California Has 9 National Parks—More Than Any Other State

View of soaring rock formations overlooking the tourist-filled Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park on June 25, 2012. Michael Thurston/AFP/GettyImages

While California gets a lot of heat from critics, there are many advantages to living in the Golden State, including having the most national parks.

Thanks to the state’s diverse physical geography, California boasts a total of nine unique national parks. In them, you can find cliffs, beaches, volcanic lava beds, fertile river valleys, waterfalls, mountains, and deserts—not to mention the world’s tallest tree, named Hyperion, in the Redwood National Forest.

Redwood National Park

Home to the tallest trees in the world, stepping into the Redwood National Park is like stepping into a magical fairyland. Located on the Northern California coast, its humid climate thanks to the marine fog blankets these magnificent trees, providing the perfect environment for the old growth redwoods to thrive. These massive trees can live to be 2,000 years old and grow to over 300 feet tall. Here you can visit the world’s tallest living tree, named Hyperion, which stands at 380 feet and is estimated to be between 600 to 800 years old. This beloved national park, established in 1968, has 139,000 acres of beautiful prairies, oak woodlands, wild rivers, and nearly 40 miles of rugged coastline. It’s also free to enter except for certain campgrounds.