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State Bucket List
California's outdoor adventures are so well-known that it's easy to overlook the ones that matter most. The Pacific Coast Highway's 655 miles of sea cliffs, elephant seal beaches, and Big Sur redwoods remain one of the great American road trips -- but the state's best experiences often happen away from Highway 1. Joshua Tree's dark skies during the Perseid meteor shower. Death Valley's Badwater Basin at 282 feet below sea level, the lowest point in North America. The Victorian small towns of Ferndale and Nevada City, slower and stranger than anything on the coast.
California rewards the traveler who gets off the main routes. The state's geographic range -- from the Mojave Desert to the Sierra Nevada to the Pacific Coast -- means that no two California outdoor adventures feel remotely alike.
These four California adventures are drawn from Outdoor Taste + Tour's reporting across the state's most compelling outdoor destinations.
Highway 1 hugs the California coast for 655 miles of sea cliffs, elephant seal beaches, and Big Sur redwoods. Stop at Hearst Castle, McWay Falls, and every roadside lookout you can find.
At 282 feet below sea level, Badwater Basin is the lowest point in North America. The salt flat stretches for miles in every direction - a surreal, otherworldly landscape that demands to be walked.
Joshua Tree is one of the best dark-sky parks in the lower 48. The alien silhouettes of the trees against a star-packed sky create a scene that feels like another planet - especially during the Perseid meteor shower.
Ferndale, Nevada City, Cambria, Ojai - California's best small towns are nothing like LA or San Francisco. They're slower, stranger, and more authentically Californian than anything on the Pacific Coast Highway.
In-depth articles for every adventure on this list that has an OTT guide.
California Travel Guides
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