Golden Gate National Recreation Area

San Francisco, Pacifica, and Marin County, Calif. Visited: May 31, 2005 NPS Site Visited: 201 of 353 NPS Website; Local Website WHAT IS IT? The sprawling prototype for an urban National Park. The Site’s 76,500 acres include miles of ocean and bay coastlines, restored marshlands, historic defense structures, redwood groves, cliffside views, ridgeline hikes, Alcatraz [...]

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Pinnacles National Monument

near Paicines, Calif. Visited: May 25, 2005 NPS Site Visited: 200 of 353 NPS Website; Local Website WHAT IS IT? Craggy rock spires that rise from the rolling chaparral-covered hills near the central California coast, evidence of a violent ancient volcanic eruption along the San Andreas Rift Zone. BEAUTY (7/10) Not until you near the [...]

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Yosemite National Park: Yosemite Valley

near Merced, Calif. Visited: May 24, 2005 Second Visit: August 11, 2005 NPS Site Visited: 199 of 353 NPS Website; Local Website; Bookstore Website WHAT IS IT? A stunning Sierra mountain valley immortalized by Ansel Adams’ iconic black and white photographs. The valley holds the largest concentration of waterfalls in the world. After the winter [...]

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Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks

near Fresno, Calif. Visited: May 19, 2005 NPS Site Visited: 197 and 198 of 353 NPS Website; Local Website WHAT IS IT? Two large (736,000 acres), diverse (14,000 feet in elevation difference) and jointly run National Parks nestled in the Sierra Nevada wilderness of east central California. The Parks include most of the world’s giant [...]

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Ronald Reagan Presidential Library

Simi Valley, Calif. Visited: May 12, 2005 NPS Site Visited: Not an NPS Site Presidential Library Visted: 9 of 12 Local Website WHAT IS IT? The Presidential Library, Museum and final resting place of our 40th president, Ronald Wilson Reagan. BEAUTY (6/10) The Reagan Library, in itself nothing spectacular, can lay claim to being the [...]

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