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Tours & Events

Campus tours and virtual visits.

SDSU offers a variety of in-person campus tour options and virtual visits. If you are registered for an in-person campus tour, please review the Directions & Parking and Public Transportation web pages for help planning your visit.

Can't make it to a live event? No problem, check out some of our Recorded Sessions below.

Tours and Presentations

Prospective Undergraduate Student Tour with Admissions Presentation (In‑Person)

February 7–april 29, 2022* mondays–fridays, 9:30 a.m..

This two-hour program includes a 30-minute interactive admissions presentation as well as a walking tour of campus. Because of the information covered in the presentation, this tour is designed for high school students and transfer students who are future applicants to SDSU, and their families.

Continue to accessible Prospective Undergraduate Student Tour with Admissions Presentation (In‑Person) list .

Campus Walking Tour (In‑Person)

This program includes a one-hour walking tour of campus. Because of the information covered in the presentation, this tour is designed for high school students and transfer students who are future applicants to SDSU, and their families.

Continue to accessible Campus Walking Tour (In‑Person) list .

Virtual Prospective Admissions Presentation

This program is for prospective undergraduate students and features a live virtual admissions presentation with a question and answer session. Because of the information covered in the presentation, this program is designed for prospective high school and transfer students, and their families.

Continue to accessible Virtual Prospective Admissions Presentation list .

Black Excellence Historical Tour (In‑Person)

Join us on this historical campus walking tour, led by our SDSU student Ambassadors, to reflect upon, honor, and celebrate SDSU's rich African-American history.

Please check back later this summer for tour dates and times.

Continue to accessible Black Excellence Historical Tour (In‑Person) list .

Adelante Tours (In‑Person)

Join us on this walking tour, led by our SDSU Ambassadors, to learn more about the Latinx/Chicano/a/x/Hispanic culture at SDSU.

Continue to accessible Adelante Tours (In‑Person) list .

Group Visits

Want to discover San Diego State University as a group?

Schedule an In-Person Group Tour or Virtual Admissions Presentation by emailing [email protected] . Keep in mind that your group visit is confirmed once you receive an email approving your request.

We look forward to seeing you!

Request Your Group Visit!

Self-Guided Tour

Unable to reserve an undergraduate tour with admissions presentation or a campus walking tour on the dates that you are available to visit campus? Use the campus map brochure to guide you on a self-guided tour of campus during a time that works best for you.

Take a Self-Guided Campus Tour.

Virtual Tour

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Continue to accessible virtual tour .

Recorded Sessions

Sdsu virtual admissions presentation.

Join one of our admissions counselors to learn all about SDSU's admission requirements, application timeline, academics, campus life, and more!

Review SDSU Virtual Admissions Presentation

Current Student Panel

Join our current students as they answer questions from prospective students. See what they had to say when they were asked about the community and culture at SDSU, why they chose SDSU, how they like San Diego and what they like to do, how they describe the campus since students can’t visit in person, and more!

Review Current Student Panel

Out-of-State Aztec Alumni Panel

Join us to hear from current Aztec alumni about why they chose SDSU, how it prepared them for life after college, and why they are Aztecs for life!

Review Out-of-State Aztec Alumni Panel

Out-of-State Student Panel

Join current students to hear why they chose SDSU, ways to get involved on campus, the classroom experience, and why it's a great time to be an SDSU Aztec.

Review Out-of-State Student Panel

Campus Tour Brochure

Review the campus tour brochure to learn more about each campus tour location (as if you were taking the tour in person), review fast facts and why this is a great time to be a part of the SDSU family.

Review the Campus Tour Brochure

• Public Transportation

Plan Your Visit

Welcome to SDSU

How to Make Reservations at California State Parks

Monica Bourne

California State Park Campground Reservations

The best time to make campground reservations, tips to know before your visit, how to make your reservation, alternative ways to reserve a campground, reservations for other california state park activities, reservations for rv camping.

Making a camping reservation at a California state park sounds ridiculously simple, and it should be. But the sad truth is that it is actually ridiculously complicated. Travelers will have to plan farther ahead for next year's camping trip than they would for an African safari.

Popular destinations often sell out within minutes after their reservation window opens. If you're looking for an in-demand place like Crystal Cove Cottages in Orange County , you might need an atomic clock to be sure you click the Reserve button on the stroke of 8 a.m.

You may be able to find an open spot in a California KOA on short notice. You might even drive into a National Forest campground on Friday afternoon and find a place to put your tent.

That's not true for many California state parks. In fact, most campsites must be reserved as much as six months in advance, especially during the busy summer camping season.

This is the tricky part. For those in-demand spots, reservations open six months ahead of time, at exactly 8 a.m. Pacific time. For example, on August 3, you can reserve campsites for dates beginning on February 3 and lasting as many consecutive days as the park allows.

That is unless it's a short month. In that case, multiple dates become available on the first of the following month. On February 28, you can reserve through August 28, and August 29-31 become available on March 1.

The state park reservation website brags about changes to a "rolling" reservation window that replaced the old system of releasing an entire month at a time, but in reality, it makes little difference. You still have to reserve six months ahead, set your alarm and mark your calendar to make them on the date you want.

