California State Park Beaches

137 units of California's state park system list state beaches and parks with swimming beaches. Of these, 1 need day-use reservations at times. Each park page has the official details and when we last checked them.

Albany State Marine ReserveAlbany
I am marking them as Public Domain, and strongly assert that they are my own work — Andrew Molera State Park
Andrew Molera State ParkBig Sur$10 per day
Flora at Asilomar State Beach
Asilomar State BeachPacific Grove
Overlooking the North Fork of the American River and U.S — Auburn State Recreation Area
Auburn State Recreation AreaAuburn$10 per day
The rockweed Fucus gardneri has many common names, including popweed and bladderwrack — Bean Hollow State Beach
Bean Hollow State BeachPescadero
Benbow State Recreation AreaGarberville$8 per day
View from Benicia State Recreation Area
Benicia State Recreation AreaBenicia$6 per day
Bidwell-Sacramento River State ParkChico$6 per day
Police patrolling Bolsa Chica beach
Bolsa Chica State BeachHuntington Beach$15 per day
Border Field State ParkSan Diego$5 per dayTemporarily closed
Brannan Island State Recreation AreaIsleton$10 per day
Calaveras Big Trees State Park in the western Sierra Nevada , Calaveras County , California
Calaveras Big Trees State ParkArnold$10 per day
Fishing pier in Candlestick Point State Recreation Area, San Francisco, California, United States
Candlestick Point State Recreation AreaSan Francisco
View along Cardiff State Beach , Encinitas, California, looking north
Cardiff State BeachCardiff by the Sea$12 per day
Carlsbad State BeachCarlsbad
Carmel River State BeachCarmel
Carpinteria State Beach Hossen27
Carpinteria State BeachCarpinteria$10 per day
Caspar Headlands State BeachCaspar
Castaic Lake, seen from the air at approximately 7 p.m., August 23, 2007
Castaic Lake State Recreation AreaCastaic$12 per day
Vitis californica at Caswell Memorial State Park spring leaves
Caswell Memorial State ParkRipon$10 per day
Image of a Cayucos State Beach at Sunrise in Cayucos, California
Cayucos State BeachCayucos
View from a trail in China Camp State Park
China Camp State ParkSan Rafael$5 per day
Clear Lake State ParkKelseyville$8 per day
Lookout Point — Corona del Mar State Beach
Corona del Mar State BeachCorona Del Mar
A waterfall whose water flows across the beach sands into the ocean — Crystal Cove State Park
Crystal Cove State ParkLaguna Beach$15 per day
D. L. Bliss State ParkSouth Lake Tahoe$10 per day
Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, Crescent City, United States
Del Norte Coast Redwoods State ParkCrescent City$8 per day
The Pacific Ocean and sand photographed on Dockweiler Beach
Dockweiler State BeachPlaya del Rey
A young girl wearing a dress runs in the surf — Doheny State Beach
Doheny State BeachDana Point$15 per day
Hiking through Donner Memorial State Park
Donner Memorial State ParkTruckee$10 per day
Ed Z'berg Sugar Pine Point State ParkTahoma$10 per day
El Capitán State BeachGoleta$3 parking
View of Emerald Bay and Fannette Island, Lake Tahoe, California
Emerald Bay State ParkSouth Lake Tahoe$3 parking
Emeryville Crescent State Marine ReserveEmeryville
Emma Wood State BeachVentura$10 per day
