FRESNO —Governor Gavin Newsom today announced State Parks Forward, setting California on a path to rapidly expand the nation’s largest and most diverse State Park System through a streamlined acquisition and planning process.
Building on unprecedented progress of key administration priorities like Outdoors for All and 30×30, State Parks Forward establishes three new state parks near underserved communities in the Central Valley and lays the groundwork to turn that vision into reality while at the same time expanding existing parks by thousands of acres. These strategic acquisitions will increase the number of state parks to 283 – far more than any other state. Thanks to Senate Bill 630 (2025, Allen) and Assembly Bill 679 (2025, Pellerin), which Governor Newsom signed last year, California is on the path to preserve and protect an additional 30,000 acres of land by the end of the decade. State Parks Forward is driving forward the biggest expansion of the State Park System in decades.
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453 Acres Added to Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve (Mendocino County)
Atkins Place, donated by Save the Redwoods League, adds a second-growth forest featuring a mix of coast redwood and oak woodlands to serene Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve. The expansion also includes 1.25 miles of high-quality streams for imperiled fish in the salmon family. The addition increases the size of Montgomery Woods by 16%.
“Donating Atkins Place to State Parks is the realization of the vision we set when we launched our Montgomery Woods Initiative,” said Steve Mietz, president and CEO of Save the Redwoods League. “This property was always meant to become part of Montgomery Woods, and seeing it formally join the Reserve on Earth Day is a fitting tribute to the supporters, partners and communities who made it possible. This transfer marks a new milestone for redwood conservation in Mendocino County.”
218 Acres Added to South Yuba River State Park (Nevada County)
The iconic Independence Trail is now completely part of South Yuba River State Park following the donation of the Rush Creek property from the Bear Yuba Land Trust. This popular 4.7-mile trail (one way) in the Sierra Nevada foothills transformed a historic gold mining ditch into the first wheelchair-accessible wilderness trail in the entire country at the time it opened. The 2.5-mile west trail is currently closed due to damage from the 2020 Jones Fire.
“As an organization rooted in this community, we’re proud to see this land permanently protected as part of South Yuba River State Park,” said Erin Tarr, executive director, Bear Yuba Land Trust. “This transfer reflects years of partnership and a shared commitment to conserving critical habitat while ensuring that iconic places like the Independence Trail remain accessible to all, now and into the future.”
133 acres added to Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park (San Mateo County)
Views of the 115-foot Pigeon Point Lighthouse – the tallest lighthouse on the West Coast currently nearing completion of an extensive restoration – are even more majestic from Cloverdale Bluffs, now part of the state park’s spectacular coastline following a property donation from Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST). This key addition more than triples the park’s footprint and helps preserve the natural beauty of the San Mateo Coast. The acquisition also enables an extension of the California Coastal Trail through 1.5 miles of coastline in the park.
“POST is proud to be a part of State Parks Forward,” said Gordon Clark, president of Peninsula Open Space Trust. “We’re excited to once again work closely with State Parks to make more lands accessible to Californians for generations to come. This type of partnership between public agencies and private organizations is vital to maintaining our beautiful, productive and essential open spaces.”