Mono Lake Region
At Bodie State Historic Park, a gold-rush ghost town is preserved in a state of 'arrested decay.' Weathered buildings sit frozen in time on a dusty,…
Must-see attractions in Northern California
Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park
Gold Country
This state park comprises a fascinating collection of buildings in a bucolic riverside setting at the site of James Marshall's riot-inducing discovery…
Point Lobos State Natural Reserve
Carmel-by-the-Sea
They bark, they laze and bathe and they’re fun to watch – sea lions are the stars in this state park some 4 miles south of Carmel, along with the…
The Peninsula
Just over a dozen miles southeast of Pescadero State Beach, Año Nuevo State Natural Reserve is home base for one of the world's largest mainland breeding…
Manzanar National Historic Site
Eastern Sierra
A stark wooden guard tower alerts drivers to one of US history's darkest chapters, which unfolded on a barren, windy sweep of land some 5 miles south of…
South Lake Tahoe & Stateline
Sheer granite cliffs and a jagged shoreline hem in glacier-carved Emerald Bay, a teardrop cove that will have you digging for your camera. Its most…
Central Coast
This museum will interest almost anyone, even if you don't know anything about Salinas’ Nobel Prize–winning native son, John Steinbeck (1902–68), a…
Berkeley
This 2079-acre park, up in the hills east of town, is Berkeley’s best. It has nearly 40 miles of hiking and multiuse trails of varying difficulty, from…
Big Sur
A little over 6 miles south of Bixby Bridge, Point Sur rises like a velvety green fortress out of the sea. It looks like an island, but is actually…
San Francisco
That clamor you hear riding cable cars is the sound of San Francisco's peak technology at work. Gears click and wire-hemp ropes whir as these vintage…
Napa Valley
At the valley’s westernmost edge, where sloping vineyards meet wooded hillsides, Tres Sabores is a portal to old Napa – no fancy tasting room, no snobbery…
Sacramento
Welcome to the arena of the future. This gleaming home to the Sacramento Kings is one of the most advanced sports facilities in the country. Made with the…
The Marina, Fisherman’s Wharf & the Piers
A flashback to penny arcades, the Musée Mécanique houses a mind-blowing collection of vintage mechanical amusements. Sinister, freckle-faced Laughing Sal…
Oakland
Stargazers will go gaga over this kid-oriented science and technology center in the Oakland Hills with loads of exhibits on subjects such as space travel…
Grace Hudson Museum & Sun House
Along Highway 101
One block east of State St, the collection’s mainstays are paintings by Grace Hudson (1865–1937). Her sensitive depictions of Pomo people and other…
Seymour Marine Discovery Center
Santa Cruz
This educational center is part of UCSC’s Long Marine Laboratory. Interactive natural-science exhibits include tidal touch pools and aquariums, while…
Coastal Highway 1
This iconic lighthouse was constructed in 1870, destroyed in a 1906 earthquake and then rebuilt in 1908. It remains the tallest on the US West Coast (tied…
Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens
Coastal Highway 1
This gem of Northern California displays native flora, rhododendrons and heritage roses. The succulent display alone is amazing and the organic garden is…
John Muir National Historic Site
East Bay
Naturalist John Muir's former residence sits in a pastoral patch of farmland in bustling, modern Martinez. Though Muir wrote of sauntering the Sierra…
Lombard Financial Center Mosaics
San Francisco
A couple years ago, blighted trees in front of this bank were cut down and a treasure hidden for almost half a century was revealed: mosaics by California…
San Francisco
You're always in excellent company in the Castro, where sidewalk plaques honor LGBT+ heroes. The walk runs along Market St from Noe St to Casto St and…
The Haight & Hayes Valley
Hippie communes and Victorian bordellos, jazz greats and opera stars, earthquakes and Church of Satan services: these genteel 'Painted Lady' Victorian…
San Francisco
Diego Rivera's 1931 The Making of a Fresco Showing the Building of a City is a trompe l'oeil fresco within a fresco, showing the artist himself pausing to…
Japantown, Fillmore & Pacific Heights
Time-travel to 1968 as you cross Japan Center's indoor wooden bridges, with noren (curtains) and maneki-neko (cat figurines) waving welcomes from…
Russian River Area
For its creamy and crisp chardonnays and earthy pinots, along with top-notch service and an elegant tasting room, Macrostie is the talk of Wine Country…
Napa Valley
The fabulous hillside tasting room, constructed of stone, redwood and teak, resembles a small cathedral – fitting, given the sacred status here bestowed…
Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park
Gold Country
Two miles southwest of Volcano, this sacred area for the local Miwok comprises a museum in a traditional wooden roundhouse, a village site, a limestone…
Napa Valley
Art-lovers: don’t miss Hess Collection, whose galleries display mixed-media and large-canvas works, including pieces by Francis Bacon and Robert…
Sonoma Valley
California's oldest family-run winery looks like a castle but has a down-to-earth vibe. Founded in 1858 by a Bavarian immigrant, its signatures are…
Marin County
This historical lighthouse is a breathtaking half-mile walk from Field Rd parking area. From the tip of Point Bonita, you can see the Golden Gate Bridge…
Napa Valley
Meandering paths wind through magical gardens and fruit-bearing orchards surrounding an 1884 barn and farmstead with cats and chickens. The vibe is casual…
Along Highway 101
Sustainably grown, harvested and produced, ‘America’s Greenest Winery’ offers affordable, bold, earthy reds. The tasting room, lined in brick with low…
The Mission, Dogpatch & Potrero Hill
The breezy, grassland slopes of 475ft Bernal Hill are decidedly non-touristy, and hiking them on a clear day offers 360-degree city views, along with rare…
Marin County
Rising in the middle of San Francisco Bay, Angel Island has been a military base, immigration station, WWII Japanese internment camp and Nike missile site…
Excelsior
At 312 acres, McLaren is the second largest park in San Francisco proper, and arguably the most underrated. There are some 7 miles of trails (including…
The Haight & Hayes Valley
Can you see sound? The answer is always yes at this music-inspired art gallery, named for the anthem by SF soul supergroup Sly and the Family Stone…
Russian River Area
Prepare to gawk and giggle at the wacky Patrick Amiot sculptures gracing front yards along Florence Ave. Fashioned from recycled materials, a hot-rodding…
Along Highway 101
If you visit one boutique winery in Lake County make it Olof Cellars. The wines are excellent – most are reds aged for a minimum of three years – and the…
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Marin County
It's no mystery why this is one of the Bay Area's most popular hiking and cycling destinations. As the trails wind beside the Pacific Ocean and San…
Napa
West of downtown, scrap-metal sculptures dot Carneros vineyards at the 217-acre di Rosa Art and Nature Preserve, a stunning collection of Northern…
