
Parking lots are slowly beginning to re-open at some of California’s state parks. Though, officials want residents to stay close to home and preferably in their county.
Over the weekend, and without an official announcement, the state began to partially reopen lots at 27 state parks and beaches in Santa Cruz, San Benito, Sonoma, Riverside and Orange counties, along with the Lake Tahoe Area, and other mostly rural parts of the state.
In most of the re-opened parking lots, 50% or fewer of the parking spaces will be available.
California has 280 state parks. As of Monday, 36 were closed and 244 were open. State parks officials have closed the parking lots in the parks that are open as a way to encourage only local visitors and reduce crowd size.
Gloria Sandoval, deputy director of California’s state parks department, said Monday that the state was able to reopen some lots starting Friday after consultation with local and state health officials. She said that the department expects visitors not to travel across county lines, and to go only to their local parks, as a way to reduce overcrowding until conditions continue to improve and more rules can be relaxed.
“We are still telling people to stay close to home,” she said. “It’s important for everybody to do their part to help mitigate the spread of the virus.”
Sandoval recommended that anyone planning to visit a state park first look up the website for that individual park to see the latest rules at www.parks.ca.gov. All beaches in Santa Cruz County, for example, are closed daily between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., by local order, with violators subject to $1,000 fines — although swimming and surfing are permitted.
Guided tours, campgrounds, museums and visitor centers remain closed at all state parks, although trails are open at many.
The state parks where parking lots have partially reopened, by county, are:
Butte County
Lake Oroville State Recreation Area
El Dorado County
Ed Z’berg Sugar Pine Point State Park
Emerald Bay State Park
Folsom Lake State Recreation Area (also in Sacramento and Placer counties)
Lake Valley State Recreation Area
Washoe Meadows State Park
Kern County
Onyx Ranch State Vehicular Recreation Area
Nevada County
Donner Memorial State Park
Orange County
Bolsa Chica State Beach
Doheny State Beach
Huntington State Beach
San Clemente State Beach
Crystal Cove State Beach
Placer County
Auburn State Recreation Area
Kings Beach State Recreation Area
Riverside County
Lake Perris State Recreation Area
San Benito County
Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area
Santa Cruz County
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park
The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park
Wilder Ranch State Park
Shasta County
McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park
Sonoma County
Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve
Austin Creek State Recreation Area
Jack London State Historic Park
Sugarloaf Ridge State Park
Trione-Annadel State Park
Tuolumne County
Columbia State Historic Park
On Monday, as he relaxed some rules around California, Gov. Gavin Newsom was asked when he would be opening state parks parking lots, following reports that it was difficult for the elderly and disabled visitors to visit the ones that are open.
“There are 27 proof points that that was done in the last few days,” Newsom said.
Newsom and parks officials continue to urge state parks visitors to practice physical distancing and avoid congregating with people outside their immediate household.