What's the Difference? State & National Parks, Preserves & Forests

What’s the difference between a national park, a national forest and a state park? And, while we’re at it, what’s a national preserve or a national wilderness?

Here in Los Angeles, outdoor recreation is just minutes away from your Southern California Apartment, so it’s worthwhile figuring out the differences between all the public lands around us in California.

Public lands and their designations explained

National Park

National Parks are the gems of the United States’ landscape, and the ones that are generally the most popular tourist destinations out of all the parks.

At its core, a national park is a federally protected area of land, usually one that’s known for its natural beauty. The very first national park was Yellowstone National Park, established in 1872 by President Ulysses S. Grant. A few years later in 1916, the National Park Service (NPS) was formed and since then it has been in charge of identifying and protecting the nation’s most beautiful pieces of land.

But what qualifies a national park as a national park and not, say, a national forest or state park?

It turns out that there are some pretty strict criteria that a place has to meet before it can be labeled an official national park. To be considered nationally significant, according to the NPS:

• it is an outstanding example of a particular type of resource.
• it possesses exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the natural or cultural themes of our Nation’s heritage.
• it offers superlative opportunities for recreation for public use and enjoyment, or for scientific study.
• it retains a high degree of integrity as a true, accurate, and relatively unspoiled example of the resource.

National Parks around SoCal:

• Channel Islands in Ventura
• Death Valley in Death Valley, Nevada
• Joshua Tree in Southern California
• Pinnacles in Paicines
• Sequoia & Kings Canyon in Fresno County
• Yosemite in Sierra Nevada

National Forest

More often than not, national forests will border national parks or other federal lands. However, it’s also pretty common to find national forests on their own nowhere near a park. It all depends on the use of the land.

National forests are still managed by the federal government, but they have a different approach to protecting the landscape within. While parks aim to preserve the natural scenery, forests usually incorporate a more multi-use approach where people are allowed to utilize the land for services. This could include logging, grazing mining, fishing, off-roading, hunting and more! Each forest has its own limits on what can and can’t be done on its land, but most forests are typically more relaxed about recreation restrictions. 

National Forests around SoCal:

• Angeles National Forest in San Fernando
• Cleveland National Forest in San Diego  
• Los Padres National Forest in Solvang
• San Bernardino National Forest in Big Bear

National Monument

National monuments and national parks are closely linked, but national monuments are tied to a specific feature rather than a whole area. Since the very first national monument was established in 1906 (Devils Tower in Wyoming), a total of 120 monuments have joined the rank and file of protected lands, and some of them eventually ended up becoming their own parks!

National Monuments around SoCal:

• Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego
• Cesar E. Chavez National Monument in Keene
• Carrizo Plain National Monument in San Luis Obispo County
• Castle Mountain National Monument in Barstow
• Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument in Palm Desert

National Preserve

National preserves are very similar to national parks in the sense that they protect a large swath of land, but they also allow commercial activities like oil extraction, hunting and trapping to occur under certain circumstances. 

National Preserves around SoCal:

• Mojave National Preserve in Barstow
• Big Morongo Canyon Preserve in Morongo Valley

Wilderness

Wildernesses are federally protected areas that have seen little to no human impact at all, and they are often located within another federal area like a national park, forest or preserve. 

These unspoiled areas do not have roads, power lines, structures or any other development that showcases humanity’s modern expansion across the land, making them some of the best places to find nature’s rugged beauty and untouched solitude. Oftentimes, these wilderness areas also offer special ecological values, such as higher populations of endangered animals, groves of certain flora and foliage or havens for migrating species. 

Wildernesses around SoCal:

There are about 149 wilderness areas in California alone, so let’s pair it down a little, shall we?

• Sespe Wilderness in Maricopa
• Cucamonga Wilderness in San Bernardino
• Chumash Wilderness in Frazier Park

National Recreation Area

National Recreation Areas are always found around large bodies of water, such as lakes, reservoirs, rivers or beaches. This designation allows the public to use the protected land for water-based outdoor recreational activities, which gives nearby urban populations unique opportunities to experience the natural scenery through water activities!

There are also state recreation areas which operate nearly identically to the national recreation areas, aside from the fact that they are run by the state government. 

National & State Recreation Areas around SoCal:

• Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in Thousand Oaks 
• Castaic Lake State Recreation Area in Los Angeles County 
• Salton Sea State Recreation Area in Mecca
• Lake Perris State Recreation Area in Riverside County

State Park

State parks are run by the state, rather than by the federal government. That’s not to say that they are any less impressive than their federal counterparts, though! State parks are home to some breathtaking landscapes that are often more accessible to residents than national parks.

Because they are run by local governments instead of the federal one, state parks do run into more issues on the funding side of things, so supporting state parks really does make a difference in its local community!

State Parks around SoCal:

There are a lot of state parks in Southern California, and even more scattered around the rest of the state!

• Cuyamaca State Park
• Malibu Creek State Park
• El Capitan Beach State Park
• Bolsa Chica Beach State Park
• Gaviota State Park
• Chino Hills State Park
• Border Field State Park
• Saddleback Butte State Park
• Crystal Cove State Park
• Mount San Jacinto State Park
• Palomar Mountain State Park
• Placerita Canyon State Park
• Will Rogers State Park
• Point Mugu State Park

Next time you’re trying to find a place to camp, hike, fish, ski, swim or climb, remember this list and look through the many options Southern California has for recreation!

Enjoy!

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Featured photo courtesy Pixabay/12019