SACRAMENTO – With temperatures cooling and changing colors in the foliage, fall is one of the best times to visit California’s 280 state parks for a weekend getaway with friends or a nice family day trip. With its diverse and beautiful varieties of habitat such as deserts, forests, rivers, lakes and beaches, and historic sites, California offers a little bit of everything for an autumnal paradise.
The best fall activities are all outdoors and in the Golden State’s parks. Californians and visitors from around the world can take in the vibrant red, orange and yellow colors of the Sierra, bask in a stunning sunset along the coast, camp under the stars in the deserts or ride the off-highway vehicle trails. As California State Parks continues to celebrate the state’s 175th anniversary, here’s a list of some of the best state parks to breathe in the crisp air, listen to the rustling leaves and take in the unforgettable sights.
Northern California
- Sue-meg State Park: The park sits on a lushly forested promontory beside the Pacific Ocean. The one-square-mile park is densely packed with potential adventures, from picnicking to waking up to birdsong at one of three campgrounds. Visitors can hunt for agates, explore tidepools, and walk through Sitka forests and iris-dotted meadows as they peer out at seals, sea lions and migrating whales. In the park’s interior, there’s a visitor center, a native plant garden, and a reconstructed Yurok plank-house village.
- Fort Ross State Historic Park: Visitors to the beautiful Sonoma County coast can wander through the iconic historic Ross Settlement with its reconstructed stockade walls and buildings dating to the Russian American Company’s occupation from 1812-1841. But the public experiences so much more when they arrive, especially as they learn about Metini Village, the ancestral homelands of the Kashia Pomo since time immemorial. Redwood and coniferous forests, grasslands, scrub and coastal strand make up the park’s four distinct vegetation types, making for beautiful colors. Looking around the beach, visitors may see some marine mammals such as sea lions and migrating gray whales.
- Donner Memorial State Park: Located conveniently just off Interstate 80 in Truckee in the scenic Sierra Nevada and on the shore of Donner Lake, the park has over eight miles of hiking trails and a visitor center that features compelling exhibits that illuminate the emigrant experience, the Donner Party, the Land of the Washoe, Chinese construction of the railroad, and early motoring adventures over nearby Donner Pass.
Bay Area
- Angel Island State Park: This park offers a fantastic experience for people interested in hiking, biking, photography and history. The cooler temperatures make for comfortable exploration of the island’s many trails. Visitors can hike or bike the Perimeter Road, a scenic loop that provides breathtaking, clear views of the San Francisco skyline, the Golden Gate Bridge and Mount Tamalpais, with fewer crowds than in the summer. The autumn light is also a photographer’s dream, casting a soft, golden glow over the island’s unique landscapes and historic buildings, like the old military barracks and the U.S. Immigration Station. Lucky visitors may even spot a swimming coyote.
Central Coast
- Sunset State Beach: As the summer fades, enjoy one of the most serene beaches lining Monterey Bay. Stretching for four miles, this state beach is a beachcomber’s paradise with surf fishing, picnicking, whale-watching and bird watching. With the passing of the season, the sunsets can be spectacular.
- Castle Rock State Park: The park has sweeping vistas from one of the highest ridges in the Santa Cruz Mountains with beautiful views of the San Lorenzo Watershed. The landscape encompasses high-elevation Coast redwoods, knobcone pines and majestic black oaks, which display their orange-hued foliage in the fall. Recreational opportunities abound with miles of trails for hiking and mountain biking along with exceptional rock climbing, including the namesake, Castle Rock.
Central Valley
- Henry W. Coe State Park: With 87,000 acres of scenic hills and mountain ridges in the Diablo Mountain Range, this largely undeveloped park welcomes backpackers, equestrians, mountain bikers, day-hikers and anyone seeking solitude in a nearly untouched setting. Fall is a particularly good time to visit, with temperate days, cool nights and a chance to enjoy the color of the turning leaves.