Estero Bluffs State ParkCayucos
Folsom Lake State Recreation AreaFolsom$12 per day
MARINA, Calif — Fort Ord Dunes State Park
Fort Ord Dunes State ParkMarina
Fort Ross State Historic ParkJenner$10 per day
Garrapata State ParkCarmel
Gaviota State Park, west unit trail, Santa Ynez Mountains, Santa Barbara County, California, USA California Sycamores, Platanus racemosa…
Gaviota State ParkGoleta$10 per day
Gray Whale Cove State BeachPacifica
Greenwood State BeachElk
Grizzly Creek Redwoods State ParkCarlotta$8 per day
Looking north along Half Moon Bay State Beach, California
Half Moon Bay State BeachHalf Moon Bay$10 per day
Harry A. Merlo State Recreation AreaTrinidad
Hearst San Simeon State ParkCambria
Hendy Woods State ParkPhilo$10 per day
Stone Lagoon and coastal bar in Humboldt Lagoons State Park, viewed from United States Highway 101 in Humboldt County, California, USA
Humboldt Lagoons State ParkTrinidad
Puffy chick at Huntington State Beach
Huntington State BeachHuntington Beach$15 per day
Jedediah Smith Redwoods State ParkCrescent City$8 per day
John B. Dewitt Redwoods State Natural ReserveMyers Flat
Jug Handle State Natural ReserveCaspar
Kings Beach State Recreation AreaKings Beach$3 parking
Lake Del Valle State Recreation AreaLivermore$5 per day
Lake Oroville State Recreation AreaOroville$8 per day
Lake Perris State Recreation AreaPerris$10 per day
Leo Carrillo State Park, Malibu, United States
Leo Carrillo State ParkMalibu$3 parking
View to the south along Beacons Beach, Encinitas, California, also known as Leucadia State Beach
Leucadia State BeachEncinitas
SANTA CRUZ, California (November 20, 2017) – Bill Henry, director of Groundswell Coastal Ecology, and Emma Pelton, conservation…
Lighthouse Field State BeachSanta Cruz
Limekiln State ParkBig Sur$10 per day
Little River estuary at the north end of Little River State Beach, Humboldt County, California, USA
Little River State BeachTrinidad
The surf at the beach at MacKerricher State Park, California, USA
MacKerricher State ParkFort Bragg$8 per day
MALIBU, Calif
Malibu Lagoon State BeachMalibu$3 parking
Manchester State ParkManchester
Mandalay State BeachOxnard
Manresa State BeachWatsonville$10 per day
Marina State BeachMarina
At Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park
Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic ParkPlacerville$10 per day
McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State ParkBurney$10 per day
McConnell State Recreation AreaBallico$10 per day
The Santa Clara River estuary at McGrath State Beach in Ventura, California
McGrath State BeachOxnard$10 per dayTemporarily closed
Eastshore State Park — McLaughlin Eastshore State Park State Seashore
McLaughlin Eastshore State Park State SeashoreBerkeley
Mendocino Headlands State Park
Mendocino Headlands State ParkMendocino
Millerton Lake State Recreation AreaFriant$12 per day
Mono Lake Tufa State Natural ReserveLee Vinning$3 per day
Vector, a wildlife scent detection dog, searches for the scent of the Morro bay kangaroo rat at Montana de Oro State Park in San Luis…
Montaña de Oro State ParkLos Osos
Montara Beach, Montara, United States
Montara State BeachMontara
A banded western snowy plover at Monterey State Beach.
