Where are California's national parks?

1/42

In Cook’s Meadow, late-afternoon sunlight last year illuminates the fall colors of the giant elm tree, perhaps the best known in Yosemite National Park. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

2/42

A fisherman tries his luck amid the seasonal colors on the Merced River. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

3/42

The twin peaks of Mt. Dana, top left, and Mt. Gibbs are reflected in a small lake in Tuolumne Meadows.

(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

4/42

El Capitan is painted in hues of pink, magenta and red during an October sunset. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

5/42

Afternoon light filters through leaves along a tributary of the Merced River near Sentinel Meadow. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

6/42

The yellows of a California black oak photographed last fall complement the trim on the Yosemite Valley Chapel, built more than 130 years ago. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

7/42

From Valley View Lookout, Bridalveil Fall stands tall. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

8/42

The leaves of a bracken fern glisten in the morning sun in Cook’s Meadow. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

9/42

A richly colored maple leaf rests atop a rock in a puddle formed after a passing storm near Bridalveil Fall in Yosemite National Park. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

10/42

Wooden walkways have been placed in Sentinel Meadow so visitors don’t trample the wild grasses and plants. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

11/42

Grasses are frozen in suspended animation in a shelf of ice along the Merced River.

Read Mark Boster’s story on winter in Yosemite. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

12/42

A dusting of fresh snow clings to the edges of an oak leaf on a chilly morning after a snowstorm. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

13/42

The full moon rises above the clouds. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

14/42

Late winter snow melting forms cool droplets of water that gather and run over a mossy outcropping of rock near tunnel view in Yosemite Valley. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

15/42

Deer are unfazed by falling snowflakes. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

16/42

The last rays of light glow on the granite faces in Yosemite Valley on an evening late in winter. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

17/42

Morning fog and snow envelop Yosemite Valley. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

18/42

The old wooden Yosemite Chapel looks like something from Currier & Ives after an overnight snowstorm. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

19/42

Birds perch in the bushes in El Capitan Meadow after a winter storm. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

20/42

Winter in Yosemite (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

21/42

Clouds cling to the rock faces of El Capitan after a winter storm sweeps through Yosemite Valley. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

22/42

In this time exposure, the mist and water fed by melting snow at Lower Yosemite Fall collects and swirls while refracting the colors from the rising sun. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

23/42

On a frosty winter morning, Upper Yosemite Fall is just a trickle. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

24/42

The wooden footpath in Sentinel Meadow is covered with snow on a cold January afternoon. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

25/42

With a fresh blanket of snow from an overnight storm, a new morning dawns at the venerable Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Valley.

Read Mark Boster’s story on winter in Yosemite. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

26/42

Young pine trees poke through the snow in the Ahwahnee Meadow while the distant clouds swirl around Half Dome before sunrise.

Read Mark Boster’s story on winter in Yosemite. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

27/42

Ice clings to the grass blades starting to emerge after a winter’s nap in Cook’s Meadow.

Read Mark Boster’s story on winter in Yosemite. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

28/42

A seven-point buck pauses in Cook’s Meadow after a snow storm.

Read Mark Boster’s story on winter in Yosemite. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

29/42

The iconic elm tree in Cook’s Meadow in Yosemite Valley is shrouded by fog and fresh snow.

Read Mark Boster’s story on winter in Yosemite.

(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

30/42

Half Dome reflected in a pond in Yosemite Valley.

(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

31/42

Blades of grass push their way through a small pond of water in the Yosemite Valley. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

32/42

Dogwood in the Yosemite Valley begin their springtime debut. The flowers unfold with a yellow-green cast and transform into a brilliant white. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

33/42

The mist gathers near the base of Bridalveil Fall in Yosemite Valley. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

34/42

Tourists pose for pictures with the roaring waters of Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls in the background. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

35/42

A bracken fern emerges from a long winter’s nap and begins to unfurl its delicate network of lacy leaves and stems on a spring morning beside a trail near the base of Lower Yosemite Fall. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

36/42

A group of photographers assembles on Swinging Bridge at 2 a.m. to witness a lunar rainbow. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

37/42

Springtime in Yosemite is a perfect time to observe a lunar rainbow or “moonbow” created in the mist of Upper Yosemite Fall when the full moon rises over the granite walls of Yosemite Valley. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

38/42

A beetle climbs on a milkweed plant in Cook’s Meadow. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

39/42

A coyote prowls El Capitan meadow area at sunrise. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

40/42

Golden poppies shimmer in a light breeze near the Wawona Hotel. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

41/42

Rangers can fine visitors for jumping off Swinging Bridge into the Merced River in Yosemite National Park, but the water’s lure proves powerful. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

42/42

Visitors to Yosemite Valley beat the heat by floating on the Merced River.

