CA California Porch

State Parks

State park passes and reservations

Pick the right California State Parks path for camping reservations, day use, passes, discounts, and trip notices.

Official link Last reviewed June 30, 2026

Why it matters

A beautiful park day can fall apart over a sold-out campground, the wrong pass, a closed road, or a fee you did not expect. Check the park page and reservation page before you pack the car.

Directory shelf

Outdoors

Parks, passes, campfires, fishing, tide pools, and trip checks.

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First moves

  1. 1

    Search the park page first. Look for alerts, fire limits, closures, pets, parking, day-use fees, and campground notes.

  2. 2

    For camping, use ReserveCalifornia and check the booking window, site type, vehicle limits, and cancellation rules.

  3. 3

    For day use, check whether the park sells a pass, uses a local fee, or has special parking rules.

  4. 4

    For discounts, read the pass page before assuming a pass works everywhere.

  5. 5

    Before leaving, recheck the park alert, weather, road conditions, and any fire or water notice.

Watch for

  1. 1

    A pass can cover some fees and not others.

  2. 2

    Some parks, beaches, lots, museums, concessions, and local partners have separate rules.

  3. 3

    Reservations can sell out early, especially on coast, redwood, desert, and holiday weekends.

  4. 4

    Pets, generators, extra vehicles, hookups, firewood, and arrival times can be park-specific.

  5. 5

    A reservation does not cancel weather, smoke, road, surf, snow, or fire restrictions.

Go deeper

State park passes and reservations

Start here for day-use fees, annual passes, camping reservations, and the up-to-six-month booking window.

Check the manager before the rule

Use this first when you are not sure who sets the rule for the place you want to visit.

Directory paths

Keep moving through the directory.

Use the nearby shelf when this is the right lane, or jump back to the full directory if the task changed names.

ShelfOutdoorsParks, passes, campfires, fishing, tide pools, and trip checks.DirectoryPaperwork & MoneyReturn to the full tools shelf.Nearby toolCampfires and fire restrictionsA quick path for checking campfire permits, local fire restrictions, forest orders, and park rules before lighting anything.Nearby toolFishing license, MPA, and tide pool checkA simple starting point for fishing licenses, ocean rules, marine protected areas, tide pools, and harvest limits.A-ZFind another California pathUse the directory index when the task has a different name.