Do you live in California? Do you ride a motorcycle? Do you ride a motorcycle in California? Riders who live in California now have access to an extremely cool program involving both California State Parks and the California State Library system. All you have to do to participate is have an active California State Library card, and you can visit over 200 California State Parks for free on your motorbike.
How does it work? It’s pretty simple. You show up to your local public library—including mobile libraries—and you use your library card to check out a State Library Parks Pass. State libraries will have State Parks passes available for checkout by patrons. Like anything else in the library, they’ll only be available for loan for a certain number of days at a time, so make sure you’re aware of when you’ll need to return it.
This program is available for drivers, but the official program announcement specifically calls out highway-licensed motorcycles as also being eligible to check out a California State Library Parks Pass so they can go explore. Sadly, that means that strictly off-road bikes aren’t eligible—but if you have a dual sport or adventure bike of some kind, you’re still very much in luck. You’ll need to check with the parks you’re visiting to see what kind of trail exploration is allowed, but you’ll get access to so many parks for the low, low cost of zero dollars.
Considering what gas costs—not to mention the rising cost of everything else—getting both some seat time and experiencing the beauty and wonder of nature like this seems like it can only be a good thing. Please note that this pass doesn’t include anything other than getting your motorbike into the park. So, for example, if you want to camp or attend other events going on inside the park, you’ll still need to pay for those fees.
This new California State Library and State Parks partnership is part of a three-year pilot program starting in April, 2022—so since that’s also when we’re writing about it, you should have at least three years to get out and explore. Does anyone want to challenge themselves to visit all the available parks on their motorbike? If you do, please let us know because we definitely want to hear about it.
