If you’re planning a visit to a California State Park this summer, did you know you can get into some of them for free? The California State Library Parks Pass program has been so popular since its inception more than two years ago that more passes were made available this year to anyone with a library card.
“It was actually originally only 5,000 passes that were made available,” said Adrien Contreras, assistant deputy director of Park Operations at California State Parks. “It became evident right away that 5,000 wasn't going to be enough. So, we added another 28,000 — so up to 33,000 total passes.”
Library Parks Passes allows visitors to get free parking at participating state parks. This includes many San Diego County state parks.
How to use a park pass
To get a park pass, you’ll need a library card at any local public library to “check out” a Library Parks Pass. Display the pass on your car's dash while parking at state parks. Once the number of allotted days you can borrow the pass are up, (this is up to each individual library branch) return it — just like a borrowed book. Library cards are free to sign up for too.
The pass isn’t valid at state park units operated by federal or local government and private agencies or concessionaires. For example, Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area and Point Cabrillo Light Station State Historic Park in San Diego County aren’t part of the program. See full list of ineligible parks.
Read all the park pass rules on the California Department of Parks and Recreation’s website.
Removing financial barriers
A pilot program, the Library Parks Pass began in 2021 and will run until 2024. The 2022-23 state budget added $13.5 million to the program for expansion. It’s an interagency agreement, or partnership, between the California State Library, State Parks and the First Partner’s Office as part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Outdoor Access For All initiative.
Participating parks in San Diego County
- Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (also in Riverside and Imperial counties)
- Border Field State Park
- Cardiff State Beach
- Carlsbad State Beach
- Cuyamaca Rancho State Park
- Palomar Mountain State Park
- San Elijo State Beach
- San Onofre State Beach (also in Orange County)
- San Pasqual Battlefield State Historic Park
- Silver Strand State Beach
- South Carlsbad State Beach
- Tijuana Estuary NP Point of Interest
- Torrey Pines State Beach
- Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve
NOTE: See all participating parks in California (and those that aren’t participating) at California Department of Parks and Recreation’s website.
The program’s 2023 expansion included access to some tribal libraries as well. Around 30 tribal libraries have signed onto the program, according to Contreras. He said any tribal library that wants to be involved can email him at adrien.contreras@parks.ca.gov.
Contreras said the aim of the program is to remove income barriers that prevent people from visiting state parks.
“We provided a greater concentration of the passes to areas with high-poverty index percentage and high-population density,” he said.
On the back of the passes, a survey about park visitation is available for users. The feedback the State Parks and the State Library has received shows a need to remove income barriers — 62% of users reported that day-use fees had previously stopped them from visiting state parks.
In addition, 57% survey respondents reported identifying as BIPOC.
Partnering up
Reed Strege, library programs administrator at the California State Library, said the idea of having the park passes available at libraries was that they’re good places for outreach.
“Public libraries in California are very busy places for families and seniors,” Strege said. “And the idea was that it would be a great access point, especially for those who might not spend a lot of time at the state parks.”
The library system’s involvement wasn’t for the purpose of increasing visitation to the branches, but more for outreach and getting people excited about the benefits of state parks.
"But if more people come to the library ... to get a pass and that certainly has happened anecdotally, I think that would be a good thing,” Strege said.
With the additional monies pumped into the program, the library system has been able to award 61 grants to 52 library jurisdictions, Strege said. The grants are used for projects that specifically support the parks program.
One local recipient is the National City Public Library. It received $75,000 to provide six trips to visit Old Town State Park and Torrey Pines State Reserve for its adult literacy learners and library patrons.
Even with the additional resources, Library Park Passes remain in high demand.
“Thankfully, the demand and the long wait lists and hold lists have come down as we've added more passes,” Strege said. “So, that's very good. But many libraries still have waitlists for these passes, particularly with summer coming up. We anticipate that being a busy time.”
