All the United States California

The Atlas Obscura Guide To California

1,581 Cool, Hidden, and Unusual Things to Do in California

Updated October 8, 2026

From coastal road trips to wild natural adventures, from desert to mountains, from Hollywood to redwoods, the Golden State has it all. No trip there would be complete without some hidden wonder you werenʼt expecting, and weʼre going to help you find it.

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Cities

State not visited
VISITED THIS STATE
Top Cities
All Cities
  1. Agoura Hills
  2. Alameda
  3. Albany
  4. Altadena
  5. Amboy
  6. Anaheim
  7. Aptos
  8. Arcadia
  9. Auburn
  10. Avalon
  11. Baker
  12. Bakersfield
  13. Barstow
  14. Belvedere Tiburon
  15. Benicia
  16. Berkeley
  17. Beverly Hills
  18. Big Sur
  19. Bishop
  20. Blythe
  21. Bodfish
  22. Borrego Springs
  23. Bridgeport
  24. Burbank
  25. Calabasas
  26. California City
  27. Calipatria
  28. Calistoga
  29. Camarillo
  30. Cambria
  31. Carlsbad
  32. Carmel By The Sea
  33. Carpinteria
  34. Carson
  35. Castroville
  36. Colma
  37. Crescent City
  38. Crestline
  39. Crockett
  40. Culver City
  41. Daly City
  42. Davis
  43. Edwards Air Force Base
  44. El Segundo
  45. Encinitas
  46. Escondido
  47. Eureka
  48. Folsom
  49. Fort Bragg
  50. Fremont
  51. Fresno
  52. Garden Grove
  53. Gilroy
  54. Glendale
  55. Goleta
  56. Grass Valley
  57. Hacienda Heights
  58. Hawthorne
  59. Healdsburg
  60. Hillsborough
  61. Hume
  62. Huntington Beach
  63. Indio
  64. Inverness
  65. Inyo County
  66. Irvine
  67. Jenner
  68. Johannesburg
  69. Joshua Tree
  70. Klamath
  71. La Cañada Flintridge
  72. Laguna Beach
  73. La Jolla
  74. Lancaster
  75. Landers
  76. Lee Vining
  77. Lemon Grove
  78. Livermore
  79. Lone Pine
  80. Long Beach
  81. Los Angeles
  82. Los Gatos
  83. Loyalton
  84. Lucerne Valley
  85. Malibu
  86. Mecca
  87. Menlo Park
  88. Mill Valley
  89. Modesto
  90. Mono County
  91. Monterey
  92. Morro Bay
  93. Moss Landing
  94. Mountain View
  95. Mount Hamilton
  96. Napa
  97. Nevada City
  98. Newberry Springs
  99. Newport Beach
  100. Niland
  101. Norden
  102. Oakland
  103. Ocotillo
  104. Ojai
  105. Old Station
  106. Oroville
  107. Oxnard
  108. Pacifica
  109. Pacific Grove
  110. Paicines
  111. Palm Desert
  112. Palm Springs
  113. Palo Alto
  114. Pasadena
  115. Pescadero
  116. Petaluma
  117. Pioneertown
  118. Placerville
  119. Point Arena
  120. Pomona
  121. Port Costa
  122. Rancho Palos Verdes
  123. Redwood City
  124. Richmond
  125. Riverside
  126. Rosemead
  127. Sacramento
  128. Salinas
  129. San Bernardino
  130. San Bernardino County
  131. San Diego
  132. San Francisco
  133. San Jose
  134. San Juan Capistrano
  135. San Luis Obispo
  136. San Rafael
  137. San Simeon
  138. Santa Barbara
  139. Santa Clara
  140. Santa Clarita
  141. Santa Cruz
  142. Santa Margarita
  143. Santa Monica
  144. Santa Rosa
  145. Sausalito
  146. Sebastopol
  147. Silverado
  148. Simi Valley
  149. Solvang
  150. Sonoma
  151. Sonora
  152. South Pasadena
  153. South San Francisco
  154. Stanford
  155. Stockton
  156. Sunnyvale
  157. Tecopa
  158. Tehachapi
  159. Three Rivers
  160. Topanga
  161. Torrance
  162. Truckee
  163. Tulelake
  164. Tustin
  165. Twentynine Palms
  166. Ukiah
  167. Vallejo
  168. Ventura
  169. West Hollywood
  170. Westminster
  171. West Sacramento
  172. Winterhaven
  173. Winters
  174. Woodside
  175. Yermo
  176. Yosemite National Park
  177. Yucca Valley

Unusual Attractions in California

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Cool Places to Eat & Drink in California

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Unforgettable Experiences Nearby

Atlas Obscura Itineraries

Fade In: A Cinema History Road Trip Through Los Angeles

Los Angeles built itself around the act of making movies. Farms and orchards were cleared to build studios, and the rest of the city grew up in their shadow. A century later, the history is still readable in the architecture: in an alley behind Hollywood Boulevard where Chaplin, Keaton, and Lloyd all filmed within blocks of each other; in a Victorian office building that a mining mogul commissioned from a draftsman who consulted his dead brother before agreeing to the job; in a cluster of storybook cottages that gave Walt Disney the visual language of “Snow White.”

