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Monterey County Parks & Recreation Overview



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California ReLeaf works statewide to preserve, protect, and enhance California’s urban forests and parkland.

California Local Pin Marker Local Parks & Recreation Digest

Rural California, Reliant on the Trump Administration for Jobs, Braces for Cuts

04/02/2025

Rural counties are some of the most reliant on federal funding and federal workers. But some still welcome Trump’s upcoming cuts to forestry and other departments

Rockslide Closes Highway 140 Entrance to Yosemite

03/20/2025

A major rockslide has closed the Highway 140 entrance to Yosemite National Park. Read on for details.

California Local Pin Marker Recent Articles

KSQD logo LOCAL NEWS
Threats to Coastal Conservation

Dan Haifley, a long-time ocean conservationist and former director of O'Neill's Sea Odyssey and Save Our Shores, gives us an update on the multiple threats to ocean ecosystems and marine sanctuaries posed by the cuts to federal staff and budgets …

Monterey County Weekly logo LOCAL NEWS
Monterey’s Old Capitol Site Is Slated for Hiking Trails, if the City Can Ever Afford Them.

In 2019, the Pebble Beach Company gave the City of Monterey the Old Capitol Site, a 135-acre property south of Highway 1 opposite the Del Monte Center. Subsequently, the city rezoned the land – a mostly pristine forest of Monterey…

Monterey County Weekly logo LOCAL NEWS
The Long Cleanup of the Former Fort Ord Continues.

Erik Chalhoub here, looking at a map of Fort Ord National Monument. I’ve explored nearly the entirety of the eastern portion of the park by bike, starting from the Creekside entrance just off of Reservation Road near Salinas. I’ve usually…

Monterey County Weekly logo LOCAL NEWS
A New Group in Pacific Grove Seeks to Walk Every Street While Building Community.

On a crisp and sunny afternoon in Pacific Grove Wednesday, Jan. 15 – a day similar to one John Steinbeck described in his novel Sweet Thursday – about 35 people and three dogs cluster at the corner of Eardley and…

The Pajaronian logo LOCAL NEWS
New Disc Golf Course Opens in Monterey County

A new disc golf course has opened in Royal Oaks Park, a project by the Monterey Parks and Lakes Department.

Monterey County Weekly logo LOCAL NEWS
Heeding Residents’ Pleas, Carmel Will Limit Pickleball Play in a Three-Month Trial.

The sharp whacking sound of pickleballs ricocheting off of paddles became too much for neighbors surrounding Forest Hill Park’s four pickleball courts in Carmel. They pleaded with Carmel officials to do something to restore peace to the neighborhood. On Dec.…

Monterey County Weekly logo LOCAL NEWS
Tor House Is Designated as a National Historic Landmark.

The number of National Historic Landmarks in Monterey County just increased.

Monterey County Weekly logo LOCAL NEWS
California Boater Card Is Now a Reality for All Motorized Boat Operators Starting Jan. 1.

There’s a new requirement for anyone operating a motorized boat either on the bay, sea or lake starting Jan. 1, 2025: You must carry a California Boater Card. If you don’t have the card while operating a boat when a…

Monterey County Weekly logo LOCAL NEWS
Nonprofit Trust for Public Land Is Acquiring Ferrini Ranch to Transfer to Big Sur Land Trust.

For conservationists, the dream of preserving Ferrini Ranch, an approximately 870-acre property that straddles Toro Park along Highway 68, has been in the ether for decades, long before the County Board of Supervisors, in a 3-2 vote, approved a development…

Monterey County Weekly logo LOCAL NEWS
Monterey Regional Park District’s General Manager Is Fired After an Unusually Public Kerfuffle.

As of Monday, Dec. 9, when the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District’s board came out of closed session just before 11pm, General Manager Rafael Payan has been put on administrative leave. He will remain on leave until the board meets…

Featured

There are more than 300 community service districts in California.
Community Services Districts, Explained
Areas that the county overlooks can form their own local governments.
The Baldwin Hills area in South Los Angeles is one region where a state conservancy would keep open land accessible to the public.
California’s 10 State Conservancies: How They Protect Parks and Open Land
Starting in 1976, the legislature began creating agencies to buy up open land, and keep it open.
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