family camping

I hope you will indulge me this one bit of hyper-local news. Henry Coe is a great (and huge!) state park, here in the Bay Area, and it happens to be right outside our front door.

Henry W. Coe State Park, a sprawling expanse of oak trees and rolling green grasslands on Silicon Valley’s southern edges, will not close after all. The 87,000-acre park east of Morgan Hill was included by Gov. Jerry Brown on a list of 70 state parks slated to close next July as a way to help balance the state budget. But on Friday, state parks officials confirmed an agreement had been reached with a nonprofit group to keep the park open for at least three more years.
— Mercury News

Sacajawea State Park in Pasco saw a 50 percent drop in visitors in the first month the state began requiring the new Discover Pass. Park Ranger Reade Obern said he has had numerous conversations with park users about the pass. Some people are angry about it until they realize state parks no longer are supported by taxpayers, he said.
— Tri-City Herald

People planning to visit Yellowstone National Park before winter, or who are considering a trip next year, should include the Canyon Visitor Education Center on their itinerary. My family and I visited the center for the first time recently, and it is a worthwhile stop.
— The Modesto Bee

I remember back in the late 1980’s, a friend of mine became a smoke jumper after getting out of the service.

SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — On the hillside above Evelyn Lake, deep in the southern Sierra Nevada, it was surprisingly easy to tell time: precisely at noon, a loud whoop echoed amid the black-flecked granite and dust, signaling lunch hour for the 17-person crew repairing the trail to the lake.
— The New York Times

Tomales Bay State Park features everything a family needs for a day of adventure in the outdoors. It offers shallow beaches, hiking trails and the possibility of wildlife sightings.
— Marin Independent Journal