There are nine national parks located in the state of California managed by the National Park Service. National parks protect significant scenic areas and nature reserves, provide educational programs, community service opportunities, and are an important part of conservation efforts in the United States. There are several other locations inside of California managed by the National Park Service, but carry other designations such as National Monuments. Many of the national parks in California are also part of national forests and National Wildlife Refuges, and contain Native American Heritage Sites and National Monuments.
Parks Channel Islands
The Channel Islands National Park was established on March 5, 1980, and is located on five of the eight Channel Islands off the coast of California; all of the islands are located in Santa Barbara County except Anacapa Island which is located in Ventura County. The park covers a total area of almost . The National Park Service works with various organizations to host educational, conservation, and scientific programs at the park. The five islands which comprise the park are: Santa Cruz Island (Spanish: Isla Santa Cruz, Chumash: Limuw) is the largest island in California and largest of the eight islands in the Channel Islands archipelago. It forms part of the northern group of the Channel Islands. Santa Cruz is long and wide with an area of over . San Miguel Island (Island Chumash: Tuqan) is the farthest west of the Channel Islands; it is the sixth-largest of the eight Channel Islands covering over , including offshore islands and rocks. Prince Island, off the northeastern coast, measures in area. The island, at its farthest extent, is long and wide. Santa Rosa Island (Chumash: Wi'ma) is the second largest of the Channel Islands covering over . Santa Rosa island is located about off the coast of Santa Barbara, California. The terrain consists of rolling hills, canyons, and a coastal lagoon. The island's highest point is Vail Peak, at . Anacapa Island is the smallest of the island chain and also the closest of the Channel Islands to the mainland. It is across the Santa Barbara Channel to the nearest point on the mainland and lies southwest of the city of Ventura, California. It is the only one of the Channel Islands to have a non-Spanish-derived name; Anacapa comes from the Chumash word "Anyapax", meaning "illusion". Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo sailed by the island in 1542; George Vancouver labeled the island "Enecapa" on a 1790 chart; the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey labeled the island "Anacapa" in 1854. Anacapa Island is home to the Anacapa Island Lighthouse a national historic site. Santa Barbara Island is located about from the Palos Verdes Peninsula. With a total area of about , it is the smallest of the eight Channel Islands and is the southernmost island in the chain. The highest point on the island is Signal Hill, at . The island was named by Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno, who sighted the island on 4 December 1602, the feast day dedicated to Saint Barbara.
The islands are home to an array of significant natural resources and cultural sites; all of the islands contain national archeological districts except Santa Rosa Island. In 1976 all eight of the islands became a biosphere reserve as part of the Man and the Biosphere Programme under UNESCO.
The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary is a protected area established May 5, 1980 encompassing the waters from mean high tide to around Channel Islands National Park, covering an area of approximately . The National Marine Sanctuary program is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and conducts educational programs, oversees conservation efforts, scientific research, and national resource stewardship. The sanctuary protects a wide range of marine species and more than 150 historic shipwrecks.
The islands are a place of cultural significance for the Chumash people.
Death Valley
Death Valley National Park straddles the CaliforniaNevada border, east of the Sierra Nevada range. The park contains Death Valley, the northern section of Panamint Valley, the southern section of Eureka Valley, and most of Saline Valley. The Death Valley National Monument was declared in 1933; the park was substantially expanded and became a national park in 1994.National Park Index (2001–2003), p. 26 The park protects over .
Death Valley is the largest national park in the contiguous United States, and the hottest, driest and lowest of all the national parks in the United States. The second-lowest point in the Western Hemisphere is in Badwater Basin, which is below sea level. More than 93% of the park is a designated U.S. Wilderness Area. UNESCO included Death Valley as the principal feature of its Mojave and Colorado Deserts Biosphere Reserve in 1984.
Despite its name, Death Valley National Park is home to a wide variety of plants and animals in its diverse ecosystem and microecosystems. The Death Valley pupfish (Cyprinodon salinus), also known as Salt Creek pupfish, is a small species of fish found only in Death Valley National Park; the pupfish is endemic to two small, isolated locations and is currently classified as an endangered species.
Notable locations inside the park are: Badwater Basin, Dante's View, Darwin Falls, Racetrack Playa, Rainbow Canyon, Telescope Peak, Titus Canyon, and Ubehebe Crater.
Joshua Tree
The Joshua Tree National Park is in southeastern California, east of Los Angeles and San Bernardino, near Palm Springs, California. It takes its name from the Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) native to the Mojave Desert.