- Fremont Peak State Park: This park features expansive views of Monterey Bay, the San Benito Valley, Salinas Valley and the Santa Lucia Mountains east of Big Sur from its hiking trails in the grasslands of the higher peaks of the Gavilan Range. There are camping and picnic facilities in the park, as well as an astronomical observatory with a 30-inch telescope, which is open for public programs on selected evenings.
- Mount Diablo State Park: On a clear day, spectacular views from the summit extend over 100 miles in all directions, with the Sierra Nevada in one direction and San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge visible in the other. Within the park, fall brings a mix of warm and cool days so hikers, bicyclists, equestrians and campers experience something different each time they explore the mountain’s grassland, chaparral, woodland, riparian and rocky habitats. Fall is also the best time for park visitors to encounter tarantulas out and about looking for love.
Southern California
- Cuyamaca Rancho State Park: San Diego County is known for its diverse landscapes: coast, inland, mountains and desert. No where is that concept more apparent than at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. Standing atop the pine-strewn pinnacle of Cuyamaca Peak at 6,512 feet, visitors can look west and watch the ocean disappear over the horizon, then turn around and gaze east at the immense but tantalizing deserts of neighboring Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. The park features more than 100 miles of trails throughout 24,700 acres, and many of those are multi-use trails where mountain bikers and horseback riders are welcome alongside hikers. The change of the foliage colors of the various trees during the season makes it a must-visit in fall.
- Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area (SVRA): The SVRA has 85,000 acres of magnificent desert terrain used for off-road exploration and recreation. While the low desert may be too hot during the summer months, the cooler temperatures of fall make it very comfortable to visit. A great place to camp over a weekend and enjoy the off-roading as well as enjoy the stars at night, view wildlife and really get a sense of isolation and being away from it all.
- Point Dume State Beach: Representing the picturesque appeal of Malibu, this beach and natural area features breathtaking cliffs, headlands and rocky coves. Though small, the natural preserve within the state beach provides habitat for a surprising amount of wildlife. A visitor may encounter coyotes, skunks, raccoons, ground squirrels and rabbits in broad daylight. The incredible vistas offer an opportunity to view sea lions, harbor seals and dolphins in the surf only a few dozen feet away.
- Picacho State Recreation Area: Situated along the Colorado River in Imperial County, this remote park is accessible via an 18-mile dirt road from the south called Picacho Road, or a 15-mile off-road trail from the north called Indian Pass. The park is located at the historic Picacho Townsite, where 100 years ago it was home to a gold mining town with 100 residents. Today, the site is a state park, popular with boaters, hikers, anglers and campers. The park offers diverse scenery, including beavertail cactus, wild burros, bighorn sheep and thousands of migratory waterfowl as one leg of the Pacific Flyway.
To read more about all these parks, read our blog post with more details. For fall photography lovers, make sure to enter the CA175 State Parks photo contest taking place through Oct. 9. There are multiple categories and prizes will be awarded to the top photos.
Before heading out to your next adventure, State Parks wants to remind visitors of a few safety tips.
- Know Before You Go: Prior to leaving home, check the status of the park you want to visit to find current park information. Trails, roads or certain areas may be unavailable due to unforeseen circumstances. Also, check local weather forecasts and the official website or social media channels of your destination.
- Play It Safe: State parks are meant to be enjoyed in many different ways, but err on the side of caution. Make sure not to underestimate temperatures or hiking distances. Let somebody know that you are in the park, especially on longer hikes. Enter waterbodies such as rivers or lakes in parks only if and where it is safe and encouraged. Be sure to wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket when recreating near or in the water.
- Leave No Trace: Leave areas better than how you found them by staying on designated trails and packing out all trash. Do not disturb wildlife or take plants.
- Bring the essentials: Make sure to pack plenty of water and snacks, and bring at least an extra day’s supply of food. Do not forget navigational tools, spare charger for your cellphone, and a flashlight.
- Turn around, don’t drown: Remain off roadways prone to flooding during storms. Do not attempt to cross flooded roadways. For more flood safety tips, visit weather.gov/safety/flood.
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MAIN IMAGE: Picacho State Recreation Area, Courtesy of California State Parks, 2025
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