California State Tule Elk Reserve

 

As many of you know, the California's State Parks are in serious trouble due to budget cuts. In an attempt to bring attention to all the wonderful state parks California has to offer, I will be featuring a different CA State Park every week. I hope to bring attention to these treasures to increase awareness of what the state park system has to offer and encourage others to stand up and help protect these important places .

Say you are driving down I5 from San Francisco on your way to LA for a week of fun at the beach. You have been driving for hours, your kids have asked you if "we are there yet" no less than 400 times and if you see another mile of tomato plants your eyeballs might literally pop out of your head. You think to yourself, if only there were some stately wildlife to look at instead of row after row of dreadfully boring (yet deeply appreciated) tomato vines. Well do I have some good news for you! There is an entire reserve filled with stately wildlife just 3 miles off I5 halfway between Boringsville and Nowhere! I didn't believe it either until I saw it.

The California State Tule Elk Reserve is a nice place to stop, stretch your legs, have a picnic, and enjoy the elk. The scenery isn't particularly stunning but the animals most certainly are. The day we went the elk were at the far end of the range. We were barely able to make them out by sight but with help of the telescope on the viewing platform, we saw the elk just fine.

The Tule Elk Reserve is certainly more interesting and less scary than going to a truck stop and being oggled by a man named Bubba who has been on the road waaayyyyy too long. It is also alot less disgusting than letting your kids run around in a McDonald's indoor playground. Is it worth a trip on its own? Probably not. But if you are driving down I5 and are looking for an interesting place to stop, check it out.

 

They're out there. I swear. They are the three or four little black things dead center.