California Department of Parks and Recreation

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The California Department of Parks and Recreation manages the California state parks system, which contains 280 parks and 1.4 million acres, with over 280 miles of coastline; 625 miles of lake and river frontage; nearly 15,000 campsites; and 3,000 miles of hiking, biking, and equestrian trails.

Responsible for almost one-third of California's scenic coastline, California State Parks manages the state's finest coastal wetlands, estuaries, beaches, and dune systems. California State Parks contains the largest and most diverse natural and cultural heritage holdings of any state agency in the nation. State park units include underwater preserves, reserves, and parks; redwood, rhododendron, and wildlife reserves; state beaches, recreation areas, wilderness areas, and reservoirs; state historic parks, historic homes, Spanish era adobe buildings, including museums, visitor centers, cultural reserves, and preserves; as well as lighthouses, ghost towns, waterslides, conference centers, and off-highway vehicle parks. These parks protect and preserve an unparalleled collection of culturally and environmentally sensitive structures and habitats, threatened plant and animal species, ancient Native American sites, historic structures and artifacts . . . the best of California's natural and cultural history.


See List of California state parks for a full list.

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