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California May Get a New State Park With Campgrounds and Kayaking Spots

California News National Parks Camping
by Olivia Harden May 19, 2022

The state with the most state parks in the country is looking to add another, according to KCRA. If California governor Gavin Newsom’s budget for the next year is approved, Dos Rios Reserve, a 20-minute drive from Modesto where the Tuolumne and San Joaquin rivers meet, could become the Golden State’s next state park.

The River Partners organization, which has invested in the area since 2012 by planting native vegetation and trees, has said they will transfer the 2,100-acre site to the state rather than sell the lot. The floodplain restoration lowers flood risk and encourages native species to return to the site, according to the River Partners website. That’s exactly what has happened over the past 10 years of work at Dos Rios Reserve with the return of mammals like brush rabbits and woodrats; birds like hawks, yellow warblers, sandhill cranes, and migratory birds; and fish like Central Valley Chinook salmon and steelhead trout.

Newsom’s new budget would invest the $5 million into removing levees that currently sit on 1,500 acres of the site, as well as be used to add amenities like public workshops, restrooms, and picnic tables. The park could reach 2,500 acres by the time it’s complete and would be available for activities like camping and kayaking.

California State Parks director Armando Quintero told KCRA that the map of the proposed area looks like a heart with two big river arteries around it. It would be the state’s first new state park since 2009.

If the budget is approved, Californians could be welcoming the state’s 280th state park as soon as 2023. If the land becomes a state park, we might also know it by a new name.

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