The California State Parks Foundation just published the results of a 2026 vote across thousands of parkgoers throughout California, creating a final list of 12 winning parks with titles like the “best California State Park for Hiking” and the “best California State Park for Wildflowers.” With over 280 state park units to choose from, these are some of the best of the best.
Lucky for us, 7 of the 12 winners are located within 2 hours by car from San Francisco. Scroll down for a closer look, and check the @calparks Instagram for the full list.
Angel Island State Park
🏆 Voted Best California State Park for Family-Friendly Experiences
Angel Island is famous for having been a quarantine facility, a military base, an immigration facility, and more. Despite its tumultuous history (this is where the US enforced the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882), it is now a picturesque State Park and a California Historical Landmark, and it’s just taken the title for the “Best California State Park for Family-Friendly Experiences.”
Take the ferry from SF’s Pier 41, rent a bike on the island, and take a spin for great views of the Bay, Mt. Tamalpais, and more. The Angel Island Perimeter Loop is 5.9 miles long and pretty flat, save for a few inclines. Plan to stop for photo ops and pack a lunch to enjoy on Perles Beach, or head over to nearby Tiburon to round out your day trip.
Half Moon Bay State Beach
🏆 Voted Best California State Park for Beaches
The coastal city of Half Moon Bay is about 25 miles south of San Francisco. The area is famous for Mavericks, a big-wave surf spot off the coast of nearby Pillar Point (check it out from the Coastside Trail). Half Moon Bay’s isolated location on Highway 1 makes for a relatively unchanged landscape, with farms dating back to the 1800s and long stretches of raw coastline to explore.
The Francis Beach Campground offers 52 campsites with ocean views. Three of them are located on the grass for tents only, but the rest can accommodate tents, RVs, and trailers.
🏆 Voted Best California State Park for Spectacular Views
Mount Tamalpais, also known as “Mount Tam,” is a prominent mountain peak in Marin County, California, about 17 miles north of SF’s Golden Gate Bridge. The mountain is affectionately regarded as a symbol of Marin County, famous for its panoramic 360-degree views of the Bay Area.
While a clear day will give you a fantastic vantage point over the East Bay, Mount Diablo, the SF Bay, and even the Farallon Islands, a foggy day is quite the treat, too. Every summer, visitors try to catch a glimpse of Mount Tam’s “rolling fog” phenomenon, when the marine layer looks like a weightless, ethereal ocean cascading over the hills and valleys.
🏆 Voted Best California State Park for Hiking
Founded in 1902, Big Basin is California’s oldest state park and is home to the largest continuous group of ancient coast redwoods south of San Francisco. Enjoy stunning ocean views and dramatic redwood landscapes with trees up to 1,800 years old.
Big Basin is still recovering from a destructive 2020 fire, but most of the old-growth trees survived and hikers can explore a variety of trails ranging in difficulty and lengths.
Sugarloaf Ridge State Park
🏆 Voted Best California State Park Hidden Gem
Not only is Kenwood’s Sugarloaf Ridge in Kenwood a great place to enjoy wildflowers in the spring and camping year-round, but it’s also one of our favorite places for a magnificent waterfall hike. The 0.5-mile Lower Canyon trail will take you straight to the waterfall with about 80 feet in elevation via stairs.
Folsom Lake State Recreation Area
🏆 Voted Best California State Park for Dog-Friendly Adventures
Folsom Lake hosts a diverse outdoor experience at the base of the Sierra Nevada foothills, from high-speed boating to peaceful kayaking. The park is dog-friendly, allowing leashed pets on its extensive 95-mile trail network and even in the water for a swim.
🏆 Voted Best California State Park for Day Trips
Point Lobos is located just south of Carmel-by-the-Sea, the charming small town known for its fairytale cottages. The park was famously visited by legendary photographers like Ansel Adams and Edward Weston, as well as landscape painter Francis McComas, who once called Point Lobos “the greatest meeting of land and water in the world.”
These days, visitors can explore rugged coves, striking sandstone and granite formations, sea caves, coastal meadows, and Monterey cypress forests. Most visitors take the Point Lobos Loop Trail, a 6.3-mile, 2-3 hour walk that takes you past all the most scenic points.
