{"id":371328,"date":"2026-06-23T10:08:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T10:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/371328\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T10:08:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T10:08:32","slug":"california-now-offers-free-passes-to-state-historic-parks-just-dont-miss-the-deadline-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/371328\/","title":{"rendered":"California now offers free passes to state historic parks (just don\u2019t miss the deadline)"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than two dozen state historic parks<\/a> are free through the end of the year in honor of Juneteenth\u00a0<\/a>\u2014 and the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.<\/p>\n

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the free \u201cspecial edition Historian Passport,\u201d<\/a> which typically costs $50, as a rebuke to President Donald Trump\u2019s attempts to \u201crewrite the past,<\/a>\u201d according to a news release by the governor\u2019s office.<\/a><\/p>\n

Since his inauguration, Trump has ordered<\/a> staff working at all National Park Service locations to remove any content that casts Americans in a negative light from parks, monuments and memorials.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia doesn\u2019t hide from hard truths and uncomfortable history \u2014 in fact, we embrace it and learn from it,\u201d Newsom wrote.<\/p>\n

Keep up with LAist.<\/p>\n

If you’re enjoying this article, you’ll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less. <\/p>\n

Until July 6, Californians can download the state historic park pass for free<\/a> and use it as many times as they want through the end of 2026. The pass gives free entry to state historic parks for up to four people.<\/p>\n

The Historian Passport grants entry to more than 30 state historic parks, including parks like Olompali\u00a0<\/a>and Malakoff Diggins<\/a> which, rather than just providing outdoor recreation, also have an educational emphasis on the state\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Jack London State Historic Park in Napa Valley, California.<\/p>\n

Many of these parks tell the story of the state\u2019s cultural or indigenous history<\/a>, from missions and museums to temples and the site that sparked the California Gold Rush.<\/p>\n

Newsom made a similar move to make state parks free for Martin Luther King Jr. Day<\/a> this year, in response to Trump\u2019s decision to eliminate the holiday from the list of fee-free days at national parks across the country, replacing it with his birthday on Flag Day.<\/p>\n

How to get your free Historian Passport for up to four people<\/p>\n

You must make an account with the state\u2019s reservation site ReserveCalifornia.com<\/a> to obtain a Historian Pass. Then, visit the site\u2019s Advance Passes page<\/a> and select \u201cSpecial Edition Historian Passport\u201d from the dropdown menu, which will show as costing $0. No payment information is required.<\/p>\n

After checking out, you\u2019ll receive an email with an attached PDF version of your Historian Passport.<\/p>\n

The state recommends you print off this PDF to present at any California state historic park for free entry, although you may just be able to show the image on your phone too.<\/p>\n

Bear in mind that cellphone service may be poor at many state historic parks, so it\u2019s worth screenshotting the PDF to save it as an image on your phone in case you\u2019re unable to search your email.<\/p>\n

Looking for free entry to other state parks that aren\u2019t included in the Historian Passport? Consider checking out a parks pass from your local library<\/a>, which provides these passes as part of the California State Library Parks Pass program.<\/p>\n

KQED\u2019s\u00a0Carly Severn<\/a>\u00a0contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than two dozen state historic parks are free through the end of the year in honor of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":371329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7343,7,9,8,100030,11051,124245,66546,32957,150472],"class_list":["post-371328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-250th-anniversary","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-california-parks","tag-deadline","tag-free-passes","tag-free-things-to-do","tag-juneteenth","tag-state-historic-parks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371328","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=371328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/371328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/371329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=371328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=371328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=371328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}