Algodones Dunes – vast sandy expanse in the far southeast |
Andrew Molera State Park – Big Sur beaches and coastal bluffs |
Big Pine Lakes – mountain lakes high in the Sierra Nevada, beneath Palisade Glacier |
Box Canyon – twisting, eroded ravine, part of the San Andreas Fault |
Calico Ghost Town Regional Park – partially restored silver mining town northeast of Barstow |
Castle Crags State Park – sculptured granite cliffs in far north California |
Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park – redwood groves alongside the Pacific Ocean |
Donner Memorial State Park – historic location with a relaxing setting |
Emerald Bay State Park – scenic inlet on the west side of Lake Tahoe, containing Fannette Island |
Garrapata State Park – beautiful section of the Big Sur coastline |
Giant Sequoia National Monument – many groves of giant sequoia trees, in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains |
Griffith Park – hilly city park overlooking Hollywood and Los Angeles |
Hat Creek Volcanic Area – lava flows, craters, cinder cones and lava caves, near Lassen Volcanic NP |
Hot Creek Geological Area – hot springs and fumaroles close to Mammoth Lakes, part of the Long Valley Caldera |
Humboldt Lagoons State Park – forested lagoons beside the northern Pacific coast |
Jacumba Outstanding Natural Area – desert and mountains near the Mexican border |
Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park – giant redwoods in the far northwest |
Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park – a coastal waterfall, beaches, cliffs and wooded hills, along Big Sur |
Lost Coast – the wildest and least developed stretch of California’s Pacific coast |
MacKerricher State Park – sand dunes, beaches and tidepools, on the Pacific coast north of Fort Bragg |
Mammoth Lakes – ski resort town at the edge of the Sierra Nevada |
McArthur Burney Falls Memorial State Park – beautiful waterfall and a wooded lake |
Mono Lake – unusual lake in the eastern Sierra Nevada foothills |
Mount Shasta – snow-capped volcano in the Cascade range |
Pinnacles National Natural Landmark – strange spires in the desert south of Trona |
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park – coastal redwoods near Crescent City |
Point Arena – unusual rocks and a historic lighthouse, along the Pacific coast |
Rainbow Basin National Natural Landmark – weathered desert canyons and badlands |
Red Rock Canyon State Park – exposed, eroded, colorful strata |
Route 66 – long section of the old highway through the Mojave Desert |
Saddleback Butte State Park – isolated peak in Antelope Valley, in the southern Mojave Desert |
Salt Point State Park – undeveloped section of the north California coastline, with unusual sandstone formations |
Salton Sea – large, shallow, salty inland lake bordering Imperial Valley |
San Bernardino Mountains – steep-sided range northeast of San Bernardino, including Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake |
San Gabriel Mountains – hilly area providing a refuge from Los Angeles |
Sonoma Coast State Park – 15 miles of beaches, cliffs and coastal grasslands, in Sonoma County, north California |
Tomales Bay State Park – sheltered inlet at the edge of Point Reyes |
Torrey Pines State Reserve – dunes and sandstone cliffs north of San Diego |
Trinidad State Beach – beautiful section of the north California coastline |
Vasquez Rocks County Park – exposed, angular strata north of Los Angeles |