With the temperatures cooling and the changing colors in the foliage, fall is one of the best times to visit California’s 280 state parks for a weekend getaway with friends or a nice family day trip. With its diverse and beautiful varieties of habitat such as deserts, forests, rivers, lakes and beaches, and historic sites, California offers a little bit of everything for an autumnal paradise. As California State Parks continues to celebrate the state’s 175th anniversary, we compiled a list of some of the best state parks to take in the crisp air, listen to the rustling leaves and take in the unforgettable sights.

The best fall activities are all outdoors and in the Golden State’s parks. Californians and visitors from around the world can take in the vibrant red, orange and yellow colors of the Sierra, bask in the sunset along the coast, camp under the stars in the deserts or ride the off-highway vehicle trails. We picked a handful of iconic state parks destination to escape to this season.

Northern California

Sue-meg State Park: The park sits on a lushly forested promontory beside the Pacific Ocean. The one-square-mile park is densely packed with potential adventures. On a short walk around the perimeter of the park, you can hunt for agates, explore tidepools, and walk through Sitka forests and iris-dotted meadows as you peer out at seals, sea lions, and migrating whales. In the park’s interior, you’ll find a visitor center, a native plant garden, and a reconstructed Yurok plank-house village. You can picnic or wake up to birdsong at one of three campgrounds. Guided hikes at Sumêg Village and other areas throughout the park are hosted on the weekends. You don’t have to go far to find something fascinating at Sue-meg.

Fort Ross State Historic Park: Visitors to the beautiful Sonoma County coast can wander through the iconic historic Ross Settlement with its reconstructed stockade walls and buildings dating to the Russian American Company’s occupation from 1812-1841. But the public experiences so much more when they arrive, especially as they learn about Metini Village, the ancestral homelands of the Kashia Pomo since time immemorial. The park’s visitor center is an excellent place to start a tour and familiarize yourself with the dynamic coastal natural history, the deep history as well as ongoing cultural connections to this place shared by the Kashia Pomo, the brief period of Russian colonization (1812-1842), the Ranch era (1842-1972), and the over 100-year era of this area as a protected resource as a state historic park. Redwood and coniferous forests, grasslands, scrub, and coastal strand make up the park’s four distinct vegetation types, making for beautiful colors. And if you look around the beach, you may see some marine mammals such as sea lions and migrating gray whales.

Donner Memorial State Park: Located conveniently just off Interstate 80 in Truckee in the scenic Sierra Nevada and on the shore of Donner Lake, the park has over eight miles of hiking trails and a visitor center that features compelling exhibits that illuminate the emigrant experience, the Donner Party, the Land of the Washoe, Chinese construction of the railroad, and early motoring adventures over nearby Donner Pass. The trail in Coldstream Canyon in the south of the park contains the alignment of the primary Emigrant Trail, and contains aspen tree stands with abundant, colorful fall foliage.

Bay Area

Angel Island State Park: This park offers a fantastic experience for anyone interested in hiking, biking, photography and history. The cooler temperatures make for comfortable exploration of the island’s many trails. Visitors can hike or bike the Perimeter Road, a scenic loop that provides breathtaking, clear views of the San Francisco skyline, the Golden Gate Bridge and Mount Tamalpais, with fewer crowds than in the summer. The autumn light is also a photographer’s dream, casting a soft, golden glow over the island’s unique landscapes and historic buildings, like the old military barracks and the U.S. Immigration Station. The crisp, clear air is perfect for capturing stunning shots of the bay and the city. Additionally, the park’s rich history, from its days as a military post to its role as the “Ellis Island of the West,” can be explored in a more tranquil setting, allowing for a deeper appreciation of the stories and structures that define the island. And if you’re lucky, you may even spot a swimming coyote.

Sunset State Beach: As the summer fades, enjoy one of the most serene beaches lining Monterey Bay. Stretching for four miles, this state beach is a beachcomber’s paradise with surf fishing, picnicking, whale-watching, and bird watching. The campground and day-use areas are set in coastal scrub and dune habitats with pines providing shade. These areas offer easy access to the beach, wetlands, and shaded ramada areas for gatherings. With the passing of the season, the sunsets can be spectacular.

Castle Rock State Park: The park has sweeping vistas from one of the highest ridges in the Santa Cruz Mountains with beautiful views of the San Lorenzo Watershed. The landscape encompasses high elevation Coast redwoods, knobcone pines, and majestic black oaks, which display their orange-hued foliage in the fall. Recreational opportunities abound with miles of trails for hiking and mountain biking along with exceptional rock climbing, including the namesake, Castle Rock.

