Austin Creek State Recreation Area is a beautiful and surprisingly vast wilderness area just north of Armstrong Redwoods. It’s well worth the drive up the narrow crumbling road from the redwood grove up to the sweeping vistas above Austin Creek, especially during the spring, when you can see the incredible variety of wildflowers in bloom.
The charming California State Mining and Mineral Museum has a beautiful collection of gems and minerals, several replicas and miniatures of mining towns and equipment, and a walk-through mine.
link: California State Mining and Mineral Museum Official Site
Limekiln boasts a beautiful campground among the redwoods, a sheltered beach cove, dramatic waterfalls, and the eerie lime kilns themselves, hidden in the woods. Sadly, many of the trails are already overgrown or blocked by fallen trees, a reminder that it requires ongoing stewardship to keep these parks accessible to the public.
Just south of the much better-known Point Lobos State Reserve, Garrapata State Park offers vistas that easily rival its famous neighbor’s. Sunset at Garrapata gave us all the fireworks we could have hoped for on New Years Eve 2011.
The highlight of Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park is The Diggins, an area of beautiful cliffs exposed by miners as they washed away entire mountains in search of gold. What appears to be natural beauty is actually the result of rather destructive human behavior, but that does little to detract from the beauty of the warm glow of the cliffs in the late afternoon light.
The Yuba River winds gently through the heart of gold country. A gentle trail follows the cliffs along the river, leading to spectacular views. And yes, there is still gold to be found in the river if you want to go panning.
Plumas Eureka is a hidden gem of granite cliffs and quiet rivers, nestled in the Sierra Mountains. We found ourselves completely alone in the park on a cold winter day, an eerie reminder of how it must of been when the gold miners left, and perhaps an eerier foreshadowing of a day when these parks are closed.
Henry Coe is one of the largest state parks. The beauty of Henry Coe lies in its simplicity. Rolling green hills spotted with gnarled oaks, soft forests, wildflowers in bloom, acorn woodpeckers filling trees with holes to store their acorns, wild turkeys running across the fields, ponds full of tadpoles. None of this seems out of the ordinary, and yet the balance of elements is near perfect here.
UPDATE: Returning to Henry Coe, we found some wild tarantulas, and managed to get a better look at the ubiquitous acorn woodpeckers. We also learned that Coe will remain open for at least 3 more years thanks to the efforts of a non-profit organization.
From the tops of the rocky cliffs, Russian Gulch offers spectacular views of the Pacific as it crashes into the California coast.
The seemingly endless sands of Manchester State Beach are one of the few remaining nesting sites of the Snowy Plover. Perhaps limiting human access to this beach will at least benefit these birds.
