California gets 250 million visitors a year. Almost all of them see the same 10 places. Here are 12 that most never find.
1. Salvation Mountain A folk art installation in the Sonoran Desert near Slab City, built over 28 years by Leonard Knight from adobe, straw, and 100,000 gallons of paint. It's free, it's bizarre, and it's one of the most photogenic things in the state.
2. Painted Cave, Santa Barbara A small sea cave accessible only by kayak, with walls streaked in brilliant reds, yellows, and oranges from iron oxide. The cave goes back 100 feet and is tall enough to paddle into. Early morning in calm weather only.
3. Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve For about three weeks every spring, the hills above Lancaster turn entirely orange with California poppies. The timing depends on rainfall — check the bloom reports before you go.
4. The Wave, Coyote Buttes A sandstone rock formation so photogenic it requires a lottery permit. Only 20 people per day are allowed in. Enter the lottery months in advance. Worth every attempt.
5. Lassen Volcanic National Park Active volcanoes, boiling mudpots, and steaming fumaroles — all within a few miles of each other. Most Californians have never been. The park sees a fraction of Yosemite's crowds.
6. Alabama Hills, Lone Pine The rounded granite boulders in the Alabama Hills have appeared in more Western films than any other location on earth. The arch formations are accessible by a short hike and the views of the Sierra Nevada are extraordinary.
7. Point Reyes National Seashore An entire peninsula of wilderness 30 miles north of San Francisco. Tule elk wander the ridgelines. Gray whales pass offshore in winter. The lighthouse sits at the end of a 300-step descent into the fog.
8. Vasquez Rocks Natural Area The angled sandstone slabs outside Agua Dulce have been in more movies and TV shows than almost any location in California — from Star Trek to The Flintstones. Free to visit, 10 minutes from the highway.
9. Glass Beach, Fort Bragg Decades of sea glass from an old dump have been tumbled smooth by the Pacific. The beach glitters. Collecting the glass is now prohibited, but walking it at low tide is extraordinary.
10. Salton Sea California's largest lake is a post-apocalyptic wonder — an accidental sea created by a canal break in 1905, now slowly dying as it shrinks. The abandoned resorts, the salt, the silence, and the birds are unlike anything else in the state.
11. Mono Lake Ancient limestone columns called tufa towers rise from a lake twice as salty as the ocean and three times as old as Yosemite. The morning light on the tufa is something photographers plan trips around.
12. Pfeiffer Beach, Big Sur Hidden down a narrow road with a 8-foot width restriction (enforced), Pfeiffer Beach has purple sand from manganese garnet in the cliffs. The keyhole rock arch frames sunsets from November through January. Worth the drive.