Central Valley

Henry W. Coe State Park: With 87,000 acres of scenic hills and mountain ridges in the Diablo Mountain Range, this largely undeveloped park welcomes backpackers, equestrians, mountain bikers, day-hikers and anyone seeking solitude in a nearly untouched setting. Fall is a particularly good time to visit, with temperate days, cool nights, and a chance to enjoy the color of the turning leave

Fremont Peak State Park: This park features expansive views of Monterey Bay, the San Benito Valley, Salinas Valley and the Santa Lucia Mountains east of Big Sur from its hiking trails in the grasslands of the higher peaks of the Gavilan Range. There are camping and picnic facilities in the park, as well as an astronomical observatory with a 30-inch telescope, which is open for public programs on selected evenings.

Mount Diablo State Park: On a clear day, spectacular views from the summit extend over 100 miles in all directions, with the Sierra Nevada mountains in one direction and San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge visible in the other. Within the park, fall brings a mix of warm and cool days so that hikers, bicyclists, equestrians, and campers visiting the park experience something different each time they explore the mountain’s grassland, chaparral, woodland, riparian, and rocky habitats. Fall is also the best time for park visitors to encounter tarantulas out and about looking for love.

Southern California

Cuyamaca Rancho State Park: San Diego County is known for its diverse landscapes: coast, inland, mountains, and desert. Nowhere is that concept more apparent than at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. Standing atop the pine-strewn pinnacle of Cuyamaca Peak at 6,512 feet, one can look west and watch the ocean disappear over the horizon, then turn around and gaze east at the immense but tantalizing deserts of neighboring Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Roughly 40 miles east of the city of San Diego, Cuyamaca is the ancient stronghold of the Kumeyaay people during California’s colonization. The park features more than 100 miles of trails throughout 24,700 acres, and many of those are multi-use trails where mountain bikers and horseback riders are welcome alongside hikers. The change of the foliage colors of the various trees during the season makes it a must-visit in the fall.

Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area (SVRA): The SVRA has 85,000 acres of magnificent desert terrain used for off-road exploration and recreation. While it may be too hot during the summer months due to being in the low desert, the cooler temperatures of fall make it very comfortable to visit. The SVRA is a great place to camp over a weekend and enjoy the off-roading as well as enjoy the stars at night, view wildlife, and really get a sense of isolation and being away from it all. A site to explore is Barrel Springs with its mesquite sand dunes, which is an oasis for wildlife. The springs seep from the ground, especially after a heavy rain. Coyotes often dig holes to drink. Part of the area is designated as a cultural preserve. Some of the dunes have been fenced to allow for natural restoration.

Point Dume State Beach: Representing the picturesque appeal of Malibu, this beach and natural area features breathtaking cliffs, headlands and rocky coves. Popular visitor amenities include swimming, surfing, scuba diving and wildlife watching. Though small, the natural preserve within the state beach provides habitat for a surprising amount of wildlife. A visitor may encounter coyotes, skunks, raccoons, ground squirrels and rabbits in broad daylight. The incredible vistas offer an opportunity to view sea lions, harbor seals and dolphins in the surf only a few dozen feet away. The location is also known for filming and has been featured in productions including Iron Man, Planet of the Apes and Days of Our Lives.

Picacho State Recreation Area: Situated along the Colorado River in Imperial County, this remote park is accessible via an 18-mile dirt road from the south called Picacho Road, or a 15-mile off-road trail from the north called Indian Pass. If you choose Indian Pass, you will need 4×4 and off-roading experience as it is technical in a few places. The park is located at the historic Picacho Townsite, where 100 years ago it was home to a gold mining town with 100 residents. Today, the site is a state park, popular with boaters, hikers, anglers and campers. The park offers diverse scenery, including beavertail cactus, wild burros, bighorn sheep and thousands of migratory waterfowl as  one leg of the Pacific Flyway. The state recreation area offers access to the river at two launch ramps. Visiting during the fall after the temperatures start to cool off is a great way to enjoy this park.

Let us know which park you plan to visit this fall in the comments! For fall photography lovers, make sure to enter the CA175 State Parks photo contest taking place through Oct. 9. There are multiple categories and prizes will be awarded to the top photos.

Before heading out to your next adventure, State Parks wants to remind visitors of a few safety tips. 

• Know Before You Go

  check the status

• Play It Safe:

  life jacket

• Leave No Trace:

• Bring the essentials:

• Turn around, don’t drown:

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  ather.gov/safety/flood