Help with government shutdown needed

[john borrelli]

So I had the idea of doing a little national parks project. Flewmyself, my wife and my camera to San Francisco with plan to go to Yosemite, with reservations at a lodge at Yosemite for three days which were to start today NOT! So the government decided to close Yosemite, apparently, and also all the national parks, which apparently include Muir Woods, Golden Gate Park, etc. We decided to stay in San Francisco, we got a one year refund for the lodge, and if the closure ends in a day or two I could get a day,s photography in.

I don't know the area around here that well, does anyone out there know places I could try that are state parks but not national parks or national parks that you can be around but not in to do some photography. Any advice would be appreciated. Apologies for the typos, using my wife's IPad.

[drew.saunders]

California State Parks: http://www.parks.ca.gov
State Parks, SF Bay area: http://www.parks.ca.gov/ParkIndex/#region-11
Marin County Parks: http://www.marincountyparks.org/depts/pk
San Mateo County Parks: http://www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/portal/site/parks
Santa Clara County Parks: http://www.sccgov.org/sites/parks/Pa...nty-Parks.aspx
East Bay (Alameda and Contra Costa County) parks: http://www.ebparks.org
Santa Cruz County Parks: http://www.scparks.com

That will get you started.

Mount Tam is a state park, so go there instead of Muir Woods in Marin.

If you really want big redwoods, under the San Mateo link, look for "Sam McDonald" and "Memorial" parks, they actually link up, and you can add a trip to the town of Pescadero and the parks and beaches nearby. Also for redwoods are "Portola Redwoods" state park (which has camping facilities) and Big Basin Redwoods SP.

Just the state parks can keep you busy for a few weeks.

Consider giving to the CA State Parks foundation at http://www.calparks.org just to save on entry fees. That's a separate organization.

[drew.saunders]

And another thing, if you're a meetup.com member, you should look at our local LF meetup group: http://www.meetup.com/SFBayAreaLFers/ just to get some ideas as to where we've been to in the past couple of years. You should be able to see the photos from those locations and see which look appealing. We've mostly done county or state parks.

[jp]

head down the coast to Point Lobos. Could keep you busy for several days.

[AtlantaTerry]

So I had the idea of doing a little national parks project. Flew myself, my wife and my camera to San Francisco with plan to go to Yosemite, with reservations at a lodge at Yosemite for three days which were to start today NOT! So the government decided to close Yosemite, apparently, and also all the national parks, which apparently include Muir Woods, Golden Gate Park, etc. We decided to stay in San Francisco, we got a one year refund for the lodge, and if the closure ends in a day or two I could get a day's photography in...

Why did this catch you unawares? This possibility has been in the news for a couple weeks now. How could you prepare for a trip and not know that the national parks might be closed?

[Drew Wiley]

You can simply walk into Muir Woods by parking on the main road (if you have a rental car). Might be a nice time to go, since the tour bus herds will be gone, though Oct is one of my least favorite months on the coast - gets hot and that lovely diffuse fog is rarer this time of year. Golden Gate is a conglomerate of many features, most of which you can simply walk into, regardless. Pt Reyes is nearly all open highway access, with many trails. The visitor center and possibly Bear Valley trailhead will be closed, but not much else. Alas, Yosemite will be unaccessible except the Tioga Pass road from the east up to the summit. Otherwise, a pretty long backpack from most directions. There will be tons of spectacular scenery available elsewhere in the Sierras, with fall color popping up pretty nicely by now. Yosemite Valley itself is just a small part of the sum. And Muir Woods is just a tiny trampled portion of wonderfully photogenic Marin County, right across the Golden Gate bridge.

[c.d.ewen]

head down the coast to Point Lobos. Could keep you busy for several days.

Agreed. Go down Highway 1 and you'll run out of time/film before you want to.

Charley

[Drew Wiley]

Hwy 1 either direction. Take time to get off the road and onto the many opportunities on the beach or in the woods. Just be aware of what poison oak looks like!

[Darin Boville]

Hwy 1 either direction. Take time to get off the road and onto the many opportunities on the beach or in the woods. Just be aware of what poison oak looks like!

Drew's not kidding about the poison oak--and it make look very different than what you may know from where you live.

I'm south of you on Highway One. There are *lots* of little beach parking areas along the coast--many well worth stopping at. Lots of hiking in the hills, too.

See http://www.openspace.org and http://www.openspacetrust.org for a few places that haven't been mentioned yet.

Also, make a free appointment and check out Pier 24, a great new photo exhibit venue in San Francisco: http://www.pier24.org

--Darin

[John Kasaian]

If you want classic High Sierra granite there's a bunch around Lake Tahoe accessible by road---or even ski lift. Spurs off 395 will also take you to some spectacular scenery without penetrating into the NPs.