Camping reservations go so fast that you won't have time to think and debate on the day the reservation window opens. Every campsite can disappear within moments while you try to decide which of two side by side spots is better.

Ahead of time, make sure to:

• Pick a park you want to camp in and at least one alternate. You also need to be very prepared with your ideal dates and at least one alternative.
• Get the URL for the park you want to reserve. To do that, go to Reserve California and enter the park's name. Get familiar with the reservation system while you're there.
• Pick a few campsites that you are most interested in and have them ready. For this, too, it may be helpful to have alternate sites in mind.
• Sign up for an account with Reserve California. You need to have an account and be logged in before the clock strikes eight. 

To reserve a campsite at popular California State Park campgrounds, here's what to do:

• Be ready a little before 8 a.m., exactly six months before the first day of your planned stay.
• Have a credit card handy if you didn't add it to your account. You'll need it to pay for the camping fees and the Reserve California processing fee.
• Know what campground you want to stay in, your desired site(s) and an alternate campground in case you need it.
• To reserve by telephone, call 800-444-7275. International callers can call 833-448-7287. However, the call center is only open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific Time and closed on New Year’s Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.
• You can also reserve online through Reserve California 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If your first try is unsuccessful, try again several times before you plan to make your trip. Cancellations happen all the time. You might be lucky enough to pick something up, but that requires a lot of persistence and a lot of searching.

To save time, try using the website Campnab . For a small fee, they will scan the system for up to four months, checking for openings and notifying you if openings appear. They scan every five minutes to an hour, depending on how much you pay for the service. 

You can also head for one of the campgrounds that have a first come, first served policy. However, these are usually primitive campgrounds with pit toilets or hike-in spots.

You can also use Reserve California to make reservations for activities in the state parks:

• Hearst Castle tour reservations are available 120 days in advance. Call 800-444-4445 or 916-414-8400 ext. 410. You can also ​reserve Hearst Castle Tours online at Reserve California.
• Elephant Seal Viewing at Ano Nuevo requires a guide during the breeding season (December through March). Ticket sales usually start in October, and you can reserve your tour by calling 800-444-4445 or 916-638-5883, or online.
• Crystal Cove Beach Cottages in Orange County follow the same procedures described above.

California is home to some of the country's most scenic RV camping destinations. There are many opportunities to park your RV for free and camp on public land administered by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) and the USFS (US Forest Service). A few parks that offer free RV camping include Borrego Springs , Mammoth Lakes , and Ukiah . These locations do not offer RV hookups.

Other RV camping opportunities are available at designated camping sites such as Yucaipa Regional Park , Mojave Narrows Regional Park , and Joshua Tree National Park . These designated spots all provide full RV hookups, and many include showers and options for fishing, swimming, and use of ATV vehicles. Make sure to research the park of your choice beforehand to see what will be available to you.

Reserve California is the best resource for finding lodging accommodations for your RV, although similarly to the process for other activities, reserving a spot requires patience, preparation, and some luck.

The 11 Best Campgrounds in Big Sur

July in California: Weather, What to Pack, and What to See

August in California: Weather, What to Pack, and What to See

Camping Road Trip: California's Central Coast

December in California: Weather, What to Pack, and What to See

Mohican State Park: The Complete Guide

November in California: Weather, What to Pack, and What to See

January in California: Weather, What to Pack, and What to See

Camping in Whitefish, Montana and Glacier National Park

Lake Tahoe Camping - Campgrounds - RV Parks

A Complete Guide to Oregon’s Fort Stevens State Park

Mount Diablo State Park: The Complete Guide

Camping in Florida's State Parks

The Best Places to Go Camping in Olympic National Park

McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park: The Complete Guide

Carpinteria State Beach Camping: The Complete Guide

Campus Tours

While on our campus, take a journey through Berkeley history as you cross Sproul Plaza. Relax in the shade along Strawberry Creek. Get a big picture view of the Bay Area from the Campanile. Feel the world-changing energy of over 35,000 students from around the world.

We offer a variety of tours to help you explore the Berkeley campus, from family tours to large groups to self-guided options. We offer Spanish and Mandarin language tours on request with 14 days notice. Choose a link to the left for more information.

If you would like to attend an admissions presentation in addition to a campus tour, please note that separate reservations are required. Visit the  admissions office reservation system  to book an admissions presentation.

Please note that we own one wheelchair which is on a first-come first-served basis. It can only be used during the tour.

We are unable to store luggage for our guests. We apologize for this inconvenience.

Guest Relations and Campus Tours

Hours and location

Monday through Thursday

9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Bayramian Hall 190 18111 Nordhoff Street Northridge, CA 91330-8212

Phone: (818) 677-2879

Contact us if you have questions about scheduling your tour.

Campus Tours

Our campus is spread across 356 acres in the heart of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. Come browse among the orange trees (virtually or in person) and learn about all the resources and perks that come with being a Matador.

