National Park System units within a drive of San Diego
Three National Park System units sit within an estimated two hours of San Diego, two between two and four hours, and 21 between four and eight. The closest is Cabrillo National Monument, about 50 minutes by road from the metro's Census centroid. Joshua Tree National Park is the nearest unit carrying the National Park designation within four hours. The metro is the San Diego area as the Census Bureau defines it, home to 3,298,799 people in the 2024 estimates.
Each drive time is an estimate made from the straight-line distance between the metro's Census centroid and the unit's listed coordinates, multiplied by 1.25 for roads and divided by 55 mph, so a real trip will often take longer.
Metro centroid Free to enter Charges an entrance fee
Under 2 hours
| Unit | Est. drive | Entry | 2025 visits | Campgrounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabrillo National Monument National Monument · CA | 0.8 h | Fee | 769,336 | 0 |
| Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail National Historic Trail · AZ, CA | 1.5 h | Free | no count | 0 |
| Joshua Tree National Park National Park · CA | 1.9 h | Fee | 2,932,644 | 9 |
2 to 4 hours
| Unit | Est. drive | Entry | 2025 visits | Campgrounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area National Recreation Area · CA | 3.1 h | Free | 722,626 | 1 |
| Mojave National Preserve National Preserve · CA | 3.7 h | Free | 569,844 | 3 |
4 to 8 hours
Metro boundaries and population from the Census Bureau Vintage 2024 population estimates; centroids from the Census Bureau 2026 Gazetteer, CBSA internal points. Unit coordinates, fees, campgrounds and 2025 recreation visits from the NPS API and Visitor Use Statistics. Data refreshed October 14, 2026. Other metros.