25+ killer outdoor spots in California
This piece could easily include over 100 spots. California simply has so many waterfalls, hikes, swim holes, canyons, and coastline. Everything happens outdoors. It is, arguably, the best state in the US for outdoor life. We’ve gone through travelstoke and compiled a collection of your favorite places in the state.
Editor’s note: These spots are all taken directly from travelstoke®, a new app from Matador that connects you with fellow travelers and locals, and helps you build trip itineraries with spots that integrate seamlessly into Google Maps and Uber. Download the app to add any of the spots below directly to your future trips.
Yosemite
This is the granddaddy of all of California’s national parks and no matter when you go it will stun you into silence. Yosemite’s big stars are the scenic mountains and waterfalls, but Yosemite Valley should not be overlooked, where you can get an ant’s eye view of it all.
Lower Yosemite Falls
Palomarin Trail Head-Alamere Falls
Death Valley
Photo: John Bruckman
As one of the largest national parks in the country, this dessert valley does not cease to surprise visitors with it diverse geography, changing climates and expansive landscape. Located in the central part of the state near the Nevada border, its 3.3 million acres include salt flats that dip below sea level, mountainous sand dunes and sandstone canyons of many colors. Not surprisingly there are also mystical elements like the mysterious moving rocks that leave trails of their movement across dried mudflats. If there is a place in California that will make skeptics believe in magic, Death Valley will do the trick.
San Elijo Lagoon
Lemkes Lagoon
Located about 5 miles north of Nevada City, California. Park your vehicle just past the bridge and take the Hoyts Crossing trail. After a mile hike along the South Yuba River, you’ll come to Lemkes Lagoon — a swimming hole with cliff jumping that you’ll most likely have all to yourself. (Be aware of nudists!) Bring some rope as it’s a steep scramble down to the swimming hole. Dogs are not a good idea here.
Stout Grove Trailhead
Hendry Winery
The Hendry Ranch has 114 acres of vineyard and is situated in the hills north-west of Napa. A perfect place for an afternoon with the family and dog.
Little Lakes Valley Trailhead
A snow-covered wonderland in the winter and a scenic lake town in the summer, this high elevation destination is an ideal escape for those looking to take a break from city life. For ski and snowboard enthusiasts there is plenty of fresh powder in the winter months and in the summer there is plenty of hiking, fishing, biking and paddle boarding to keep you active. After a trip to Mammoth, the beach will seem like old news to you.
Topanga State Park
There are plenty of trails to explore around Los Angeles that will give your lungs a break from the smoggy city air. Be prepared for a dessert-like climate that can change from freezing to scorching in the time span of just a few hours.
June Lake
Mono Lake
Photo: Vadim Kurland
Located in Mono County in the northeastern part of the Golden State, this lake is known for it eerie beauty and its usually high content of salt due to the lack of an outlet for the water to go anywhere. If it feels as if it has been created during the prehistoric era, this is because it was formed at least 760,000 years ago.
Meeks Bay Campground
Sequoia
Photo: Miguel Vieira
California may conjure up images of white sand beaches, but if you do not go further inland you will miss another kind of beauty: its towering redwood trees. Located in central California, an entire forest of these giant beauties awaits and it never gets old. If you want to take a break from the real world, escape to Crystal Cave, a subterranean space that has its own underground streams and stunning rock formations.
Wildcat Campground
Joshua Tree
The result of the crossroads of two distinct desert ecosystems, the Mojave and the Colorado, this national park is worth making the trek out from Los Angeles to immerse yourself into a different world. The diverse desert landscape with it short shrubby trees and spiky leaves seems like it came right out of a Dr. Seuss book. To really get the full experience, you should spend the night at one of the nine campgrounds, where you can hear the coyotes howl at the moon in the pitch-black night.
Lassen Volcanic National Park
Photo: Astropics
Volcanic activity has shaped one of California’s most unexpected national parks, with its bubbling hydrothermal pools and jagged volcanic peaks formed from long-ago eruptions.
Emerald Pools
Photo: Donny Barnec
Located about 26 miles West of Truckee, California, take Interstate 80 west from Truckee or 80 East from Auburn. Take exit 161 to Rte 20 and head north past Camp Spaulding. Take a right onto Bowman Lake Road until you cross over a bridge. Park in the parking lot on the right-hand side. Emerald Pools has two separate swimming holes. If your mood is to relax and hang out then choose the upper pools (take the trail at the parking lot). The upper pool offers a rope swing and some spots to hang a hammock. If you’re feeling adventurous, then head across the street and scramble down to the mountain, which doesn’t really have a trail. Once you get to the river, follow it until you hear the waterfall. This is a mecca for cliff jumpers. Jumps range from 20 to 100 feet. Head farther down the river for a more relaxed setting. Dogs should be okay at the upper pools, but don’t bring them to the lower ones.
Rock Springs Trail Head
Bonsai Rock
Sand Dollar Day Use Beach
Seascape Beach Resort
Sonoma Mountain
The giant headache to get up to this popular destination on winter roads or in summer traffic will disappear once you step out of your car and breathe in that crisp mountain air. Don’t forget your selfie stick to prove to social media that you are in Lake Tahoe and overlooking the lake to make the rest of us jealous. 
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