484

Yosemite National Park (Trip 40)IGNACIO PALACIOS / GETTY IMAGES ©

Only California gives great American road trips a Hollywood ending. Ever since the early days of Spanish conquistadors and gold-rush pioneers, the eternal quest for fortune and fame has inevitably led to California’s golden shores. But even gold will seem overrated once you’ve seen the platinum glint of the Pacific, and no movie star will ever be as big as California’s mighty old-growth redwoods or giant sequoia trees.

Hang tight around curves that hug the coastline on legendary Hwy 1, stringing together sandy beaches, surf and seafood shacks; follow country lanes to famous Napa and Sonoma Valley vineyards. Honestly, there’s no such thing as a wrong turn here.

In California, dreaming comes with the territory.

California Trips

:

44

444

#

#

#

##

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

# #

##

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

##

#

#

#

#

#

# ##

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

#

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\

\ \

\\

\

\

\

\

\

\ \

\

\

\

\

\

^

^

^

^

^

]

]

]

]

]

]

]

]

]

]

]]

]

]

]

]

]

]

]

]

]

]

]

R

R

R

R

UTAH

ARIZONA

OREGON

NEVADA

CALIFORNIA

Black RockDesert

LostCoast

P A C I F I CO C E A N

PlumasNationalForest

InyoNationalForest

SequoiaNational

Forest

VentanaWilderness

Los PadresNationalForest

KlamathNationalForest

LassenNational Forest

MendocinoNationalForest

ModocNational Forest

Shasta NationalForest

SixRiversNationalForest

SierraNationalForest

Point ReyesNationalSeashore

DeathValley

NationalPark

MojaveNationalPreserve

Channel IslandsNational Park

Joshua TreeNationalPark

Humboldt-ToiyabeNationalForest

SaltonSea

ClearLake Lake

Tahoe

Colorado

River

Pit R

iver

SanJaoquin

River

Sacramento

River

MtWhitney

WhiteMountain

TelescopePeak

MtShasta

Mendocino

Beatty

Sonoma

Weed

Alturas

Bishop

BakerMojave

Leggett

Nevada City

Sonora

Barstow

Red Bluff

SouthLake

Tahoe

Santa Cruz

Winnemucca

Needles

La Jolla

Victorville

Indio

BlytheLaguna Beach

Crescent City

Ely

Lake HavasuCity

Eureka

Susanville

Bakersfield

PalmSprings

Long Beach

SanDiego

Reno

LasVegas

Kingman

YumaOceanside

AnaheimMalibu

SantaBarbara

San Luis Obispo

Tijuana

Redding

SantaRosa

StocktonOakland

San FranciscoSan Jose

FresnoMonterey

Mexicali

Carson City

LosAngeles

Sacramento

BoiseNampa

CaldwellBurns

Lakeview

Elko

Caliente

Tonopah

M E X I C O

U S A

WXÕ80

WXÕ5

WXÕ5

WXÕ15

WXÕ40

WXÕ10

WXÕ8

WXÕ15WXÕ5

WXÕ15

WXÕ680

WXÕ280

WXÕ80

WXÕ215

WXÕ5

WXÕ80

]Û395

]Û50

]Û50

]Û395]Û95

]Û95

]Û93

]Û101

]Û101

]Û101

]Û101

]Û97 ]Û395

]Û395

]Û395

dk99 dk14

dk58dk99

dk120

dk95

dk86

dk46

dk1

dk70

dk89dk299

0 200 km0 100 miles#e

FG40

FG41FG42

FG44

FG43

FG39

FG39

FG45

California Trips

~ Pacific Coast Highways 7–10 DaysThe ultimate coastal road trip takes in beaches,

redwood forests and more. (p489)

a National Parks 5–7 DaysBe awed by Sierra Nevada peaks, wildflower

meadows, sequoias and waterfalls. (p503)

¥ Disneyland & Orange County Beaches2–4 Days

Meet Mickey Mouse, then surf the sun-bronzed ‘OC’ coast. (p515)

¦ Palm Springs & Joshua Tree Oases 2–3 DaysWhere palm trees shade hot springs and watering

holes for wildlife. (p525)

§ Eastern Sierra Scenic Byway 3–5 DaysA rugged wilderness gateway to hot springs, hikes

and ghost towns. (p533)

¨ San Francisco, Marin & Napa Loop 4–5 DaysA taste of city, an eyeful of wildlife, plus the heady

nectar of wine country. (p543)

© Highway 49 Through Gold Country 3–4 DaysHead for the hills and California’s historic pioneer

mining towns. (p553)

DON'T MISS

Kings Canyon Scenic BywayWind down into the USA’s deepest river canyon carved by glaciers to Road’s End in Cedar Grove, on Trip ¤

Point ArenaAscend 145 corkscrew steps inside the tallest lighthouse in California that you can still climb to the top of, on Trip ~

Alabama HillsWhere famous Western movies and TV shows were filmed outside of Lone Pine, just below Mt Whitney, on Trip §

Seal BeachSlow way down for this old-fashioned beach town, squeezed between LA and the OC, where you can learn to surf by the weather-beaten wooden pier, on Trip ¥

Marin HeadlandsGawk at million-dollar views of San Francisco and the Pacific while exploring abandoned military bunkers tucked into hillsides, on Trip ¨

487

V