National Park    (Three Rivers, CA)
• Yosemite National Park    (Yosemite Valley, CA)