Historic Sites In California. I taught American history for more than twenty-five years before I started traveling to these places, and few states pack in as much history as California. Spanish missions, the Gold Rush, the World War II home front, the birth of the conservation movement, and the rise of American pop culture all left landmarks you can still visit.
Below are the 20 historic sites in California I recommend most, ranked from a beloved beachfront landmark up to the place that arguably reshaped American entertainment. The list mixes National Park Service units, state parks, and private landmarks, so I have noted who manages each one.
Historic Sites In California At A Glance
| Site | Type & Manager | Region |
|---|---|---|
| Disneyland | Theme park (private) | Anaheim |
| Death Valley National Park | National Park (NPS) | Eastern desert |
| Joshua Tree National Park | National Park (NPS) | Southern desert |
| Golden Gate National Recreation Area | National Recreation Area (NPS) | San Francisco |
| Redwood National and State Parks | National Park + state parks (NPS/CA) | North coast |
| John Muir National Historic Site | National Historic Site (NPS) | Martinez |
| Yosemite National Park | National Park (NPS) | Sierra Nevada |
| USS Midway Museum | Museum ship (nonprofit) | San Diego |
| Alcatraz | Part of Golden Gate NRA (NPS) | San Francisco Bay |
| Lassen Volcanic National Park | National Park (NPS) | Northern Sierra/Cascades |
| Muir Woods National Monument | National Monument (NPS) | Marin County |
| Mission San Diego de Alcala | Active mission (Catholic Church) | San Diego |
| Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front NHP | National Historical Park (NPS) | Richmond |
| San Francisco Maritime NHP | National Historical Park (NPS) | San Francisco |
| Griffith Observatory | Observatory (city of L.A.) | Los Angeles |
| Hearst Castle | State Historic Park (CA) | San Simeon |
| Custom House | State Historic Park (CA) | Monterey |
| Bodega Bay | Coastal town / film location | Sonoma Coast |
| Marshall Gold Discovery SHP | State Historic Park (CA) | Coloma |
| Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk | Amusement park (private) | Santa Cruz |
20. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
I start on the Monterey Bay shoreline at the oldest surviving amusement park in California. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk opened in 1907, and two of its rides are National Historic Landmarks: the Giant Dipper wooden roller coaster from 1924 and the Looff Carousel from 1911. Generations of Californians have ridden them, and you may recognize the boardwalk from the 1987 film The Lost Boys. Admission to the boardwalk is free, with tickets for the rides.
19. Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park
In the Sierra foothills town of Coloma, Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park preserves the spot where the California Gold Rush began. In January 1848, James Marshall spotted gold flakes in the tailrace of Sutter’s Mill on the American River, and within two years the strike drew hundreds of thousands of people to California. The state park includes a working replica of the mill, gold-panning demonstrations, and a museum that tells the story and its hard consequences for the Native Nisenan people.
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18. Bodega Bay
On the Sonoma Coast, the fishing town of Bodega Bay and the nearby village of Bodega are famous as the filming locations for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1963 thriller The Birds. The Potter Schoolhouse and St. Teresa of Avila Church still stand and draw film fans. Beyond the movie connection, this is a working harbor with a long maritime and Coast Miwok history and some of the best tide pools and coastal hiking on the North Coast.
17. Custom House, Monterey
The Custom House in Monterey is the oldest government building in California and is designated California Historical Landmark No. 1. Built under Mexican rule beginning around 1827, it is where the United States raised its flag in 1846 to claim California during the Mexican-American War. Today it anchors Monterey State Historic Park, and you can tour it alongside the other adobes on the city’s Path of History walking tour.
16. Hearst Castle
High above the village of San Simeon, Hearst Castle is the lavish estate that newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst built with architect Julia Morgan between 1919 and 1947. With 165 rooms, gilded pools, and gardens filled with art and antiquities, it once hosted Hollywood stars and heads of state. The Hearst family donated it to California in 1957, and it is now a State Historic Park. You must book a guided tour to see the interiors.
15. Griffith Observatory
Perched on the south slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park, the Griffith Observatory has offered free public stargazing since it opened in 1935. The Art Deco landmark, a gift to the city from philanthropist Griffith J. Griffith, has appeared in countless films from Rebel Without a Cause to La La Land. Admission is free, the views over Los Angeles are superb, and the planetarium shows are worth the ticket.
14. San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park
At the foot of San Francisco’s Hyde Street Pier, this National Park Service site preserves a fleet of historic vessels, including the 1886 square-rigger Balclutha and a steam ferry, along with a maritime museum housed in a streamline-moderne building shaped like a ship. You can board the ships, explore the visitor center, and walk the waterfront near Fisherman’s Wharf and the Aquatic Park bathhouse.
13. Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park
In Richmond, on San Francisco Bay, this national historical park tells the story of the American home front during World War II. The Kaiser Richmond Shipyards here built hundreds of Liberty and Victory ships, and women workers, the real “Rosies,” took factory jobs in unprecedented numbers. Established in 2000 as a partnership park, it centers on a visitor center in a former Ford assembly plant and the SS Red Oak Victory ship. The history of wartime labor, race, and women’s work comes alive here.
12. Mission San Diego de Alcala
Founded by Father Junipero Serra in 1769, Mission San Diego de Alcala was the first of California’s 21 Spanish missions. It is an active Catholic parish and a designated minor basilica, with a small museum and gardens on the grounds. The mission story is complex and painful: the system spread Catholicism and Spanish settlement but also forced labor and devastating change on California’s Native peoples, a history the site increasingly acknowledges.
