It was only about four years ago that I first visited the California State Railroad Museum. It really is a great place to explore, and after watching this episode of California’s Golden Parks, I think I’m about due for another visit. It’s clear from Huell’s conversations with the docents that they truly love working in the museum, sharing their knowledge […]
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park is definitely on my wish list of places to visit in the next few years, and Fern Canyon is a fairly small but uniquely beautiful feature of the park. In this 2003 episode of Golden Parks I was intrigued to learn that portions of the second Jurassic Park movie were filmed in this location. Prairie […]
Red Rock Canyon State Park is located in Kern County, east of Bakersfield and just north of the site of Edwards Air Force Base. I never even knew this barren but beautiful place existed before I watched this episode of California’s Golden Parks! I’m not sure if I’ll ever make it down there — but there’s clearly a lot more […]
The Yuba Gold Fields are a fascinating place for me because they give a very good idea of what the area around Mississippi Bar on Lake Natoma would have looked like after the dredgers finished their work in 1962. At Lake Natoma, the Teichart Aggregate Company reclaimed much of the resultant dredger tailings and crushed them into gravel; when the […]
Joaquin Miller is a name that seemed only vaguely familiar to me until recently; in fact, he was — as Stephanie Benavidez tells Huell — California’s best kept secret. While Miller earned a reputation as something of a scoundrel and a frequent embellisher of the truth, he was also a gifted poet and one of our country’s first environmentalists. For […]
I happened to catch this episode of California’s Golden Parks on TV a few days ago, and I’m glad I saw it because it’s a good reminder of how easy it is to overlook some really amazing history as we travel around the state. Sometimes it’s not possible to stop and check out every potentially interesting sight… so I’m glad […]
Here’s an episode of California’s Golden Parks that I stumbled upon quite by accident; Huell pays a visit to the Paramount Ranch and learns that its rich history includes much more than just serving as a nature preserve or a film set. Sadly, the site was seriously damaged by a wildfire in November 2018, which makes this 2010 episode all […]
I was truly amazed when I came across this episode of California’s Golden Parks because I’ve seen the Peace Statue many times from afar and had no idea of its significance. I had always imagined it was merely part of the nearby Timber Cove Lodge. It turns out I wasn’t completely wrong, but there’s so much more to the story […]
I had a completely different episode in mind to share this week, but the story of Cuyamaca Rancho State Park caught my eye — especially since I just spent a couple of days walking through burned oak woodland on Sacramento Bar (as discussed here). On October 28, 2003, the Cedar Fire roared through more than 90 percent of this state […]