In-Person Tours Individual/family tours take place Monday through Thursday at 2 p.m. and Fridays at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sign Up for an Individual/Family Tour

In-Person Group Tours We offer one group tour a day, Monday through Friday, by request. If your first tour date choice is booked, we will do our best to accommodate you for your second or third tour date choice. Groups can be no larger than 50 students (not including chaperones) . Please fill out the Group Tour Request form to request a group tour. Note that this form  does not confirm your tour ; your group tour is only confirmed once you receive an email from [email protected] . If you need to cancel your confirmed tour, please email [email protected]  as soon as possible to let us know. Please note that if you cancel your tour,  there is no guarantee that we will be able to reschedule your visit . Please be sure to have transportation and visit details confirmed with your organization prior to requesting a tour to decrease the likelihood of cancellation. Request a Group Tour

Virtual Tour Get an immersive, interactive view of CSUN’s landmarks and hear from students and staff about what it’s like to be a part of the Matador community. 360 Tour of CSUN

Self-Guided Tour Explore CSUN at your own pace and learn about the programs, services and facilities that make CSUN a great place to learn and grow. Open Self-Guided Tour

Before You Visit

Resources for visitors.

• Local Hotels

Important Things to Note

• Campus tours do not include Student Housing. At this time,  Student Housing  is not currently offering in-person housing tours. If you would like to learn more about your housing options and explore student housing, check out housing's video tours to see what suites and apartments look like. Call Student Housing and Residential Life at (818) 677-2160 if you have further questions.
• Group tours will continue in light rain, but if the weather is inclement, we’ll host a student panel and provide an opportunity to speak with an outreach counselor instead.
• CSUN is a smoke-free campus.

Get a peek at the day in the life of a Matador.

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1250 BELLFLOWER BOULEVARD LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA 90840 562.985.4111

Family/Individual Tours

Will resume in fall semester.

Before you schedule your tour, please review the information below:

• The one-hour walking tour (that takes place in a group setting) provides a general overview of CSULB's academic programs, student-support services, campus life as well as our facilities.
• You may visit the campus and bring up to 4 guests, for a total of 5 individuals per registration. Note that registration is required for all guided tours.  
• If you meet the criteria for a group tour (high schools, college student groups and community-based organizations), do not sign up for this tour. Check out the group tour option.
• We recommend that reservations be made in advance; space is limited, and tours fill quickly. Please check online frequently for updates. Once a tour has reached capacity, you will not be able to select that tour.
• Park in a General Lot (G-Lot) and purchase a parking permit at the nearest kiosk . Visit our map to review campus parking lots.
• The Japanese Gardens , Student Recreation & Wellness Center and Housing are not included in this tour.

We look forward to having you join us on this educational and fun campus tour.

Schedule Tour

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HEARST CASTLE NOW OPEN FOR TOURS.

Hearst Castle

Reserve your tickets

Plan Your Visit

Hearst Castle Tours

Reserve tickets online up to 60 days in advance to tour hearst castle, a museum unlike any other in the usa — and one that's not to be missed..

From experiencing what life was like as a guest of W. R. Hearst  to exploring his personal collection of rare and ancient  works of art , encounter the majesty and beauty of this historical treasure first-hand with a guided Hearst Castle tour. We also offer accessibly designed tours for visitors.

Grand Rooms Tour

Gather in the grand social rooms of Casa Grande—the largest house at Hearst Castle—to experience what it was like to be a guest at this hilltop retreat. Recommended for first-time visitors, this tour also has the fewest stairs to climb.

Accessibly Designed Grand Rooms Tour

This tour is wheelchair accessible and is also designed for visitors who have difficulty climbing up and down stairs, or who cannot stand or walk for lengths of time. The Accessibly Designed Grand Rooms Tour visits the estate’s most opulent social gathering rooms to reveal what it was like to be a guest at The Enchanted Hill—known today as Hearst Castle. TOUR RESERVATION, CHANGE AND CANCELLATION POLICY Reservations can be made, changed, or cancelled at ReserveCalifornia.com or […]

Accessibly Designed Holiday Twilight Tour

This tour is wheelchair accessible.   Visitors who have difficulty climbing stairs, or who cannot stand or walk for extended periods, may also benefit from this tour. Accessible transportation is provided from the Visitor Center to all areas of the Holiday Twilight Tour. See Holiday Twilight Tour for a description.  Advanced reservations  are strongly recommended for this tour.   Call 866-712-2286 for additional information. TOUR RESERVATION, CHANGE AND CANCELLATION POLICY Reservations can be made, changed, or cancelled at ReserveCalifornia.com […]

Upstairs Suites Tour

Explore the upper floors of Casa Grande—the formal name for the main house—and ascend its winding staircases to see how media mogul William Randolph Hearst and his esteemed guests lived at the Castle.

Cottages & Kitchen Tour

Discover two very different parts of this fascinating historic attraction: some of the most personal rooms of the property and some of its most practical ones, including Hearst’s beloved Casa del Mar and the industrial-sized kitchen.

Julia Morgan Tour

The Julia Morgan tour takes an in-depth look at the life and career of this extraordinary woman. View rarely-seen areas of Hearst Castle that highlight her gift for design, and photographic displays of architectural drawings, family photos, and personal items that reveal the person she was.

