Google Trekker Imagery of 14 California State Parks, Trails Launches
October 7, 2014 - SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Today, California State Parks and Google Maps officially unveiled panoramic street view imagery collected by Trekker cameras of 14 popular state park destinations and trails. The imagery will allow people all over the world to virtually explore California’s state parks, trails and beaches, and is helping to modernize the way the department is connecting with visitors.
“We are listening to our customers, and doing what we can to meet the needs of our visitors, in our parks and online,” said Lisa Mangat, Acting Director of California State Parks. “By using the Google Street View Trekker, we can make our parks even more accessible to the public, as this gives users a virtual and personal tour of our parks and trails before they step foot in them.”
The project is part of a partnership between State Parks and Google, which was signed this past summer with the intent of showcasing some of our state parks virtually and connecting to a 21st Century audience. Today’s unveiling is part of an ongoing project that will eventually cover more state parks across California.
“There’s nothing quite like looking at the sights of our state parks, and with this technology, parks are going to be seen in a way they have never been seen before,” said John Laird, Natural Resources Secretary. “Google Trekker is an innovative way to add value to the state parks system by putting visitors in the middle of destinations to experience them, and gain an appreciation of the diversity and beauty of our state.”
Trekker is Google’s newest camera platform that takes the street view camera system and fits it all into a wearable backpack to take still photos as the operator walks. The images collected allow viewers to virtually travel along parks, trails, and pedestrian routes via their computers or mobile devices in a 360 degree angle. During the summer, Google Trekker operators visited state parks carrying the Trekker device to take hundreds of pictures.
"Releasing imagery of parks across California is taking us one step closer to making the most accurate, useful and comprehensive map of the world," said Google Street View Program Manager, Deanna Yick. "We hope that the imagery will inspire people to visit these beautiful parks in person."
For this initial launch, 10 state parks (SP), three state beaches (SB), one state reserve and more than 25 trails are available. They include:
- Andrew Molera State Park
- Angel Island State Park
- Asilomar State Beach
- Carmel River State Beach
- Garrapata State Park
- Henry W. Coe State Park
- Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
- Limekiln
- Marina State Beach
- Mount Tamalpais SP/Trails:
o Camp Eastwood
o Dipsea
o Matt Davis
o Old Mine
o Sierra
o Steep Ravine
o TCC
o Troop 80
- Point Lobos State Reserve
- Tomales Bay State Park
- Samuel P. Taylor State Park
o Pioneer Tree Trail
o Devils Gulch Fire Road
o Shoreline Trail
o Bay View Trail
“Our parks and shorelines are among the most beautiful in the world,” said Assemblymember Marc Levine (D-San Rafael). “The partnership between State Parks and Google allows people to view our spectacular hiking trails and breath-taking vistas on line. Bringing high tech to state parks showcases California’s innovation and amazing natural resources. I thank the Brown Administration and Google for putting this together.”
"With this new tool, people can visually immerse themselves in the images and go on a virtual park visit, all from the comfort of their desktop or mobile device,” said Lance Conn, Parks Forward co-chair. “We are pleased that Parks has taken this step towards using new technology to expand access to our parks."
To find the images, visit Google Maps and type in the name of the park, or visit the California State Parks website www.parks.ca.gov.
Responsible for almost one-third of California's scenic coastline, the California State Park system includes 280 parks, beaches, trails, wildlife areas, open spaces, off-highway vehicle areas, and historic sites. It consists of approximately 1.59 million acres, including over 339 miles of coastline, 974 miles of lake, reservoir and river frontage, approximately 15,000 campsites and alternative camping facilities, and 4,456 miles of non-motorized trails.