{"id":161001,"date":"2026-02-02T23:35:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T23:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/161001\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T23:35:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T23:35:10","slug":"nominate-your-favorite-state-park-for-hiking-camping-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/161001\/","title":{"rendered":"Nominate Your Favorite State Park for Hiking, Camping, and More"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Francisco, CA \u2014 Today, California State Parks Foundation announced it is accepting nominations for the 2026 \u201cBest of California\u2019s State Parks<\/a>\u201d poll. Californians are invited to share their favorite state parks across 12 categories, including the best parks for camping, hiking, birdwatching, family-friendly adventures, and more. This year\u2019s poll also features two new categories \u2014 \u201cBest State Park for Water Activities\u201d and \u201cBest State Park for Hidden Gem Experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe \u2018Best of California\u2019s State Parks\u2019 poll is a fun opportunity for Californians to share what they love about their state parks,\u201d said Rachel Norton, Executive Director of California State Parks Foundation. \u201cWith 280 state park units, there are so many different types of parks to explore in California, whether you\u2019re looking for a day at the beach, a hike among the redwoods, or a chance to learn about history. Nominating your favorite state park could spark someone else\u2019s next adventure!\u201d<\/p>\n

The nomination period for the 2026 \u201cBest of California\u2019s State Parks<\/a>\u201d poll is open now and runs through February 28, 2026. Then, in March, California State Parks Foundation will ask Californians to cast their votes and help select a winner in each category. The winners, as well as two honorable mentions in each category, will be announced later in the spring.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The inaugural \u201cBest of California\u2019s State Parks\u201d poll was launched by California State Parks Foundation in 2025. In just a few weeks, over 1,300 people participated in the poll, and many also sent in photos, personal stories, and memories about why state parks are special. Some of the 2025 winners included: Morro Bay State Park in San Luis Obispo County (Best California State Park for Camping), Mount Tamalpais State Park in Marin County (Best California State Park for Hiking), Crystal Cove State Park in Orange County (Best California State Beach), and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in San Diego, Imperial, and Riverside Counties (Best California State Park for Wildflowers). A full list of the 2025 winners is available here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The California state park system includes 280 state park units, over 340 miles of coastline, 970 miles of lake and river frontage, 15,000 campsites, 5,200 miles of trails, 3,195 historic buildings, and more than 11,000 known prehistoric and historic archaeological sites.<\/p>\n

For more information on the 2026 \u201cBest of California\u2019s State Parks\u201d poll, visit calparks.org\/bestof2026<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Francisco, CA \u2014 Today, California State Parks Foundation announced it is accepting nominations for the 2026 \u201cBest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161002,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144],"class_list":{"0":"post-161001","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-oakland","9":"tag-oakland-headlines","10":"tag-oakland-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}