11. Muir Woods National Monument
Just north of San Francisco in Marin County, Muir Woods National Monument protects one of the last old-growth coast redwood groves near the bay. Congressman William Kent and his wife Elizabeth bought the land to save it from logging and donated it to the federal government, and President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed it a national monument in 1908. At Kent’s request it was named for the naturalist John Muir. Reservations are required to park or take the shuttle, so plan ahead.
10. Lassen Volcanic National Park
Lassen Volcanic National Park protects a corner of the Cascades where all four types of volcano in the world are present. Lassen Peak erupted dramatically between 1914 and 1917, and the events drew national attention that helped lead to the park’s creation in 1916. Today you can walk past boiling mud pots and steaming fumaroles at Bumpass Hell and drive the scenic park highway past the peak.
Fascinating Lassen Volcanic National Park Facts
9. Alcatraz
The island in San Francisco Bay known as “The Rock” packs several histories into one place. It held a Civil War fort, then a military prison, then the notorious federal penitentiary from 1934 to 1963 that housed Al Capone and others. In 1969, Native American activists occupied the island for 19 months, a protest that helped reshape federal policy toward tribes. Alcatraz is part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area and is run by the National Park Service. Book the ferry well in advance, and do not miss the excellent cellhouse audio tour.
8. USS Midway Museum
Docked at Navy Pier in San Diego, the USS Midway is a retired aircraft carrier turned museum. Commissioned in 1945, she served for 47 years, longer than any U.S. carrier of the twentieth century, through Vietnam and Desert Storm. Today you can explore the hangar and flight decks, climb into restored aircraft, and tour the berthing spaces and bridge. It is one of the most-visited ship museums in the world.
7. Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is a landmark in the history of conservation itself. In 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Grant, setting aside Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove, the first time the federal government protected land for public use. John Muir’s writing and his 1903 camping trip with Theodore Roosevelt here helped spark the national park idea. Yosemite became a national park in 1890 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. The Ahwahnee people lived in the valley for millennia before it was a park.
6. John Muir National Historic Site
In Martinez, the John Muir National Historic Site preserves the Victorian home where the great naturalist lived for the last 24 years of his life and wrote many of the books and essays that helped found the conservation movement. The National Park Service site includes the house, the historic fruit ranch grounds, and the nearby Martinez Adobe. It is a quiet, thoughtful stop that connects directly to the wild places Muir fought to protect.
5. Redwood National and State Parks
On California’s far North Coast, Redwood National and State Parks protect the tallest trees on earth, coast redwoods that can top 350 feet. The parks are jointly managed by the National Park Service and California State Parks, an unusual partnership that combines Redwood National Park with three state parks. UNESCO named the area a World Heritage Site in 1980 and an International Biosphere Reserve in 1983. Drive the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway and walk the Lady Bird Johnson Grove for the full effect.
4. Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Golden Gate National Recreation Area is one of the largest urban national parks in the world, stretching across the San Francisco Bay region. It takes in beaches, the Marin Headlands, historic coastal forts like Fort Point beneath the bridge, and even Alcatraz and Muir Woods. The famous Golden Gate Bridge, completed in 1937, is operated by a separate transportation district, but the National Park Service lands that frame it give you the best views and the deepest history.
3. Joshua Tree National Park
Joshua Tree National Park sits where the Mojave and Colorado deserts meet, a landscape of twisted Joshua trees and piled granite. Its protection owes much to Minerva Hoyt, a Pasadena conservationist who campaigned to save the desert from collectors and development; President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed it a national monument in 1936, and Congress made it a national park in 1994. The park also holds old mining ruins and ranches, and some of the darkest night skies in Southern California.
2. Death Valley National Park
Death Valley National Park is the largest national park in the lower 48 and a land of superlatives: the hottest, driest, and lowest place in North America. Its human history runs deep, from the Timbisha Shoshone who still live here to the borax miners whose twenty-mule teams hauled ore across the basin. President Herbert Hoover created a national monument here in 1933, and Congress expanded and redesignated it a national park in 1994.
1. Disneyland
My top pick is a different kind of historic site. When Disneyland opened in Anaheim in 1955, it created the modern theme park and changed American entertainment, tourism, and design. Walt Disney built it as the first park of its kind, and it remains the only one he personally oversaw. Sleeping Beauty Castle, the original Main Street, and rides like the Matterhorn and Pirates of the Caribbean are pieces of postwar American history in their own right. It is privately operated, and tickets sell out, so book ahead.
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More Things To Do In California
California has more national park sites than any other state, so these 20 stops only scratch the surface. Sequoia and Kings Canyon protect the largest trees on earth, Pinnacles offers volcanic spires and condors, and Channel Islands National Park guards a wild archipelago off the coast. For a wider plan, see our guides to the national parks in California and the West Coast national parks.
Heading east across the desert? Our roundup of historic sites in Nevada connects well with a Death Valley trip.
We do not make this up out of thin air. More Than Just Parks is a family operation. My sons Will and Jim have spent their adult lives exploring and filming America’s national parks and public lands destinations, working with the National Park Service, the Department of the Interior, the USDA, and the U.S. Forest Service on films about important places. In 2018, after a career teaching history, I joined them to help tell the stories behind these places.
