California

Prepare yourself to explore and see the people of the most populus state in the union! Located in the southwest United States, California is bordered by Arizona and Nevada to the east, Oregon to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and the Baja State of Mexico to the south. The state is the 3rd largest in area - the people, over 36 million residents here.

How about the lowest point in the United States? At 282 feet below sea level, Death Valley is not only the lowest, but one of the hottest. Ironically, the highest peak in California, Mount Whitney (14,494 ft) is less than 200 miles from the lowest point. Between the highest and the lowest, there is an an expansive central valley, mountains, hot deserts and hundreds of miles of picturesque coastline. Wet or dry? If you want dry, 25% of the land is covered by desert, but thankfully there are lush forests which cover 35% of the state.

Major Cities in California

Despite all the desert and forests there is still room for massive cities. Thankfully the cities are not in the hot desert, instead most major cities are near the Pacific coastline including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Ana (Orange County), Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino, San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. The exception, the capital, Sacramento, is in the Central Valley.

Don't feed the animals, let the zoo keepers do the feeding. San Diego in the south is known for its world class zoo and parks. To the north in the Santa Ana/Anaheim area (Orange County) you'll find a mountain, the Magic Mountain at Disneyland that is. If you'd like to give a shot at acting or directing a movie, go a bit further north to Los Angeles, best known for Hollywood. Ever wonder where new technologies for computers and the internet are developed? Make your way to the central part of the state and visit San Jose, better known as Silicon Valley. San Jose also happens to be near San Francisco and combined with Oakland is known as the San Francisco Bay Area. In the city of San Francisco there is Alcatraz, Fisherman’s Warf, and the famous street trolleys.

If you're looking for sun and fun, the desert does have some redeeming qualities. The Coachella Valley is well known for the popular tourist destination Palm Springs. Other communities in the valley include Bermuda Dunes, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, Palm Desert, and Rancho Mirage.

Don't forget the many smaller cities along the Pacific coastline and inland. There are many natural attractions to see, shopping that must be done, and yes, enjoying California wine country.

National Parks in California

The state has a plethora of national parks you may visit including the Channel Islands National Park (near Ventura), Death Valley National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, Kings Canyon National Park, Lassen Volcanic National Park (near Mineral), Redwood National Park, Sequoia National Park, and Yosemite National Park. With all of these national parks, grab a backpack and go hiking, rock climbing, swimming, rafting, or horseback riding, among other things. Winter sports anyone? National Parks such as Yosemite have ski areas; in fact Badger Pass Ski Area at Yosemite is the oldest ski resort in California. See some Giant Sequoia Trees at Sequoia National Park. As long as you're not afraid of the dark, venture into Crystal Cave, only one of 200 caves in the park, which can be toured.

California’s Mountain Ranges

Many mountains, including the tallest in the lower 48 are here. In the western part of the state is the costal mountain range. These mountains are low but rugged and scrub-covered hills.

In the eastern part of the state is the granite Sierra Nevada range. Lake Tahoe, a large, clear freshwater lake is located in the northern Sierra Nevada’s with an elevation of 6225 feet. If you're feeling lucky while visiting Lake Tahoe, the state of Nevada with its cainos is nearby. The Sierra Nevada range has many beautiful canyons, which originated from glaciers including Yosemite Valley, Kings Canyon, Tehipite Valley, and Kern Canyon.

Volcano's are spectacular when they come alive. Thankfully they're asleep at the moment with the volcanic Cascade range in the northern part of the state. Mount Shasta is the second highest peak in the Cascade range, which runs north through Oregon and Washington. Mount Shasta can be seen all the way from the Sacramento Valley on a good day.

Finally, the Tehachapi Mountains are in the southern part of the state. This range traverses from the southwest to the northeast and connects the Costal Range on the west with the southern end of the Sierra Nevada range.

Getting around California

Automobiles of course! The residents of California love their cars. You may not always be moving fast, but the state is well connected by an extensive system of freeways, expressways, and highways. The primary north-south routes are US-101 and Interstate 5. Interstate 5 starts in Washington State, runs through Oregon and the entire state of California to the Mexican border.

Since traffic doesn't always move, you'll be happy to know there are good intra-state commercial aviation links with numerous flights from cities in the San Francisco Bay Area to the Los Angeles and San Diego area.