Holiday Twilight Tour

Discover why the holiday season was an exceptionally festive time for Mr. Hearst and his guests. Share in the splendor as you wind your way through the grounds, Casa del Sol-guest house, and the grand social rooms of Casa Grande. This special seasonal tour showcases abundant holiday decorations with numerous Christmas trees, including two towering trees. View Mr. Hearst’s celebrated art collection in the warm glow of thousands of holiday lights. Your knowledgeable guide will share […]

Designing the Dream Tour

For those fascinated by the trajectory of the Enchanted Hill, and W. R. Hearst’s unique collaboration with architect Julia Morgan, the Designing the Dream tour weaves through the nearly three decades of planning and construction that comprised the astounding estate’s history. The earliest years are viewed in Casa del Sol, a guest cottage from the very first stage of the project; the middle-years are represented by the iconic swimming pools so closely associated with the estate; […]

Private Tour

Enjoy a private guided tour.  This private tour can accommodate up to 6 people for a maximum of 4 hours.  The cost of the tour is $1000 for the entire group. This tour may access any of the areas of the estate available to the public on the other tours.  Private tours are offered during our normal daytime tour operation; however there is limited availability during some time periods. Visitors provide their own transportation from the […]

Hearst Castle also offers a variety of options for group tours and school tours .

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Alerts in effect, visitor access management plan, meeting recordings (videos).

2024 Peak-Hours+ Reservation System - Virtual Information Session: February 14, 2024

On February 14, 2024, Yosemite hosted a virtual public information session about the 2024 Day-Use Vehicle Reservation Pilot. This is a recording of the meeting in which the public was able to learn more about the reservation requirements for this year, rationale behind decisions and changes made for this year, view statistical information, and had the opportunity to ask questions to park staff.

Visitor Access Management Plan - Virtual Public Meeting: July 19, 2023

On July 19, 2023, Yosemite hosted the second public meeting for the Visitor Access Management Plan. This is a recording of the meeting in which the public was able to learn more about the plan, possible strategies for visitor management, and how to get involved and comment during the planning process.

Visitor Access Management Plan - Virtual Public Meeting: January 17, 2023

On January 17, 2023, Yosemite hosted the first public meeting for the Visitor Access Management Plan. This is a recording of the meeting in which the public was able to learn about the plan and how to get involved in the planning process.

Summer 2023 Newsletter [1.9 MB PDF]

Potential Strategies to Manage Visitor Access

The visitor access management planning team has been developing potential strategies for management based on public and stakeholder input and feedback from all levels of the National Park Service. These strategies are designed to help protect Yosemite’s fundamental resources and values and improve visitor access and opportunities.

For each of these strategies, we are currently evaluating:

Viability. How this strategy will help us resolve key issues in the congested areas; how this strategy will help us meet project goals.

Feasibility. How much this strategy will cost and the potential source of funding, including whether user fees would be required; what resources will be needed to implement this strategy (for example, staffing, facilities, and funding).

Desirability. When and where this strategy would be most useful; how much this strategy would improve visitor experience and resource conditions and whether there will be any tradeoffs such as additional fees or wait-times to access the park.

No single solution will meet all project goals and resolve all issues. We are evaluating strategies individually and in combination to identify the best ways to meet overarching goals. We are seeking your feedback on the management options described below as a part of our evaluation.

Implement Reservation Systems

Issue/Opportunity: There is an opportunity to improve the safety and flow of traffic at entrance stations, along roadways, and in parking areas. Some individuals and stakeholders have encouraged the National Park Service to consider reservations and other timed-entry systems to better manage vehicle distribution and flow. Welldesigned reservation systems have improved the quality of visitor experiences, distributed use across time and space, and served as a useful trip-planning tool for visitors on public lands and recreational resources where this strategy has been implemented.

Potential Strategies:

Daily reservations at entrances during peak hours (such as the summer 2022 peak hours pilot system).

Parking lot reservations for specific areas (such as the Tuolumne Meadows area) or specific lots (such as the Yosemite Falls parking lot).

Daily reservations at entrances for events (such as Horsetail Falls).

Timed entry at entrances (visitors must enter the park within the time window specified under the permit, such as 8 am to noon or noon to 4 pm).

Your ideas?

Enhance Trip Planning

Issue/Opportunity: Trip planning and travel forecasting tools help improve visitor experiences by giving visitors information when and where they need it to make informed choices about visiting the park.

Improve availability of visitor orientation and information such as traffic forecasts, parking space availability, best times to visit, and current conditions prior to visiting the park.

Increase trip planning information to inform visitor expectations. Examples of trip-planning tools include the park website and app, social media, virtual ranger programs, and park partnerships to disseminate information.

Improve technology (including internal and external internet connectivity) and information collection throughout the park to inform forecasting and the potential availability of realtime traffic/parking information for visitors.

