MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE California
photos May 1978, May 1979	clockwise from top left: Desert Tortoise stops traffic, Desert Tortoise [May 1978], Desert Horned Lizard [May 1979], most remote pay telephone on earth [Lanfair Valley], old train station housing [Kelso]
established 1994 administered by National Park Service	Most of my visits to Mojave National Preserve were before it gained that status in 1994; I've searched this rich, remote high desert for vagrants at Kelso, looked throughout the preserve for herps, climbed to the White Fir forest on Clark Mt. with flashlight [saw Whip-poor-will & Flammulated Owl at night; during the day vagrant Red-faced & Grace's Warblers & Painted Redstart], and co-discovered the first nesting of Lark Bunting in California out in the Lanfair Valley. It's great desert country; for non-birding visitors there are caverns and huge sand dunes and vistas that go on forever.

MUIR WOODS NATIONAL MONUMENT California
photos June 1971	clockwise from top left: view of Pacific Ocean from top of Dipsea Trail, mid-canopy habitat, Muir Woods along Redwood Creek
established 1908 administered by National Park Service	Muir Woods is a lovely little redwood grove just north of the Golden Gate bridge. It is not much compared to the impressive stands of coastal redwoods in Redwood National Park or even in Big Basin or the Big Sur coast, but its proximity of the city of San Francisco makes it a great afternoon get-away. There is a trail through the grove to an overlook of the Pacific up on top. I saw my first Spotted Owl here many years ago; they use the multi-layered mid-canopy habitat. I could not have then imagined that Barred Owl would reach this site, as they have done recently. There were no Barred Owls in all of California back in the '70s.

PINNACLES NATIONAL MONUMENT California
photos May 1973, June 1991, Apr 2003	clockwise from top left: view of west face, poppies in oak savanna, trail in east Pinnacles
established 1908 administered by National Park Service	Pinnacles National Monument straddles the Monterey County line (my home county) although most of it is in adjacent San Benito County. As often happens to tourist sites in one's home locale, I don't visit often because it costs money. I have no problem paying entrance fees when I'm on vacation but paying them at home just somehow doesn't seem right. [For the same reason I almost never go to Pt. Lobos State Reserve]. Pinnacles can be lovely — especially in the spring when the wildflowers are out — and there are some fine hikes. Birding is good here and nearby; the park hosts several Prairie Falcon eyries.

POINT REYES NATIONAL SEASHORE California
photos Sep 1974, Sep 1986	clockwise from top left: South Beach, Mendoza Ranch ["historic ranch A"], Eurasian Dotterel [7 Sep 1986]
established 1962 administered by National Park Service	Of course I've known Pt. Reyes as long as I've been an active birdwatcher. I think of it as a birding spot and not a National Park Service unit. While living in the Bay Area I regularly birded the cypress and pine groves at the outer Point ranches for spring and fall vagrants. The lighthouse and Fish Docks are birding spots, but they are also spectacular spots just for scenery. The Lighthouse is now flooded with whale watchers in winter, and the Fish Docks overlooks an Elephant Seal colony. Sir Francis Drake landed here in 1579. There are miles and miles of trails to forests and lagoons and beaches. It is a very special place.

REDWOOD NATIONAL PARK California
photos Apr 1978, Apr 1980	clockwise from top left: a redwood grove, Del Norte Salamander, Fern Canyon, elk below bluff at Gold Bluff Beach
established 1968 administered by National Park Service	My visits to Redwood National Park have all been enroute to someplace else; chasing a rare bird in Humboldt County or in search of salamanders. The verdant redwood groves and wet fern grottos are herping country. The park protects a fine selection of coast redwood groves (I like the walk to Lady Bird Johnson grove), remote driftwood-strewn beaches, and rushing rivers. Roosevelt Elk can usually be found grazing near headquarters.

SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK California
photos June 1997	clockwise from top left: General Sherman tree, Crescent Meadow, Pileated Woodpecker, Marble Fork of Kaweah River
established 1890 administered by National Park Service	A large and diverse National Park stretches across all habitats on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada. Originally created to preserve 32 groves of Giant Sequoia, the park has been enlarged to over 600 sq miles, much of it forested wilderness. The General Sherman tree, which may be 2700 years old, is considered the largest living thing on Earth at about 1385 tons; it stands 275 feet tall. The park boasts several long watersheds with rim trails heading toward the highest peaks (Kaweah Park is 13,802'), the remote high elevation Mineral King wilderness, and an accessible (in summer) cave with many formations (Crystal Cave).

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK California
photos June 1971, June 1974, Mar 1978, May1987, Apr 1993, May 2002	clockwise from top left: Great Gray Owl, Tenaya Lake, Tuolumne Meadow, Ribbon Falls & El Capitan bottom row (below) left to right: Yosemite Falls at peak [with Don & Rita], Yosemite Valley view in snow, Nevada Falls
established as Nat'l Monument 1864 became a National Park 1890 administered by National Park Service	Yosemite is my favorite National Park. My parents took me camping there every summer when I was a kid, and I continue to visit almost every year. I've seen it in all seasons — when the falls were at their peak in spring, and when they were dry in late summer, and when the valley was two-feet deep in winter snow. I've hiked the backcountry; ridden horses with girlfriends when I was young; snow-skied at Badger Pass; camped in most of the campgrounds both in and out of the Valley; floated through the Merced River on an inner tube; attended a legal seminar; ooh'd at the Glacier Point firefall (now long since discontinued); climbed the steel cables up the back side of Half Dome to the top; watched Great Gray Owls in three different meadows; identified pines by their smell, like my dad taught me; been drenched by waterfalls while looking for herps; been screamed at by a Goshawk on its nest; and sipped a 1973 Freemark Abbey cabernet at the Ahwahnee Hotel. Gosh, and that's only a few of the trips. Yosemite is the ultimate world class park. Alas, most everyone else thinks so, too. I now tend to avoid the crowds in Yosemite Valley during the summer but its a huge park and easy to find solitude. In fact, Yosemite is so great that I've added an extra row of photos (below) despite my otherwise self-imposed limits to these pages.

More National Parks, Monuments, Battlefields and Historic Sites are arranged geographically by these links:

PHOTOS: All photos on this page are © 2004 Don Roberson; all rights reserved.

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