VISITING CALIFORNIA
STATE PARKS
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Our 2022 Annual Report is now available.
At Parks California, we believe everyone deserves a world-class park experience and the opportunity to create a lifelong connection with nature. However, barriers like limited transportation options can prevent many from enjoying the great outdoors. To bridge this gap, we launched the Route to Parks grants program in 2020. This initiative supports local organizations in overcoming transportation challenges, ensuring historically marginalized communities can visit and enjoy California State Parks.
Together, we’re fostering connections with nature. In just four years, we’ve supported 85 organizations to create transformative outdoor experiences. This program is made possible through a public-private partnership, supported by private fundraising by Parks California, and the California Department of Parks and Recreation’s Waterway Connections Initiative. Route to Parks is aligned with the goals of California Natural Resources Agency’s Outdoors for All program. Through this partnership, Parks California is excited to expand the Route to Parks grants program this year with increased opportunities for water-related outdoor access and experiences. Through this program, we aim to improve park access for all Californians so they can create authentic connections with nature.
The mission of Hearts for Sight Foundation (HFS) is to break down barriers to health and fitness that restrict the blind and visually impaired, so that they may pursue physical, mental, and emotional wellness. White Cane Leaders In State Parks would provide Southern California’s poorest disabled youth and adults with an introduction to nature, many of whom would never otherwise have the opportunity to visit state parks and beaches such as Topanga State Park, Malibu Creek State Park, Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area (Stoneview Nature Center), Will Rogers State Historic Park, Leo Carrillo State Park, Los Angeles Historic State Park, Crystal Cove State Park, Bolsa Chica Ecological Preserve and State Beach and Placerita Canyon State Park. Through this healthy activity, they will develop their confidence and self-esteem. They will learn about wilderness, develop their imagination and creativity and, above all, have fun!
Hearts for Sight
Insight Garden Program (IGP) restores connections to self, community, and the natural world and cultivates spaces that embrace our diverse, interconnected, and multifaceted humanity. Grounded in the belief that access to nature is a human right, IGP’s mission is to transform the lives of people in prison, prison environments, and the communities to which people in prison return. IGP operates in 10 California state prisons, 7 of which are located in rural communities (specifically, Stockton, Lancaster, Avenal, Ione, Chowchilla and Folsom, CA). Our integrated in-prison curriculum and reentry activities include mindfulness activities, working in gardens, community outings into nature, stress-reduction skills, strategies for developing personal resilience and understanding the healing benefits that nature can provide them, their families, and communities. This allowed them to deepen the work we are doing in our “Ground and Grow” reentry program, serving formerly incarcerated individuals by connecting them with state parks through virtual sessions, planning sessions, a bald eagle and boat tour at Millerton Lake State Recreation Area, and camping trips to Folsom Lake State Recreation Area with hiking and mountain biking.
For the 2025 grant cycle, we sought proposals that address the following criteria:
Parks California connects people to nature, helps parks become more climate resilient, and increases access for everyone. Your donation to Parks California supports programs for 280 parks, across 1.6 million acres, including one quarter of California’s coastline.
Please make a donation today!