Upgrade and Modernize Entrance Stations

Issue/Opportunity: Congestion at entrance stations impact park visitors, staff, and residents in surrounding areas including El Portal, Wawona, Yosemite West, and Foresta. Congestion (wait times and lines) at entrance stations results in visitor frustration, stress on park staff, and incidences of human waste at pull-offs.

Relocate Arch Rock entrance to an area that is wider and able to accommodate more vehicles.

Relocate or reconfigure Tioga Pass entrance to improve flows through this entrance station.

Evaluate opportunities for streamlined access to the park (such as contactless entry).

Expand Bicycle and Pedestrian Options

Issue/Opportunity: Current options for travel that does not depend on private vehicles in the park are limited and could be improved to increase safety. There is an opportunity to expand access to travel that does not depend on private vehicle access in the park in order to promote carbon-free transportation, encourage active transportation (such as bicycling and walking), and reduce vehicular congestion.

Expand bicycle and pedestrian routes in developed frontcountry areas.

Delineate areas specifically for bicycle use to reduce conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians.

Build pedestrian overpasses to reduce conflicts with vehicles.

Improve Transit and Shuttle Opportunities

Issue/Opportunity: While the current shuttle system helps transport visitors to their desired destinations in the valley, it does not adequately meet visitation demand when the park operates without a reservation system. When shuttles are full, visitors drive their own vehicles around the park to avoid long waits, which further contributes to congestion on roadways and in parking lots. Any potential changes to shuttle systems in the park would involve a robust feasibility assessment due to significant operating costs.

Expand regional connectivity by partnering with local businesses (such as hotel shuttles or other commercial shuttles).

Optimize Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System (YARTS) connectivity.

Expand park-and-ride options.

Explore options for rideshare opportunities.

Update Infrastructure

Issue/Opportunity: High visitation strains existing infrastructure and facilities. There is opportunity to update and modernize existing infrastructure and evaluate the need for new infrastructure to better meet the changing needs of the park.

Provide opportunities for enhanced visitor experiences in underutilized areas such as Crane Flat and Badger Pass.

Analyze current parking use and allocate overnight and day-use parking to better meet visitor needs.

Analyze the amount of housing, staff, and facilities needed to support a positive visitor experience.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is this plan needed  .

The park has seen increasing impacts to natural and cultural resources, diminished quality of visitor experiences, increased visitor and staff safety concerns, and a heavy strain on the park’s facilities and ability to perform daily operations. The National Park Service (NPS) believes that managed access and related strategies are needed in high-demand areas where other strategies have not been sufficient to ensure high-quality experiences, visitor safety, and resource protection.  

How will the plan be developed? 

This process will leverage the park’s extensive planning, including previously identified capacities for many areas of the park and related infrastructure updates (e.g. intersection realignments, meadow protection curbing, parking additions, and circulation improvements). This process will consider key issues related to visitor experiences, natural and cultural resource protection, and vehicular crowding and congestion. The planning process will provide recommendations for supporting high-quality public access to the park while providing positive visitor experiences and protection of natural and cultural resources into the future.  

When will public input occur? 

The first round of public input occurred from December 9, 2022 to February 3, 2023. This first series gathered public and community feedback about strategies for managing visitor access in order to inform this process. The second of multiple opportunities over the planning process for the public and stakeholders to share input on how Yosemite should, if at all, manage access in the future will begin on July 6, 2023. The second round of public involvement will solicit ideas on draft management concepts that were developed following the December public involvement. We are committed to a transparent civic and stakeholder engagement process. When it comes to visitor use management decisions at NPS, we know that engagement is about mobilizing people to do the hard work of making change—together. Yosemite is committed to engaging with all stakeholders—including gateway communities, partners, members of the public, and state, local, and tribal governments —to identify solutions, and to conduct compliance and planning processes. 

What is managed access? 

Managed access is a suite of tools that help pace the timing and volume of visitation into areas to optimize access, ensure quality experiences, and protect resources. Examples of managed access include reservation systems, timed and ticketed entry, campground reservations, and more. Some examples of managed access strategies that have been in place for many years include wilderness and Half Dome permits. Managed access and related strategies are not a standalone solution. This plan will carefully evaluate many different tools and techniques that would be most effective to help Yosemite improve how visitors get to and experience the park’s significant resources and features.     

Why are peak hours reservations for day use not in place for Summer 2023?

After three consecutive years of summer day-use reservation programs, the park announced in Fall 2022 that it does not plan to implement a temporary day-use reservation system in summer 2023. In 2022 there were notable changes to both parking and roadway flows were being built and implemented. By allowing for an unconstrained level of visitation to access the park it allows the NPS to observe and test the efficacy of those changes and document if/what issues still persist after the implementation of these parking lot and roadway configuration changes. No decisions have been made about potential reservation pilots for 2024.

Last updated: February 20, 2024

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Free Guided Tour Reservation

Please complete the form below to make a reservation. Required fields are indicated by an asterisk (*).

Tour Details

Tour Name: Campus Walking Tour

Tour Date: Sunday, June 9th 2024

Tour Start: 09:30 AM

Tour Starting Location: Koret Visitor Center

Tour End: 11:00 AM

Tour Ending Location: Sproul Plaza area

Tour Attendance: 33/30

Reservation Information

Please note the maximum tour group size is 9. If your party is larger than 9 please book a group tour .

