Humboldt Lagoons State Park is a coastal reserve on the Redwood Coast that protects a string of shallow coastal lagoons—Big Lagoon, Stone Lagoon, Freshwater Lagoon, and the restored Dry Lagoon—fringed by sand dunes, beaches, spruce‑and‑redwood forests, and wetland marshes.
The Verdugo Mountains are a compact, rugged range in Los Angeles County's Transverse Ranges system, spanning about 14 square miles between Glendale, Burbank, and the San Fernando Valley.
Garrapata State Park is a rugged Big Sur coastal park just south of Carmel that protects roughly 2,900–3,000 acres of rocky shoreline, sandy beaches, coastal bluffs, redwood‑filled canyons, and seaside terraces where visitors hike, photograph dramatic ocean views, watch migrating gray whales, and enjoy spring wildflower displays like the famous calla lilies.
Los Osos Oaks State Natural Reserve is a small coastal preserve near Los Osos that protects a rare grove of gnarled, centuries‑old coast live oaks growing on ancient sand dunes, creating a low, moss‑draped pygmy oak woodland unlike typical taller oak forests.
Agua Caliente Resort Casino Spa Rancho Mirage is a luxury Native American casino resort owned by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, located at 32-250 Bob Hope Drive in Rancho Mirage, California, in the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs.
Fort Humboldt State Historic Park sits on a grassy bluff overlooking Humboldt Bay near Eureka and preserves the site of an 1853 U.S. Army outpost that later served as the Humboldt Military District headquarters; only the restored hospital/surgeon’s quarters remain from the original fort but they house a museum with exhibits on military life, local Native American history, and regional logging.
The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California, is a world-renowned institution dedicated to the history, culture, and art of the automobile.
Mount San Jacinto State Park sits in the San Jacinto Mountains of Riverside County and protects high‑elevation granite peaks, subalpine forests and meadows around San Jacinto Peak (elevation about 10,800 feet), offering a cool mountain escape within a few hours’ drive of Southern California cities.
Wildwood Canyon Park is a scenic 36-acre urban oasis in the eastern Verdugo Mountains foothills of Burbank, Los Angeles County, California, along Wildwood Canyon Road, offering a quick escape from city life with panoramic views of the San Fernando Valley.
Kings Beach State Recreation Area is a sunny, family‑friendly day‑use park on Lake Tahoe’s north shore with a wide sandy beach, shallow swimming area, a playground, picnic tables and volleyball courts that make it a popular summer gathering spot.
Leo Carrillo State Park in Malibu is a coastal California state park known for about 1.5 miles of sandy shore, sea caves, tide pools and rocky reefs where visitors swim, surf, fish and explore marine life.
Heavenly Mountain Resort, located on the California-Nevada border in South Lake Tahoe, is one of the largest and most popular ski resorts in the United States, covering 4,800 acres of skiable terrain.
Smithe Redwoods State Natural Reserve, located four miles north of Leggett in Mendocino County along California's Highway 101, protects the Frank and Bess Smithe Grove of old-growth coast redwoods that was once a private resort in the early 20th century.
Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park spans 31,261 acres in Northern California near Crescent City, featuring about half old-growth coast redwoods, eight miles of rugged Pacific coastline, and steep canyons with elevations up to 1,277 feet.
China Camp State Park spans 1,514 acres along San Pablo Bay in San Rafael, Marin County, California, safeguarding oak woodlands, meadows, and over 100 acres of pristine tidal salt marshes among the Bay Area's last intact examples.
Candlestick Point State Recreation Area is California's first urban state park, covering 170 acres at the southeastern tip of San Francisco in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood along San Francisco Bay, transformed from a former junkyard and abandoned shipyard into a community oasis with grassy uplands, coastal salt marshes, mudflats, and pocket beaches.
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, founded in 1907, is California's oldest surviving amusement park and one of the few remaining seaside parks on the West Coast.
