Want to get into California state parks for free? Funding could be cut for this key program

Funding for a popular programs granting free access to California State Parks sites was eliminated from the state’s 2024-2025 budget proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Advocates say they’re “extremely concerned” about the decision to end the California State Library Parks Pass.

Newsom launched a three-year pilot program establishing the California State Park Adventure Pass, the Library Parks Pass and the Golden Bear Pass in 2021, the release said.

The programs were initially funded using $9.1 million from the 2021-2022 state budget.

Rachel Norton, executive director of the California State Parks Foundation, called the programs “highly effective and popular.”

“It is incomprehensible that, after all the hard work to create and start administering these programs, and documented success in achieving a key policy goal of the Newsom administration, these programs would lose funding,” Norton said in a news release.

Advocates will be urging the California State Legislature to restore funding for the access programs as the budget process moves forward, the California State Parks Foundations said in the release.

California: Library card holders visit state parks for free

The California State Library Parks Pass gives public library card holders across the state free vehicle day-use entry to more than 200 participating state parks, according to the release.

More than 1,100 public libraries in the state have an average of 24 passes each to lend.

According to the California State Parks Foundation, 63% of people who responded to a 2023 survey about park visitorship said cost had been the main factor keeping them from visiting state parks.

“Admission fees or parking charges can be financially burdensome for many residents, particularly those with lower incomes,” Norton said in the release. “These initiatives bridge this gap and should be a priority.”

The Library Parks Pass programs could end Aug. 31 if funding if eliminated, according to previous Modesto Bee reporting.

How students, families can get free entry to state parks

The California State Park Adventure Pass and Golden Bear Pass programs will continue under the proposed budget, according to the California State Parks Foundation.

With an Adventure Pass, California fourth-grade students and their families can get into a total of 54 state parks for free for a year, according to the release.

Those include Calaveras Big Trees State Park in Arnold and Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown, both an easy drive east from Stanislaus County.

“The curriculum being taught in fourth grade about history, natural and social sciences make providing fourth-graders with free state park access a great supplement to the lessons being taught to them in school,” State Parks Director Armando Quintero said in a November news release.

The Golden Bear Pass program provides free annual passes to state parks to families who receive CalWORKs, individuals who receive supplemental security income, income-eligible Californians over age 62 and participants of California’s Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Program.

Columbia State Historic Park is the only State Parks site near Modesto that doesn’t charge an entry fee.

Visitors pay for activities such as gold panning and stagecoach rides.

The Modesto Bee’s John Holland contributed to this story.

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