Jennifer Lopez’s Canceled Tour, and Society’s Twisted Pleasure in Seeing Strong Women Fail

By Jem Aswad

Executive Editor, Music

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For a variety of reasons, one of the biggest stories in entertainment this year has been the precarious state of Jennifer Lopez ’s “This Is Me… Now” tour, which was finally put out of its misery yesterday.

Popular on Variety

Just a few days earlier, another major act canceled their own overly ambitious North American tour that was scheduled to hit many of the same arenas that J-Lo’s was — the male rock duo the Black Keys. After that news broke, people asked what that said about the state of the touring business.

But when J. Lo canceled her tour just days later, people asked what it says about her.

As a society, why do we do that?

Broadly speaking, the reasons for both cancellations are the same: An artist past their commercial prime makes an overly optimistic projection about the response to their new project, gets it wrong, and pays the price — as do their partners in the enterprise, from promoters and venues down to dancers and truck drivers, because it takes a village to put on a tour of that size, and literally hundreds of people’s livelihoods are affected by those cancelations (which is something conveniently forgotten in the thinly veiled glee much of the public seems to take in such missteps).

Granted, the pop audience that J-Lo is targeting is very different from the more-loyal, less-fickle rock fans the Black Keys were aiming at. The pop world that J-Lo inhabits has the attention span of a smart fish and is infamously unforgiving of perceived transgressions, which can span from intentional factors — like a romantic partner who fans decide they don’t like — to unintended ones like, say, a multifaceted, self-absorbed autobiographical project by someone who famously is not the world’s kindest or most gracious superstar. For all her Bronx toughness and swagger, J-Lo has always been a pop artist and she knows that game and everything that comes with it.

But fame and power put people at a remove from reality, and it’s ultimately irrelevant whether everyone in her orbit also thought all this project and tour were a great idea, or whether no one dared to say, “Hey, after the disastrous failure of ‘Gigli’” — the dreadful 2003 Affleck-Lopez film that not only destroyed the pair as a commercial property, but also helped tank the first era of their relationship — “maybe reviving Bennifer as a commercial enterprise isn’t a great idea?” The end result was the same: a canceled tour and a stiff album. Artists make similar miscalculations every year.

Yet the online venom and hateration that has surrounded the failure of this enterprise has been epic in scale. The term schadenfreude — a combination of the German nouns Schaden, meaning “damage” or “harm,” and Freude, meaning “joy,” per Merriam-Webster — means taking pleasure, often illogical pleasure, in others’ misfortune. And while men certainly are the victims of it — does anyone remember Martin Shkreli and his unusually punchable face ? — society certainly seems to reserve the worst of its venom for powerful, successful, talented women.

It’s a matter of public record that women’s rights are under ferocious attack, from Iran, Afghanistan and Russia to the United States and our arguably corrupt Supreme Court, multiple state governments and even Benedictine College’s commencement . But the hate isn’t coming exclusively from men. At a certain point, we decide we don’t like a public figure anymore without really knowing — or at least without consciously thinking about — why.

Except subconsciously, it’s probably not that deep. Sometimes we just don’t like or get tired of someone’s face (cf. Shkreli, who never had a chance), sometimes we resent their success, sometimes we also resent their happiness, or at least their seeming flaunting of it. In the wider public eye, J-Lo seems to have run afoul of the latter two, and the rumors that she and Affleck may be separating after less than two years of marriage seem an almost inevitable final act before a (probably equally inevitable) redemption chapter, after everyone finally realizes how unfair they were (cf. Britney Spears).

This is a road that Beyonce also went down at the peak of her career. She (apparently) shared the challenges that her own marriage was facing — and intensified her already-deep connection with her audience — in the lyrics of her galvanizing “Lemonade” album and tour… but then made a sort of happy-ending follow-up with her 2018 duet album with husband Jay-Z, “Everything Is Love,” which landed well initially but in retrospect is self-indulgent, treacly and awkwardly self-congratulatory: It’s just hard to have much empathy for two near-billionaires singing about how difficult it was coming through the fire. Their ruling status — and the fact that people are genuinely afraid of their fanbases — enabled them to dodge the storm that usually follows such hubris.

J-Lo, as we’re seeing, hasn’t dodged those bullets. At 54, she’s at a tricky point in a pop star career: Hit singles for artists at that age are as rare as Bigfoot sightings — Cher’s “Believe” and Kylie Minogue’s “Padam Padam,” the two main examples that come to mind, were released more than a quarter-century apart — and only generationally defining stars with enormous catalogs of hits, like Paul McCartney, Elton John, Stevie Wonder and Billy Joel can tour arenas into retirement age. What’s missing from that category? Women. Most of the top-grossing female touring artists — Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Pink — are under 45. The only one who isn’t, Madonna, at 65 played to some middling audiences on her just-completed, mostly triumphant “Celebration” tour. She’s weathered all of the above storms — and then some — and come out on top, but it’s taken hurricane-force, once-in-a-generation level of determination (and probably has taken quite a personal toll as well).

