If school hasn’t started yet and your family has time for one last summer hurrah, take a midweek camping trip – from LA it's easy to head for forest, woods, desert, or sea. Tuesday is a day of free admission to national parks, and eleven of our parks in California are participating. For my family, school started last week, but a trip to visit to the world's first national park – Yellowstone – helped us to end our summer on a high note.

With school looming, you probably don’t want to head out of state now, but if you have the time and inclination to venture north, Tuesday's free day could be an opportunity to experience the giant redwoods of Muir Woods, the majesty of Yosemite, or the Gold Rush history of Whiskeytown Lake. Closer to LA, Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego and Joshua Tree National Park offer two extremes of our state’s natural beauty.

But there's plenty to do this week without leaving LA, too; want to do some stargazing before El Niño fills the sky with clouds? The Sidewalk Astronomers are out in Burbank. Fans of Japanese animation will want to catch the Studio Ghibli Festival, and anybody looking for small town fun in our expansive metropolis should check out the Fiesta La Ballona in Culver City.

The summer of al fresco movies and music continues, and there are lots of other listings on our Daily Events Calendar. Here are our five picks for the week.