California State Parks Awards $57 million to Improve Access to the Outdoors

California is home to 280 state park units, 340+ miles of coastline, 970 miles of lake and river frontage, 15,000 campsites, and 4,500 miles of trails. However, not everyone has access to these wonderful attractions. According to California State Parks, four of every ten Californians have no access to open space within walking distance of their home and six of every 10 Californians live in park-poor neighborhoods.

To expand outdoor access, the California Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks) offers the Outdoors Equity Grants Program to establish hubs for local activities and trips to natural areas for underserved communities. Also, the program empowers youth and families with outdoor leadership education, career pathways, environmental justice engagement, and access to nature. Specifically, State Parks will be providing $57 million in grant funding to 125 communities to help advance the “Outdoor Access for All” initiative championed by Governor Gavin Newsom, First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, and the Natural Resources Agency’s “Outdoors for All” initiative. This effort expands outdoor access to all Californians through focused investments in open space infrastructure, outdoor programming, and improvements to permit applications, with a priority to expanding access in underserved communities.