Variety pursued the reports of J. Lo’s poor ticket sales aggressively, not for reasons of schadenfreude but because such stories are important in our corner of the media world, and it’s a sad fact of our business that bad news gets a lot more clicks than good news. Her fans swarmed on us, which comes with the turf, but the stories were hugely successful. As it does every time schadenfreude piles up on a female public figure, I was reminded of something: During the heyday of Lena Dunham’s TV series “Girls,” there was a video meme — or whatever passed for a meme in 2012 — of young women making comical, snarky opinions about show, with one of them saying, “I’ve never seen it… but I think I don’t like it.”

It was a joke, but still, that statement seems like a sadly perfect distillation of the amount of thought, let alone logic, that goes into the kind of hateration that J. Lo and so many other female public figures are receiving right now. It’s also not hard to imagine that syndrome playing a major role in many other successful women being “cut down to size,” not least the defeat of Hillary Clinton by her unapologetically misogynist opponent in 2016.

J. Lo is a great artist and she will be fine, and she’s clearly tough enough to weather all of this. But why should she have to? There’s obviously more going on here than just a canceled tour, and it does make one wonder whether the guilty pleasure of schadenfreude and our role in furthering it is a problem that goes beyond a few “harmless” clicks.

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Feds tour tribal reservation in Michigan, announce $150M for affordable housing

• Updated: May. 30, 2024, 9:04 a.m. |
• Published: May. 30, 2024, 8:58 a.m.

• Devin Anderson-Torrez | [email protected]

CALHOUN COUNTY, MI -- Federal officials visited a Michigan Native American reservation on Wednesday, May 29, to address a key issue for tribes across the nation — affordable housing.

Officials from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) spoke with tribal leaders and toured new housing at the Nottawaseppi Huron band of the Potawatomi tribe (NHBP) at the Pine Creek Indian Reservation.

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The magical California state park that doesn't allow visitors

by Jessica Garrison, Los Angeles Times

About 60 miles north of Sacramento, the Sutter Buttes rise starkly from the floor of the Central Valley, the remnants of a volcano active more than 1.4 million years ago. Their cathedral-like spires twist upward, some reaching more than 2,000 feet into the sky—an imposing circular formation, 10 miles in diameter, that's been called "the smallest mountain range in the world."

Sheltered within these lava domes is an oasis of rolling hills, rich with wildflowers and Native American artifacts, and watched over by hawks and countless other species of birds.

Bitter debates over the lack of public access to the Sutter Buttes have roiled for years. But most everyone on both sides agrees on this: They encompass some of the most magical and otherworldly terrain in California. Long sacred to Native American tribes, the formation is now home mainly to cattle that chomp grass behind stone walls built by Chinese laborers more than a century ago, oblivious to the fact that some people want to throw open the gates and some want to keep them locked forever.

For the last two decades, the Sutter Buttes have also been home to a California state park that almost no one is allowed to visit.

In 2003, the state of California spent about $3 million to buy 1,800 acres on the north side of the buttes, including an idyllic stretch of emerald called "Peace Valley." The government has eyed a park in this ruggedly beautiful landscape since the inception of the state parks system in the 1920s.

Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., the famed landscape architect who helped establish the National Park Service and also surveyed potential parkland for California in those early years, put it on a state park wish list, along with such gems as Point Lobos on the Monterey County coast and Donner Lake in Northern California.

In 2005, the state finally achieved its goal—sort of. The State Park and Recreation Commission officially declared its 1,785 acres a park. The property has its own state-sponsored webpage and a budget for conservation and maintenance.

What it does not have is any way for the public to get in.

"Please note: There is currently no public access point to enter this park," reads a notice in big red letters at the top of the webpage.

Beneath that are breathtaking photos: sunlight glinting off a placid lake; a dirt road leading up a verdant hill; a haunting photo of the buttes at sunset—from a distance.

That last image—the one from a distance—is the only way most people can view the park.

The issue, according to current and former parks officials, is that all the roads leading into the Sutter Buttes are privately owned. And none of the landowners—some of whom have had title to the land since before California entered the union—will give the state permission to use those roads for park visitors . Nor has the state found anyone willing to sell them property near a public road that could be used to access the park.

With the impasse in its 20th year, state officials instead allow a few people into the park on occasion for carefully guided visits.

State parks officials were not available for an interview to discuss the situation, but said in a statement that the department "continues to look for opportunities to either secure land or easements to provide access." So far, nothing has come up.

Many locals say the current status—an empty state park—suits them just fine. The Sutter Buttes are a precious ecosystem, they say, filled with delicate tribal artifacts and threatened species. It isn't the same, they argue, as a state park in the immense Sierra Nevada or vast inland deserts or along the glittering coast.

"This little blob in the middle of the Sacramento Valley is so sensitive to encroachment," said Marty Steidlmayer, 59, whose family has owned land in the Sutter Buttes since the 1930s. A state park, he said, would "let people in, free and unattended," which could lead to vandalism, fires and degradation. "It's not a good idea," he said.