(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

April 16, 2015 2:22 PM PT

Find out about historic and scenic sites as well as programs, fees and directions to California’s national parks, monuments and recreation areas:

Alcatraz Island, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Ft. Mason, B201, San Francisco; (415) 561-4900 or (415) 981-7625 (tickets), https://www.nps.gov/alca

Cabrillo National Monument, 1800 Cabrillo Memorial Drive, San Diego; (619) 557-5450, https://www.nps.gov/cabr

California National Historic Trail, 324 S. State St., Suite 200, Box 30, Salt Lake City; (801) 741-1012, https://www.nps.gov/cali

César E. Chávez National Monument, 29700 Woodford-Tehachapi Road, Keene; (661) 823-6134, https://www.nps.gov/cech

Channel Islands National Park, 1901 Spinnaker Drive, Ventura; (805) 658-5730, https://www.nps.gov/chis

Death Valley National Park, P.O. Box 579, Death Valley; (760) 786-3200, https://www.nps.gov/deva

Devils Postpile National Monument, P.O. Box 3999, Mammoth Lakes; (760) 934-2289, https://www.nps.gov/depo. Open early June to mid-October.

Eugene O’Neill National Historic Site, P.O. Box 280, Danville; (925) 838-0249, https://www.nps.gov/euon

Ft. Point National Historic Site, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Ft. Mason, B201, San Francisco; (415) 556-1693, https://www.nps.gov/fopo

Golden Gate National Recreation Area (includes Crissy Field, Ocean Beach, Sweeney Ridge, Rancho Corral de Tierra, Marin Headlands, Phleger Estate, Ft. Funston, Alcatraz and the Presidio), Ft. Mason, B201, San Francisco; (415) 561-4700, https://www.nps.gov/goga

John Muir National Historic Site, 4202 Alhambra Ave., Martinez; (925) 228-8860, https://www.nps.gov/jomu

Joshua Tree National Park, 74485 National Park Drive, Twentynine Palms; (760) 367-5500, https://www.nps.gov/jotr

Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail, 333 Bush St., Suite 500, San Francisco; (415) 623-2344, https://www.nps.gov/juba

Lassen Volcanic National Park, P.O. Box 100, Mineral; (530) 595-4480, https://www.nps.gov/lavo

Lava Beds National Monument, P.O. Box 1240, Tulelake; (530) 667-8113, https://www.nps.gov/labe

Mammoth Lakes, Welcome Center, 2510 Highway 203, Mammoth Lakes; (760) 924-5500 (open year-round; shared center with Inyo National Forest), https://www.nps.gov/depo and https://www.fs.usda.gov/inyo

Manzanar National Historic Site, P.O. Box 426, Independence; (760) 878-2194, Ext. 3310, https://www.nps.gov/manz

Mojave National Preserve, 2701 Barstow Road, Barstow; (760) 252-6100, https://www.nps.gov/moja

Muir Woods National Monument, 1 Muir Woods Road, Mill Valley; (415) 388-2595, https://www.nps.gov/muwo

Pinnacles National Park, 5000 Highway 146, Paicines; (831) 389-4485, https://www.nps.gov/pinn

Point Reyes National Seashore, 1 Bear Valley Road, Point Reyes Station; (415) 464-5100, Ext. 2; camping reservations: (877) 444-6777, https://www.nps.gov/pore

Pony Express National Historic Trail, National Trails Intermountain Region, 324 S. State St., Suite 200, Salt Lake City; (505) 988-6098, https://www.nps.gov/poex

Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial, c/o John Muir NHS, 4202 Alhambra Ave., Martinez; (925) 228-8860 (dial Ext. 6520 for reservations), https://www.nps.gov/poch. Reservations are required.

Presidio of San Francisco, Presidio Trust, 103 Montgomery St., San Francisco 94129; (415) 561-4323, https://www.presidio.gov, https://www.nps.gov/prsf. Officers club (www.presidioofficersclub.com) and visitor center have reopened.

Redwood National and State Parks, 1111 2nd St., Crescent City; (707) 465-7335, California State Park camping reservations, (800) 444-7275, https://www.nps.gov/redw

Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park, 440 Civic Center Plaza, Suite 300, Richmond; (510) 232-5050, Ext. 0, https://www.nps.gov/rori.

San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park (includes two museums: one in the visitor center at 499 Jefferson St. and Maritime Museum in the Aquatic Park Bathhouse Building, 900 Beach St. (at the foot of Polk Street); San Francisco; (415) 447-5000, https://www.nps.gov/safr

San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, includes parts of the Angeles National Forest and San Bernardino National Forest, 701 N. Santa Anita Ave., Arcadia; (626) 574-1613, https://www.fs.usda.gov/angeles

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Interagency Visitor Center, 26876 Mulholland Drive, Calabasas; (805) 370-2301, https://www.nps.gov/samo

Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Visitor Center, 51-500 California Highway 74, Palm Desert; (760) 862-9984, https://www.lat.ms/1amijss

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, 47050 Generals Highway, Three Rivers; (559) 565-3341, https://www.nps.gov/seki

Tule Lake Unit of World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument (Japanese American internment camp whose temporary visitor center is staffed from Memorial Day to Labor Day), P.O. Box 1240, Tulelake; (530) 260-0537, https://www.nps.gov/tule

Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, P.O. Box 188, Whiskeytown; (530) 246-1225, https://www.nps.gov/whis

Yosemite National Park, P.O. Box 577, Yosemite National Park; (209) 372-0200, https://www.nps.gov/yose