View Itinerary

Explore California

Architecture 183
Architectural Oddities 122
Museums 113
Art 103
Collections 98
Plants 94
Homes 90
Statues 83

California Leaderboard

Recent California Activity

Stories About California

A cabinet of curiosities at the Museum of Death.

At the Museum of Death, It’s Like Lunch. It’s Coming.

Inside the Museum of Death, JD Healy and Cathee Shultz want visitors to stop being afraid of death and start paying attention to life.
by Alexis Wood, Community Contributor
Ice Cream Sandwich Trio - Ace Hotel

It's-It Kind of Birthday

For decades, a giant spinning ice cream sandwich has watched over Highway 101
by Ricky Webster, Community Contributor
Alexis Wood [Photographed on Ricoh Auto Half using Kodak Ultra Max]

The Last Payphones Are Taking Goodbyes

We set out to find Los Angeles’ last working payphones and found something else entirely: thousands of strangers looking for a place to let go.
by Alexis Wood, Community Contributor
Hot Creek, a hot spring in Long Valley Caldera

Stuck in the Long Valley Caldera

Driving through snowy mountains, Kelly’s hot spring adventure suddenly went wrong—or did it go right?
by Kelly McEvers, Atlas Obscura

Redwoods Shouldn’t Be So Tall. Here’s Why They Are.

In this episode of Untold Earth, find out how these big old trees got so big and so old.
by Atlas Obscura
Echo Park Time Travel Mart.

Atlas Obscura Presents: Traveling Back in Time for Coconut Cake With The Sporkful

In search of an elusive slice of coconut cake, Dan Pashman of The Sporkful takes a detour through LA’s abandoned underground tunnel system, visiting a former speakeasy and an unusual store along the way.
by The Podcast Team, Atlas Obscura
Food-shaped vehicles have been around for at least a century.

On the Road in a Giant Almond

Nothing captures the attention like big food on wheels.
by Anne Ewbank, Atlas Obscura
Northern elephant seals hunt nearly nonstop for more than half the year, with each seal making tens of thousands of dives in search of food.

Are There Plenty of Fish in the Sea? Ask an Elephant Seal.

In California, deep-diving marine mammals help scientists count how many fish live in the ocean's twilight zone.
by Atlas Obscura

Lists Featuring California

The Capitol Records building.
The newly named alleyway.
Cahuenga Building
Museum of Death

The 11 Best Places to Visit Near the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Curious Travelers

11

Including Capitol Records Building Morse Code, Chaplin Keaton Lloyd Alley, and Cahuenga Building

The shiniest beach you’ll ever see.
Venice of America Canals

California Dream: Art Show Inspiration

Sponsored By Visit California
12

Including Glass Beach, Devils Postpile National Monument, and Venice of America Canals

Western Pacific Railroad Museum
F14 Fighter Jet
19th century pump

9 Marvelous Museums in California for the Curious Kid

Sponsored By Visit California
9

Including Western Pacific Railroad Museum, USS Hornet Sea, Air and Space Museum, and Los Angeles Fire Department Museum

Portal of books.
Fairy Post Office
Exterior of Bart’s Books.

30 Curious Corners in California

Sponsored By Visit California
30

Including The Last Bookstore, Secret Tiled Staircase, and Fairy Post Office

Lobby of the Majestic Yosemite Hotel, formerly known as the Ahwahnee.
The ivy covered hotel.
Staircase at Hotel Vertigo
Mid Eastern-themed billiards room

19 Unusual Hotels in California

Remarkable places to stay—or at least visit—in the Golden State.

19

Including The Ahwahnee Hotel, Venice Beach House, and Hotel Vertigo

Original letter of Abraham, the son of Maimonides found in the Cairo genizah.
A sculpture of the Tower of Babel, by Alan Baughman, from the Introductory Room of the Museum of the Alphabet
Boontling word of the week in the tap room of the Anderson Valley Brewing Company.

A Linguistics Lover's Tour of the World

12 places to marvel at the history of human language.

12

Including The Cairo Genizah , The Museum of the Alphabet , and Boontling Language of Boonville

Winter Solstice 2019
The Spiral Jetty
Double Negative’s north trench

A Tour of Spectacular 1970s Art Made From the Landscape Itself

Eight places to witness the incredible ambition of the Southwest land art movement.

8

Including Sun Tunnels, The Spiral Jetty, and Complex City

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
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