Sutter County Supervisor Mat Conant agreed. "It is more important to protect those land rights," he said, noting that "some families have held that land for close to 200 years."

Francis Coats is one of the few local landowners who think the state needs to find a way to let in the public.

"It's absolutely beyond me why it's not open," said Coats, whose family has been in the area since the 19th century. Coats said he owns a small interest in 160 acres on the north side of South Butte, and so strong is the antipathy toward access that he faced death threats when he first tried to visit his own parcel.

The Sutter Buttes, though little heralded in modern-day California, have played an outsize role in the state's history.

The Maidu people took refuge there for thousands of years during periods when the Sacramento Valley flooded. They believed it was a resting point for spirits on their journey to the afterlife.

In the 1840s, Kit Carson and Gen. John C. Fremont, fresh from their savage massacres of Native Americans in the north state, hid out in the buttes and plotted to seize California from Mexico. Then they headed to Sonoma County to lend support to the Bear Flag Revolt of 1846. Their Republic of California was short-lived, but helped stoke the Mexican-American War, which paved the way for California to join the United States.

When state officials first proposed a park in the Sutter Buttes in the 1920s, local newspapers took the opportunity to celebrate this history.

"These rugged hills hold a prized place in the hearts of Californians," the Sacramento Union wrote in 1931. "They are indelibly linked with the romance of the state's secession from Mexican rule."

The park didn't come to fruition then, and the Depression and World War II created other priorities.

The state tried again in the 1970s, putting money in a parks bond to fund the purchase of tens of thousands of acres in the Sutter Buttes. Local landowners were horrified, and the county Board of Supervisors voted in opposition. "We'll fight them, right down the line," Supervisor J.A. Bagley told the local newspaper.

The state backed down. But within the parks department, some never dropped the dream.

The department's chief of land acquisition , Warren Westrup, knew how to play a long game. Westrup, who worked for the state for 37 years, figured out how to put together parcels of land, piece by piece, until a vision came to fruition.

He did it in the Santa Monica Mountains, where state officials devised ways to purchase land for a trail that connects communities from Los Angeles to Malibu; and in Chino Hills, buying one canyon after another until eventually a whole park came to fruition.

In 2003, Westrup heard through an intermediary that someone with land in the buttes was looking to sell. He arranged for its purchase, even though he was aware the property was surrounded by private land blocked by private gates and accessible only via a private road.

Parks officials moved forward to establish the park with the notion that they eventually could persuade someone else to sell them land adjacent to a public road, where they could build a parking lot, bathrooms and maybe a few tents for people to camp.

The problem: No one would sell.

Most of the land in the buttes is held by a small number of legacy families who primarily use the fields for grazing cattle and sheep. No one lives in the interior, although there are a few homes on the outside.

After the state pushed for a park in the 1970s, some landowners feared the government might take their property. To stave that off, they began providing guided tours that granted limited access to the public and also to researchers. Local schoolchildren were also invited in.

They hired a manager, who moved into a cabin for the job, along with his wife, their golden retriever and their cat. They fell in love with the quiet grandeur of the area—all except for the cat, who was snatched by an eagle and never seen again.

"Some places just attract us more powerfully than others," Walt Anderson, the manager, explained in a 2006 oral history. "I mean, everybody loves the profile of the buttes when they pass it, but once they get inside, I mean, they're hooked."

Steidlmayer, who owns land adjacent to the state park, said officials have told him "that the state will buy anything that we would be willing to sell. But that is the last thing my family would ever do."

Even some outdoor enthusiasts have reservations about opening the park.

Lisa Lindman, executive director of the Sutter Buttes Regional Land Trust, said she has come to view the issue as "really complicated."

She wants the public to be able to appreciate the peace and beauty of the buttes, but echoed landowners' concerns about the delicate ecosystem and centuries-old Native American artifacts that remain largely untouched.

In lieu of full public access, Middle Mountain Interpretive Hikes, a sister organization to Lindman's land trust, leads private tours for small groups of people who pay about $35 apiece for a carefully supervised hike. Reservations can be hard to come by. The Middle Mountain hikes do not enter the state parkland. Instead, they traverse private land near the park under a long-standing agreement with landowners that grew out of those early tours from the 1970s.

On a recent spring day, a tour group wound up dirt roads and through locked gates in a small caravan of cars, before parking near the center of the range. Volcanic domes rose above a green meadow. Wind rustled through the grass. A flock of snow geese passed overhead, their silver wings gleaming against a blue sky.

From atop the lava domes, it was possible to see Mt. Lassen and Mt. Shasta. The snow-capped Sierra stood to the east. After a precarious scramble down, group members traversed the grassy base of the domes and came to the edge of the state park at Peace Valley. A guide warned the tour group they did not have permission to enter.

Ruth Coleman, who was head of the Department of Parks and Recreation when the site was designated a state park, said she hopes California will keep pushing to find a way to change that, while putting measures in place to preserve the land.

"It's classified as a state park. And a state park has access," Coleman said, adding, "I've been there. ... It's magic."

2024 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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