Minerva Hoyt led a campaign to convince the state and federal governments to protect the area; it was declared a national monument in 1936; The monument was redesignated as a national park on October 31, 1994, by the Desert Protection Act. The park currently covers an area of over slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island; of the park is a National Wilderness Preserve. Straddling San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, the park includes parts of both the higher Mojave Desert and the lower Colorado Desert, each containing an ecosystem determined primarily by elevation. The Little San Bernardino Mountains run across the southwest edge of the park.
Notable Joshua Tree scenic areas and trails in the park include: Fortynine Palms Oasis, Hidden Valley (Joshua Tree National Park), Lost Horse Mine, Lost Palms Oasis Trail (Joshua Tree National Park), and Ryan Mountain.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks The Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park adjoin each other and are administered together by the National Park Service as Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
Kings Canyon
Kings Canyon National Park is located in the southern Sierra Nevadas, in Fresno and Tulare counties. Currently the park covers .
Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, created to protect a small area of giant sequoias from logging, the park was greatly expanded and renamed to Kings Canyon National Park on March 4, 1940. The park is also a wilderness area. Kings Canyon is north of and contiguous with Sequoia National Park, and both parks are jointly administered by the National Park Service as the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
The park consists of two main areas: General Grant Grove, home of the General Grant tree and Cedar Grove. The park's namesake, Kings Canyon, is a rugged glacier-carved valley more than a mile (1,600 m) deep. Other natural features include multiple peaks, high mountain meadows, swift-flowing rivers, and some of the world's largest stands of giant sequoia trees. The canyon is drained by the Middle and South Forks of the Kings River. Kings Canyon is home to over 60 recreational trails; combined the Pacific Crest Trail and the John Muir Trail traverse the entire length of the park, from north to south.
Sequoia
Sequoia National Park is in the southern Sierra Nevada, northeast of Bakersfield, California. Because the parks are adjacent to each other, Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park are administered together as the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks by the National Park Service;. In 1976, UNESCO designated the park as the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Biosphere Reserve.
The park was established on September 25, 1890, to protect over of mountainous forest wilderness and became a national park at the same time the National Park Service was founded on August 25, 1916; today the park protects . The park's giant sequoia forests are part of of old-growth forests protected by Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. The park is home to the highest mountain in the contiguous United States, Mount Whitney (). Approximately 85 percent of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks is a wilderness area inaccessible by road. The majority of the national park was designated as part of the Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness area in 1984 and the southwest portion of the park was protected as the John Krebs Wilderness in 2009.
The park is known for the giant sequoia trees it is named after, including the General Sherman Tree, by volume the largest tree on Earth. The General Sherman Tree grows in an area of the park called the Giant Forest, which contains five of the ten largest trees in the world. The Giant Forest is connected by the Generals Highway to General Grant Grove in Kings Canyon National park, home of the General Grant tree which is one of the other largest giant sequoias in existence.
Lassen Volcanic Park
Lassen Volcanic National Park is located in Lassen County in northeastern California and is known for its numerous volcanoes. The namesake feature of the park is Lassen Peak, the largest plug dome volcano in the world and the southernmost volcano in the Cascade Range. The park is one of the few areas in the world where all four types of volcano can be found: plug dome, shield, cinder cone, and stratovolcano. From May 1914 until 1917, a series of eruptions occurred on Lassen.
Lassen Volcanic National Park began in 1907 as two separate national monuments: Cinder Cone National Monument and Lassen Peak National Monument. Because of the recent volcanic activity and the area's scenery, Lassen Peak, Cinder Cone, and the area surrounding were established as a National Park on August 9, 1916. The park currently protects over .
The source of heat for the volcanism in the Lassen area is subduction of the Gorda Plate diving below the North American Plate off the Northern California coast. The area surrounding Lassen Peak is still active with boiling mud pots, fumaroles, and hot springs.
Pinnacles
Pinnacles National Park is a mountainous area located east of the Salinas Valley in Central California. The park is approximately inland from the Pacific Ocean and approximately south of the San Francisco Bay Area. The park is in the southern portion of the Gabilan Range, part of California's Coast Ranges. Pinnacles is the ninth location in California to become part of the National Park System. In 1975 the park occupied over , increasing to the present size of over through expansions including the Pinnacles Ranch and Bacon Ranch, and the Clinton administration's Proclamation 7266 which increased the size of the park by to protect more caves. The elevation in the park ranges from at the peak of North Chalone Peak. The park is also home to Pinnacles National Monument, an area of spirelike rock formations in the Gabilan Range area.