Monterey State BeachMonterey
View looking north-west across Moonlight State Beach , Encinitas, California from behind the lifeguard station
Moonlight State BeachEncinitas
CALIFORNIA - MORRO BAY AREA and SLO County
Morro Strand State BeachMorro Bay
Sandy beach and cliffs at Moss Landing , California
Moss Landing State BeachWatsonville
Mount Tamalpais State Park, Mill Valley, United States
Mount Tamalpais State ParkMill Valley
Southern California - Natural Bridges Beach, Near Santa Cruz - NARA -
Natural Bridges State BeachSanta Cruz$10 per day
Navarro River Redwoods State ParkAlbion
New Brighton State BeachCapitola$10 per day
Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation AreaOceano$5 per day
Pacifica State Beach
Pacifica State BeachPacifica$9 per day
Pelican State BeachSmith River
Pescadero lagoon is an extremely complex ecosystem, with eight special status plant species, ten wildlife species and two stream corridors
Pescadero State BeachPescadero$8 per day
A UH-1Y Venom helicopter from Marine Light Attack Helicopter Training Squadron 303 flies over the Picacho State Recreation Area, Calif.,…
Picacho State Recreation AreaWinterhaven$10 per day
Pigeon Point Light Station State Historic ParkPescadero
Pismo State Beach , in San Luis Obispo County, central California
Pismo State BeachOceano$5 per day
Point Dume State Beach, Malibu, United States
Point Dume State BeachMalibu
Point Lobos Ranch Park PropertyCarmel
California State Route 1—Pacific Coast Highway — view towards Point Mugu State Park near Point Mugu, at the Santa Monica Mountains coast
Point Mugu State ParkCamarillo$3 parking
Point Sal State BeachCasmalia
Pomponio State BeachSan Gregorio$8 per day
View from Refugio State Beach with skimmer in distance
Refugio State BeachGoleta$10 per day
Richardson Grove State ParkGarberville$8 per day
Robert H. Meyer Memorial State BeachMalibu$10 per day
Robert W. Crown Memorial State BeachAlameda
Russian Gulch State ParkMendocino$10 per day
11th Armored Cavalry Regiment Horse Detachment rode at Salinas River State Beach, Moss Landing, California on May 13, 2023
Salinas River State BeachMoss Landing
Sandstone and Tafoni formations in Salt Point State Park, Sonoma County California, ~40 minutes north of Jenner and Russian River Resort
Salt Point State ParkCazadero$10 per day
Salton Sea State Recreation AreaNorth Shore$7 per day
San Buenaventura State Beach viewed from across U.S
San Buenaventura State BeachVentura$10 per day
Amtrak Pacific Surfliner heads south towards San Diego
San Clemente State BeachSan Clemente$15 per day
San Elijo State BeachCardiff by the Sea$8 per day
San Gregorio State BeachSan Gregorio$8 per day
San Luis Reservoir State Recreation AreaGustine$10 per day
IMAG3381-san-onofre
San Onofre State BeachSan Clemente$15 per day
Beach at Santa Monica, California, July 2024
Santa Monica State BeachSanta Monica
Schooner Gulch State BeachPoint Arena
Seacliff State Beach
Seacliff State BeachAptos$10 per day
Silver Strand State BeachCoronado$12 per day
Silverwood Lake State Recreation AreaHesperia$10 per day
Sinkyone Wilderness State ParkPiercy$8 per day
Smithe Redwoods State Natural ReserveLeggett
This view is taken looking north along the Kortum Trail through the coastal terrace of the Sonoma Coast State Park with California coast…
Sonoma Coast State ParkBodega Bay$10 per day
South Carlsbad State Beach Campground, Carlsbad, United States
South Carlsbad State BeachCarlsbad$10 per day
A waterfall on the South Fork Yuba River in South Yuba River State Park in Nevada County, California, United States
South Yuba River State ParkPenn Valley$10 per day
Standish-Hickey State Recreation AreaLeggett
Sue-meg State ParkTrinidad$8 per day
Sunset State BeachWatsonville$10 per day
Thornton State BeachDaly City
Tolowa Dunes State ParkCrescent City
Tomales Bay State ParkPoint Reyes Station$8 per day
Torrey Pines State BeachSan Diego
TRINIDAD BEACH - NARA -
Trinidad State BeachTrinidad
Turlock Lake State Recreation AreaLaGrangeTemporarily closed
Twin Lakes State BeachSanta Cruz
Van Damme State Park
Van Damme State ParkLittle River$10 per day
CA 0082a - NORTH COAST ( 12-31-) howard landing, westport-union state beach, mendocino co, ca
Westport-Union Landing State BeachWestport
Wilder Ranch State ParkSanta Cruz$10 per day
WRSHP 17 - Loop Trail Signage — Will Rogers State Beach
Will Rogers State BeachPacific Palisades
CALIFORNIA-ZMUDOWSKI BEACH - NARA -
Zmudowski State BeachWatsonville

Lists are built automatically from official park data and update when parks change. Inclusion means the official source lists the feature; it is not a ranking.