{"id":367522,"date":"2026-06-19T19:44:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T19:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/367522\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T19:44:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T19:44:13","slug":"sacramento-sites-among-state-historic-parks-free-with-pass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/367522\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacramento sites among state historic parks free with pass"},"content":{"rendered":"

Katrina Granados and Nick Mahedy didn\u2019t mind paying $5 each for a visit to Sutter\u2019s Fort<\/a> on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n

But they were also looking forward to a new program that started Friday that allows them to see the fort and other California State Historic Parks for free through the end of 2026.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the state unveiled its special edition California State Historian Passport<\/a>, which allows free admission for up to four people to over 30 historic parks, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s office. Several state historic parks in the greater Sacramento region are included on the list.<\/p>\n

Granados and her boyfriend Mahedy, who are in their mid-20s, have lived in Sacramento for five years. As they stood in the fort\u2019s central building, which dates to about 1840 and is Sacramento\u2019s oldest building, she said they would definitely take advantage of the free pass program.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re focusing on the historical parks which is really nice,\u201d Granados said. \u201cNow we get to see what is surrounding us, which I feel like I didn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which state historic parks in Sacramento area will be free<\/p>\n

The passes, which are free to sign up for online through July 6<\/a>, include several notable sites in the Sacramento region that capture key parts of the area\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

Aside from Sutter\u2019s Fort, there is the State Indian Museum State Historic Park<\/a> on the same Sacramento block. There is also the Folsom Powerhouse State Historic Park<\/a> and the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park<\/a>, commemorating the location where gold was found on Jan. 24, 1848, spurring California\u2019s Gold Rush.<\/p>\n

Also within a 90-minute drive from Sacramento are the Empire Mine State Historic Park<\/a> near Grass Valley, the Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park<\/a> in Amador County and the Benicia Capitol State Historic Park.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"RB_Empire_Living_history\"\/ Visitors approach the Bourn cottage at the Empire Mine State Historic Park near Grass Valley. RANDALL BENTON Sacramento Bee file <\/p>\n

The pass is not accepted by the California State Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento.<\/p>\n

The program comes amid a state effort to evolve how history is taught at places such as Sutter\u2019s Fort. The fort played an important role in the development of Sacramento. But its owner also used coercion and violence against Native Americans, according to John Fraser, the Capitol District superintendent for California State Parks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is an opportunity for people to get out to some of these places and see how they\u2019ve probably changed since they were maybe on a fourth grade field trip or the last time the relatives were in town,\u201d Fraser said.<\/p>\n

Mahedy said he and Granados were using their off day \u201cto go be history buffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re learning about how all the different parties weave into this tapestry that makes California so rich and interesting,\u201d Mahedy said.<\/p>\n

How popular the program could be<\/p>\n

Sutter\u2019s Fort was fairly quiet Thursday afternoon, which is partly a reflection of the COVID-19 pandemic\u2019s effect on parks and museums according Jared Jones, a site supervisor for Sutter\u2019s Fort and the Indian Museum.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say that we\u2019re still rebounding back to our pre-pandemic numbers,\u201d Jones said. \u201cOver half of our visitors are elementary school kids on field trips.\u201d<\/p>\n

Things could change with the new state program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just had Secretary Wade Crowfoot of the California Natural Resources Agency here this morning,\u201d Jones said. \u201cAnd he said that there was already over 80,000 people signed up.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the state unveiled the pass program, the Governor\u2019s Office noted that the Trump administration had ended free admission to national parks on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth. \u201cCalifornia doesn\u2019t hide from hard truths and uncomfortable history \u2013 in fact, we embrace it and learn from it,\u201d Newsom said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Fraser noted the timing of the state\u2019s program, just ahead of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a great opportunity within California and locally within the region to go out and rekindle some curiosity in these places,\u201d Fraser said.<\/p>\n

Follow More of Our Reporting on In the Spotlight<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Graham Womack<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

Graham Womack is a general assignment reporter for The Sacramento Bee. Prior to joining The Bee full-time in September 2025, he freelanced for the publication for several years. His work has won several California Journalism Awards and spurred state legislation.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Katrina Granados and Nick Mahedy didn\u2019t mind paying $5 each for a visit to Sutter\u2019s Fort on Thursday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":367523,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-367522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367522","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=367522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/367523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}