California (published & accepted)

44 Places

Baker, California

Afton Canyon

In one of the hottest parts of the Mojave Desert, shallow bedrock forces the typically dry Mojave River to the surface in this canyon, providing a vital oasis for humans and wildlife.

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Mono City, California

Basalt Plug

This large chunk of dark rock is a relic from an ancient volcanic eruption.

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Susanville, California

Bizz Johnson National Recreation Trail

This hiking/biking/horse trail along an old railroad grade features trestles, tunnels, and a roadless stretch through the scenic Susan River canyon.

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Lee Vining, California

Black Point Fissures by Mono Lake

Deep vertical fissures like miniature slot canyons cut across the cemented volcanic rock of Black Point above Mono Lake.

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Truckee, California

Boca

This settlement on the original Transcontinental Railroad began by harvesting timber, but transitioned to a forgotten 19th-century industry: harvesting ice.

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Burney, California

Burney Falls

The flow from this waterfall sometimes comes out of springs below its rim.

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Beckwourth, California

Clover Valley Lumber Company Railroad

One of the last "timber railroads" in the United States was finally abandoned in 1957.

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Verdi, California

Crystal Mine

A mine in the Sierra Nevada that produced nothing but barren quartz.

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Spaulding, California

Eagle Lake

At the edge of the high desert, California's second-largest natural lake is home to a unique subspecies of trout adapted to its alkaline waters.

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Graeagle, California

Frazier Falls

The viewpoint for this attractive, off-the-beaten-path waterfall is reached by a paved, wheelchair-accessible trail.

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Loyalton, California

Kyburz Flat

A Native American petroglyph, the site of an emigrants' waystation, and the ruins of an early 20th-century sheep camp are all found at this crossroads.

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Kings Beach, California

Martis Peak Lookout

An early 20th-century fire lookout, still in intermittent use, preserves legacy fire-locating equipment.

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Lundy, California

May Lundy Mine

A scenic hike in the High Sierra that ends at an old gold mine.

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Mono Mills, California

Mono Mills

A relic of the region's once booming timber industry.

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Lee Vining, California

Panum Crater

A volcanic cone that formed over 600 years ago.

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Norden, California

Peter Grubb Hut

This trailside hut was built in the late 1930s as a memorial to a young hiker.

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Scheelite, California

Pine Creek Tungsten Mine

For decades, the largest tungsten producer in the U.S. was located in a spectacular setting in the high Sierra Nevada, with some of the workings over 11,000 feet.

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Tamalpais-Homestead Valley, California

Point Bonita Lighthouse

This lighthouse has been guiding shipping into the Golden Gate since before the American Civil War.

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Barstow, California

Rainbow Basin

Colorful sedimentary rock layers provide opportunities both for hiking and photography.

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Sierra City, California

Sierra Buttes Lookout

A fire lookout atop a glacial pinnacle is reached by climbing three vertiginous flights of stairs.

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Bridgeport, California

Sinnamon Cut

This trench, some 2,300 feet long, is only the most prominent relic of a largely forgotten episode of placer mining on the east slope of the Sierra Nevada.

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Palm Springs, California

Tahquitz Creek Falls

At the western edge of Palm Springs, a rugged desert canyon trail leads to a waterfall at the base of the San Jacinto Mountains.

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Sierraville, California

Webber Falls

A little-known, but surprisingly large waterfall on the Little Truckee River in the northern Sierra Nevada.

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Sierraville, California

Webber Lake Hotel

The only remaining hotel on the 1860s Henness Pass route over the Sierra Nevada is being restored.

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Olympic Valley, California

Whiskey Creek Camp

A well-preserved sheepherding camp now lies in the heart of the Granite Chief Wilderness, in the high Sierra Nevada.

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Swall Meadows, California

White Mountain Peak

A small research station sits at the summit of this mountain, which is one of the few U.S. peaks higher than 14,000 feet outside of the Sierra Nevada.

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Bridgeport, California

Chemung Mine

An abandoned early 20th-century gold mine in a spectacular setting overlooking Bridgeport Valley and the Sierra Nevada.

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Bridgeport, California

Masonic

Bodie's 20th-century rival was a paragon of respectability and calm—but the mines eventually ran dry.

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Mountain Pass, California

Mountain Pass Mine

The only mine for rare earth elements in the United States has been intermittently active since the 1950s.

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Hat Creek, California

Hat Creek Radio Observatory

The first radio telescope dedicated to the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.

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Old Station, California

Subway Cave

A large lava tube that can be walked through with no special equipment.

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Cassel, California

Packway Sculpture Park

A whimsical display of massive metal sculptures made from recycled materials.

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San Bernardino County, California

Mitchell Caverns

An improbable set of attractive limestone caverns forms the centerpiece of Providence Mountains State Recreation Area, in the heart of the Mojave Desert.

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Chiriaco Summit, California

General Patton Memorial Museum

A museum dedicated to the life and career of the gifted but controversial general.

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Cadiz, California

Marble Mountains Trilobite Quarry

Anyone can play paleontologist at this quarry that has Cambrian fossils galore.

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San Bernardino County, California

Cadiz Dunes Wilderness Area

A remote field of nearly pristine sand dunes in the heart of the Mojave Desert.

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Vidal Junction, California

Colorado River Aqueduct

This extraordinary project brings water from the Colorado River to Southern California.

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Chiriaco Summit, California

Desert Training Center

Traces of General Patton’s Mojave Desert training camps for the North Africa campaign.

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Essex, California

Rings Loop Trail

Steel rings embedded in rock enable hikers to ascend a picturesque slot canyon in the Mojave Preserve.

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Piute Creek & Fort Piute

The only perennial creek in the Mojave Preserve is also the site of an 1860s fort.

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Johannesburg, California

Major Adams Monument

A remote memorial to Major Michael Adams, the only test pilot to lose his life in the X-15 rocket plane program

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Goldfield, California

Crankshaft Crossing

A junction in the Death Valley backcountry marked by old crankshafts

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Salt Creek and the Salt Creek Hills

An improbable creek near Death Valley, not far from the oldest surviving Euro-American structure in the Mojave Desert.

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Taylorsville, California

Walker Mine

An old copper mine in Plumas National Forest, formerly served by a tramway, seems to have been successfully remediated after years of acrimony and effort

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