California State Parks Historian Passport Free Until July 6

White facade of Mission San Juan Bautista with a two-tiered bell tower with three bells on the right and a large cross in front of building — San Juan Bautista State Historic Park offers a look into the cross-section of Native American, Spanish, and Mexican influences.

From Gold Rush hot spots to a California town founded by Black Americans, you can visit some of the state’s most moving and fascinating historic sites for free this year.

California State Parks is offering its annual Historian Passport, a pass that normally costs $50, as a free download to state residents through July 6. The special edition pass provides day-use admission for up to four people at more than 30 participating state historic parks and museums through the end of the year.

The giveaway is meant to encourage Californians to explore places that tell the state’s full, and often complicated, history.

“California is ... inviting everyone to learn our country’s history—our real history—for free in our state parks,” Governor Gavin Newsom stated in announcing the program.

The Historian Passport is one of California State Parks’ lesser-known annual passes. Unlike the popular Golden Poppy Annual Pass, which focuses on nature-filled recreation areas, this pass is specifically designed for the state’s historic sites, spanning former missions, railroad landmarks, Native American cultural sites, military forts, and museums that trace California’s history from Indigenous homelands through Spanish colonization, Mexican rule, the Gold Rush, and more.

Historic parks worth planning a trip around

The passport covers admission to a wide range of sites. (The full list appears below.) Whether you get the pass for free or are simply interested in learning more about these pieces of living history, here are a few standouts among California’s state historic parks.

Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park

On the western edge of the San Joaquin Valley, 150 miles north of Los Angeles, a grid of restored wooden homes, a schoolhouse, library, church, and hotel recreate the town of Allensworth much as it looked in the early 1900s. Founded in 1908, it remains the only California town established, financed, and governed by Black Americans.

Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park

The park’s namesake is a broad slab of volcanic rock pocked with more than 1,100 mortar holes, where generations of Miwok people ground acorns into flour. A reconstructed Miwok village and museum provide additional context on the Indigenous life that predates California statehood by thousands of years. This park is located about 140 miles east of San Francisco.

Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park

This is where James W. Marshall discovered gold in 1848, setting off the California Gold Rush. Today, visitors can walk the grounds of the former sawmill, tour Gold Rush–era buildings, pan for gold, and follow trails along the American River in this state park that is located in the foothills of the Sierra between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe.

Weaverville Joss House State Historic Park

Set in the former Gold Rush town of Weaverville (located 250 miles north of San Francisco), this 1874 Taoist temple has been in continuous use for more than 150 years. Visitors can step inside to see intricately carved altars, hanging lanterns, ceremonial objects, and offerings in one of the oldest, still active Chinese temples in California.

Several rows of green vineyards at Jack London State Historic Park, with forested hills in distance — You can explore the vineyard at Jack London State Historic Park in Northern California using the Historian Passport.

How to get the free Historian Passport

California residents can download the free digital Historian Passport through the ReserveCalifornia website between now and July 6. Although the download window closes after that date, anyone who claims the pass before the deadline can continue using it through the end of 2026.

It’s worth noting that some of the sites are always free to visit, while others normally charge admission or parking fees (both of which are waived with the Historian Passport).

What sites are part of the Historian Passport?

Here is the full list of participating state parks and museums:

Bailey Berg

Bailey Berg is a Colorado-based travel writer and editor who covers breaking news, trends, sustainability, and outdoor adventure. She is the author of Secret Alaska: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure (Reedy Press, April 2025), the former associate travel news editor at Afar, and has also written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and National Geographic.