34 California State Parks Close As Wildfires Rage

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA — Thirty-four California State Parks have been closed to the public as firefighters battle clusters of fires across the Bay Area and state.

California State Parks urged people Friday afternoon to refrain from traveling to parks, particularly those in the Bay Area, and Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.

Air quality in the region is very poor. Smoke from California's wildfires has spread across the state and as far as Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming, according to the National Weather Service.

Parks also present safety concerns, California State Parks said.

In some cases, fires are burning in state parks. That includes Santa Cruz County's 18,000-acre Big Basin Redwoods State Park, which includes redwoods thought to be up to 1,800 years old.

Read: Santa Cruz County's Big Basin 'As We Have Known It ... Is Gone'

Parks have been closed near the following wildfires:

CZU August Lightning Complex Fires

Fully closed:

• Año Nuevo State Park (SP)
• Bean Hollow State Beach (SB)
• Big Basin Redwoods SP, including Rancho Del Oso
• Butano SP
• Castle Rock SP
• Coast Dairies SP
• Henry Cowell Redwoods SP,including Fall Creek
• Natural Bridges SB
• Pescadero SB
• Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic Park (SHP)
• Pomponio SB
• Portola Redwoods SP
• San Gregorio SB
• Wilder Ranch SP

Beach Fire

Partially Closed:

• Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve (SNR) – portions of south side closed including South Tufa and Navy Beach (U.S. Forest Service).

Deer Zone Fire

Fully Closed:

• Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area
• Mount Diablo SP

Dolan Fire

Fully Closed:

• Andrew Molera SP
• Garrapata SP
• Julia Pfeiffer Burns SP
• John Little State Natural Reserve (SNR)
• Limekiln SP
• Pfeiffer Big Sur SP
• Point Lobos SNR
• Point Sur SHP

Jones Fire

Partially Closed:

• Empire Mine State Historic Park (SHP)
• Malakoff Diggins SHP
• South Yuba River SP

LNU Lightning Complex Fires

Fully Closed:

• Armstrong Redwoods SNR
• Austin Creek State Recreation Area
• Fort Ross SHP

SCU Lightning Complex Fires

Fully Closed:

• Henry W. Coe SP

Woodward Fire

Fully Closed:

• Tomales Bay SP

Partially Closed:

• Mount Tamalpais SP– upper mountain and campgrounds closed, day-use is strongly discouraged.

Get the latest information on park closures here.

See also:

• CA Fires Latest: 5 Dead, Over 770,000 Acres Burned
• Fire Weather Watch Issued; More Dry Thunderstorms Possible
• Sonoma County Lightning Complex Fires
• Napa County Lightning Complex Fires
• San Mateo-Santa Cruz County Lightning Complex Fires
• East Bay, South Bay Central Valley Lightning Complex Fires
• Evacuation Warning Area Expanded For Woodward Fire In Marin