Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on June 17 a special edition of the Historian Passport, an annual pass that normally retails for $50. This year, it grants free admission to more than 30 state historic sites for groups of up to four people.
The window to download it closes July 6. The pass itself remains valid through Dec. 31, 2026.
The initiative was designed to honor two occasions at once.
The first is Juneteenth, observed every June 19 to mark the moment in 1865 when news of the abolition of slavery finally reached Texas. The second is the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
To claim the pass, visitors must register at ReserveCalifornia.com, the state’s official reservation platform. Once downloaded, it allows unlimited visits to participating parks from June 19 through the end of the year.
What Parks Are Included — and What History They Hold
The more than 30 sites in the program are not conventional nature parks.
Each one preserves a distinct chapter of California history, many of them tied to communities that spent decades on the margins of the official record.
Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park, for instance, is the only California state park dedicated to a town founded, financed, and governed entirely by African Americans. The settlement was established in 1908 at the initiative of Col. Allen Allensworth and a group of Black pioneers who set out to build an autonomous community in the Central Valley. Its inclusion in the program carries particular weight in the context of Juneteenth.
Separated by both distance and time, Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park preserves the largest collection of bedrock mortars on the continent, alongside a ceremonial roundhouse that California Native communities continue to use today.
Weaverville Joss House State Historic Park is home to the oldest continuously operating Taoist temple in California. Built in 1874 at the height of the Gold Rush by Chinese immigrants, it stands as a monument the state chose to protect.
The fourth landmark site is Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, which marks the exact location where, in January 1848, the discovery of gold set off a mass migration to California and permanently transformed the state’s demographics and economy.
The Political Context Behind the Announcement
The pass is more than a cultural gesture.
Newsom framed it as a direct counterpoint to federal policy. The Trump administration recently eliminated free admission to national parks on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Juneteenth. California had already responded in January by offering free access to more than 200 state parks on MLK Day.
“California doesn’t shy away from uncomfortable truths or difficult history,” Newsom said at the announcement. “We celebrate these dates by inviting everyone to learn our real history, for free, in our state parks.”
The program is backed financially by the California State Parks Foundation and the California State Railroad Museum Foundation, which covered the costs of the special-edition pass.
