Wilder Ranch State Park [CA]

Description

The park has 34 miles of hiking, biking, and equestrian rails winding through coastal terraces and valleys. Several restored buildings once belonging to the Wilder family are preserved. The park has tours and living history demonstrations to help visitors explore the history of early ranchers and farmers along the Central Coast. The site was originally the main rancho supplying Santa Cruz Mission. It later became a successful and innovative dairy ranch. Surrounding grounds include Victorian homes, gardens, and historic adobe.

The park offers tours; exhibits; demonstrations; and occasional recreational and educational events, including living history events.

Plumas-Eureka State Park [CA]

Description

Plumas-Eureka State Park provides visitors with a glimpse into a fascinating period of California history, as well as opportunities for quiet recreation in a high Sierra mountain setting. The focal point of the park is the museum building and historic area surrounding it. Originally constructed as the miner's bunkhouse, the museum now serves as a visitor center. Inside, displays depict the natural and cultural history of the park. Outside and across the street from the museum is the historic mining area, where the Mohawk Stamp Mill, Bushman five-stamp mill, stable, mine office, Moriarity House (historic miner’s residence), and the blacksmith shop depict life in gold rush-era California.

The park offers exhibits, tours, and demonstrations.

Malibu Lagoon State Beach, Museum, and Adamson House [CA]

Description

The Malibu Lagoon is where Malibu Creek meets the Pacific Ocean. Malibu's Surfrider Beach has a long-standing reputation as a premier surfing beach. The Adamson House, a National Historic Site located in the park, is a showplace of Malibu historical artifacts. Completed in 1929 by the Rindge's daughter, Rhoda Adamson, the Spanish-Moor revival residence features tile from the renowned Malibu Potteries and sits on an overlook of the Malibu Pier and Surfrider Beach. The adjacent Malibu Lagoon Museum allows visitors to walk through the history of the area from the days of the California Indian "Chumash" tribe, to the gentlemen ranchers, and finally to the birth of the surfing era. Museum docents give tours filled with local legends and anecdotes.

An individual website for Adamson House can be found here.

The museum and house offer exhibits and tours.

Lake Perris State Recreational Area and Ya'i Heki' Regional Indian Museum [CA]

Description

Two hundred years ago, when the first overland immigrants from Mexico passed through this area under the leadership of Captain Juan Bautista de Anza, they saw a fertile valley, well watered by springs and even a small river that ran into San Jacinto Lake. Now, the river has been diverted and several of the springs have disappeared. The Regional Indian Museum, located in the park, offers a look into the lives of the native peoples who lived in the area before the Spanish habitation.

The museum offers tours and exhibits.

Emerald Bay State Park and Vikingsholm [CA]

Description

In 1969, Emerald Bay was designated a National Natural Landmark for its panorama of mountain-building processes and glacier-carved granite. Vikingsholm is one of the finest examples of Scandinavian architecture in the western hemisphere. Mrs. Lora Josephine Knight purchased the property encompassing the head of Emerald Bay and Fannette Island in 1928 for $250,000. One of the interesting architectural designs is the sod roof which covers both the north and south wings of the complex. The interior of the home has paintings on some of the ceilings and walls and two intricately carved dragon beams. The six fireplaces are of Scandinavian design with unusual fireplace screens. Most of the furnishings in the home were originally selected by Mrs. Knight and reflect typical pieces used in Scandinavian homes of the period. A number of original antiques were purchased and others were reproduced to exact detail, even to the aging of the wood and duplication of scratches.

The home offers tours.

Donner Memorial State Park and Emigrant Trail Museum [CA]

Description

Located in the Sierra Nevada, Donner Memorial State Park offers visitors opportunities for camping, picnicking, boating, fishing, water-skiing, and hiking. Visitors are welcome year-round at the Emigrant Trail Museum and at the Pioneer Monument, built to commemorate those who emigrated to California from the east in the mid-1800s. Included in the museum are displays and information about one of the earliest pioneer wagon trains, the Donner Party, forced by circumstances to camp at the east end of Donner Lake in the winter of 1846—47, resulting in human suffering and loss of life.

The park offers exhibits, tours, and educational and recreational events.

Clear Lake State Park [CA]

Description

Clear Lake State Park is on the shores of California's largest freshwater lake. The area is popular for all kinds of water recreation, including swimming, fishing, boating, and water-skiing. Hikers enjoy the Indian Nature Trail, a self-guided trail that shows how the Pomo people, who lived in the area for centuries, utilized the area's resources. The trail passes through the site of what was once a Pomo village. The park visitor center features displays about the area's natural and cultural history.

The park offers exhibits and tours.

China Camp State Park [CA]

Description

A Chinese shrimp-fishing village thrived on this site in the 1880s. Nearly 500 people, originally from Canton, China, lived in the village. In its heyday, there were three general stores, a marine supply store, and a barber shop. Fisherman by trade in their native country, they gravitated to the work they knew best. Over 90% of the shrimp they netted were dried and shipped to China or Chinese communities throughout the U.S. Visitors can see China Camp Village and walk through the house museum describing early Chinese settlement.

The park offers exhibits, tours, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Bothe-Napa Valley State Park [CA]

Description

Located in the heart of the Napa Valley wine country, the Park offers camping, picnicking, swimming, and hiking trails that go through stands of coastal redwoods as well as forests of Douglas-fir, tanoak, and madrone. Next to the park's visitor center is the Native American Garden which displays some of the plants important to the first people of this area. Today, many of the same plants are used by the Wappo people. A guide for the garden is available by mail or in the visitor center to broaden one's understanding of the first people. Near the day use/picnic area is the Pioneer Cemetery, resting-place of some of the original settlers of the Napa Valley. The cemetery is currently under restoration to return it to its original, mid-1800s appearance.

The site offers exhibits and occasional recreational and educational programs.

Antelope Valley Indian Museum State Historic Park [CA]

Description

Antelope Valley Indian Museum State Historic Park is California's State Regional Indian Museum representing Great Basin Indian cultures. The exhibits and interpretive emphasis are on American Indian groups (both aboriginal and contemporary) of the Southwest, Great Basin, and California culture regions, since Antelope Valley was a major prehistoric trade corridor linking all three of these culture regions. The museum contains the combined collections of founder Howard Arden Edwards and subsequent owner Grace Oliver. A number of the cultural materials on display are rare or one-of-a-kind objects.

PLEASE NOTE: At present, the museum is closed indefinitely for stabilization. During the interim, a small collection and information can be found nearby at the Saddleback Butte State Park visitor center, located 4 miles north at 170th Street East and East Avenue J.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, and occasional recreational and educational events.