Celebrate Earth Day By Cleaning Up a State Park

On Saturday, April 18th, the California State Parks Foundation, in conjunction with Pacific Gas & Electric, holds their 17th annual "Earth Day Restoration and Clean-Up Day." This year, 27 different State Parks will participate in the program, with each of the areas receiving a small bit of polishing and slight makeover by gracious volunteers.

In the L.A. area alone, there are five parks in need of volunteers. They are (1) Malibu Creek State Park, (2) Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook, (3) Crystal Cove State Park, (4) Chino Hills State Park, and (5) San Onofre State Beach.

Each park has their own check-list of what they hope to accomplish that day, depending on the number of volunteers they get at each location. (Chino Hills, for instance, is in need of some new cable fencing, as well as a better delineated trail, while San Onofre needs more native plants and outdoors speakers and lights.)

For those who use the parks throughout the year, this is a perfect chance to give back some of your time and make the parks more enjoyable for future treks through nature. It's also not a bad excuse to head up or down the coast and clean up a park as part of a weekend road trip, as participating locations stretch as far north as the Oregon border, and as south as San Diego.

For more information, head on over to the CalParks website, where you can sign up to volunteer.