Southern California National Parks & Monuments
From the 50 State Visitors Guide :
Cal. Penal Code Effective July 1, 2021 §§290 through 294
Cal. Penal Code §§ 3003, 3003.5. Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 6608.5
Registration Triggers and Deadlines:
All registrants must register within 5 working days of coming into the state. §290.011; updates also within 5 working days. §§290(b), 290.013. Those working in the state for 14 days or for more than 30 days in a calendar year must register. §290.002. Those who “regularly reside” at a temporary or permanent residence must register “regardless of the number of days or nights spent here.” §290.010.
Transients must reregister every 30 days. §290.011.
Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:
Presence restriction: Registrants may not enter schools without permission. §626.81. Parolees with convictions involving minors under 14 may not enter parks without permission. §3053.8. May not enter daycare or place for dependent adult if conviction involved dependent adult. §653c.
Residence restriction: 2,000 ft. of schools and parks. §3003.5(b). NOTE: this statute was declared unconstitutional as applied to certain parolees by In re Taylor, 60 Cal. 4th 1019 (2015) and is only applied by the state to parolees having Static 99 scores of 4 or more. However, local governments may enforce this statute or local ordinances.
Few local governments have more restrictive requirements, not because there is a state pre-emption but because ACSOL aggressively sues & overturns them.
Duration & updates:
Lifetime. Petition to remove: T1 – 10 yrs. T2 – 20 yrs. SVPs update every 90 days; all others update annually. §290.012.
NOTE: Per Rolfe Survey, visiting registrants are placed on state’s website and not removed. However, per ACSOL staff, procedure available for removal from registry after departure.
Maxing out California – Sept.-Oct. 2026
For registered visitors, California is better than most. All registrants must register within five working days of coming into the state. §290.011. Notice the statute says “within five working days.” If this was any other state I’d warn you that means the fifth working day will trigger their registration requirement, so in reality you only get four working days. However, ACSOL assures me you get all five days AND there is no problem adding the weekends on either side of said five working days (as with most states, you should always assume that partial days count).
Also, there appears to be no limit per month or year, so if you do include a weekend, and leave California for one Working Day (and two nights), you can re-start the clock.
California has very few local ordinances or regulations more restrictive than state law. However, in this case that’s not because they have any state pre-emption. Rather, it’s because ACSOL aggressively sues & overturns them. Therefore, you can travel in California mostly without fear of unknowingly tripping over some local land mine.
The timing of my 2026 California travel was entirely dictated by the ACSOL Los Angeles Conference, which took place Fri.-Sat. Oct. 2-3. I previously learned the hard way that the October week after the conference was already too late in the season for Yosemite – everything was closed and I got snowed on. This time I went to Yosemite first, before the end of September, most things were open and the trams were running, and I didn’t freeze to death.
I also gave myself enough time to see most of what I wanted, and that meant maxing out California’s hospitality. I entered the state on a Sunday and left the following Sunday, consuming three of the four weekend days on either side of a five day work week.
Sunday #1 – Death Valley
National Park, Homeland of the Timbisha Shoshone
See my Shoshone Nations
post. On my way out I stopped at the
Eastern Sierra Interagency Visitor Center in Lone Tree, where I picked up a
brochure called Campgrounds of Inyo County which I used to find a campground in
Inyo National Forest. “Inyo County – The
other side of California.”
Working Days 1&2 – Yosemite National Park
I entered Yosemite from the east on Tioga Road. The spectacular view here is Olmsted Point, from which you can see Half Dome. As I went through Tioga Pass it snowed and hailed (but not too much). By lunchtime I was in Yosemite Valley.
In hindsight, I should have just parked at Yosemite Village, gotten on the on-off tram bus that makes all the stops anyway, and knocked out as many stops as I could that afternoon. Instead I clung to my car and fought for parking everywhere I went. It was only on the second day that I got on the tram to fill in the last few stops that I realized my previous mistake.
Be advised – All campgrounds anywhere near the Yosemite south entrance were full even on a weeknight this late in the season, and the few remaining motel rooms in the tourist town of Oakhurst were $250-300 per night. Fresno is 40 miles away but the rooms were $100.
Working Day 2 – I took the tram to Mariposa Grove and walked the trail as far as Grizzly Giant. This was my first time! Many of the displays along the way are attributed to something called the Traditionally Associated Tribes of Yosemite. Sounds like a committee.
Working Day 3 – Sequoia National Park, with a dash of Kings Canyon
Silly me – I thought I could do both of these parks in one day. After getting a park map at the SR 180 Entrance, the first thing you come to is the road to Kings Canyon. First stop on that road – General Grant Tree & Grove. BTW, Gen’l Grant is not the big Sequoia by the parking lot. He’s most of the way around the loop trail.
By the time I was done with that it was obvious I’d never get to Roads End where all the Kings Canyon good stuff is and back by midday. I got no further than Bayden Cavern where I had to turn back.
Again, leaving only one afternoon for Sequoia National Park meant skipping a few things, but I got a good introduction and enjoyed it a lot. Main stops I got to: Lost Grove, General Sherman Tree. Big Trees Trail is this national park’s nature trail, it’s easy and terrific! See photos. Park across the street from the Giant Forest Museum and follow the paved trail. Didn’t get to see Giant Forest :-(
That night I camped at state recreation area near Portersville. Next time I’ll know enough to allow at least two days for two parks.
Working Days 4&5 and Saturday – ACSOL 2026 Los Angeles Conference
Great Conference and I was the Domestic Travel speaker.
Sunday #2 – Escape from California
I stayed over at the conference hotel the Saturday night after the ACSOL conference, so my only obligation to the State of California on Sunday was to leave. As it happens, I was in Arizona by early afternoon.
Previous visits:
Mojave National Preserve
I spent a morning exploring the south half of Mojave National Preserve. A think many people’s first impression might be, this is a desert so it must be pretty much the same everywhere, but that’s not true. Unfortunately Mitchell Caverns was closed for the season, but other areas such as Kelso Depot and Hole in the Wall Visitors Center were open.
Sand dune field in Mojave National Preserve
Four days later I visited the north half of Mojave Reserve on the return leg of my California trip when I passed by on I-15. In this area there are cinder cones and a large sand dune field.
On a previous visit I entered California as early as possible on a Thursday morning. I wanted to have as much time as possible that day to take in Joshua Tree National Park – which I did and thoroughly enjoyed.
No comments:
Post a Comment