In a state with some of the USA's biggest attractions, we uncover the lesser-known but equally worthy places that make California a must-visit destination. Expect sleepy seaside resorts, vast empty badlands, hissing geothermal pools and lakes, forests and mountains that showcase nature at its very best. We also reveal the state’s quirky side, with a visit to quite possibly the most eccentric town in America.

No visit to Mammoth Lakes is complete without a short detour to Hot Creek. The waterway flows through a small canyon in the shadow of the Eastern Sierra mountains and is punctuated by a series of startlingly blue geothermal springs. The pools bubble, hiss and steam, heated by a chamber of hot magma three miles (4.8km) below. It is ethereally beautiful, but don’t be tempted to take a dip. Water temperatures fluctuate rapidly here, rising to over 93°C (200°F) in a matter of seconds.

The former military post of Fort Bragg is perhaps more famous for its Glass Beach. Once a dump site, it currently glitters with beautiful sea glass, cleansed and tumbled by Mother Nature. Search for rare ruby reds from car tail lights or sapphire gems from apothecary bottles. The beach is part of sprawling MacKerricher State Park, which supports varied birdlife and harbour seals. Ride the Skunk Train, a steam locomotive that weaves through the redwood forests of the Noyo River Canyon. Or, call into the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens to see spectacular native plants.

The charming city of Gilroy, just 40 miles (64km) inland from Santa Cruz, loves its garlic. The self-proclaimed ‘Garlic Capital of the World’ grows it, processes it and serves it with pretty much everything from calamari and pasta with pesto to ice cream. Gilroy Gardens, an agriculturally-themed amusement park, even features a ride called ‘The Garlic Twirl’. Beyond the garlic, Gilroy boasts lively farmers' markets, award-winning wineries and a taco trail that recognises the city’s strong Mexican heritage.

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Spend your nights under a blanket of stars and your days discovering a mind-blowing vista of dramatic badlands, twisting slot canyons, cool palm oases and cactus-studded slopes. Only two hours northeast of San Diego, the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is both the largest state park in California and its first International Dark Sky Reserve. Expect epic sunsets, dazzling wildflower blooms in spring and a landscape dotted with imposing metallic statues of the prehistoric creatures that once roamed here, created by visual artist Ricardo Breceda.

Once known only for oil and agriculture, Bakersfield has now become a hub for arts and culture, bursting with galleries, public art and a burgeoning ‘Arts Alive District’ downtown. Foodies will want to explore the USA’s largest concentration of Basque restaurants, including delectable Noriega's. The former hotel, founded in 1893, was transformed into a restaurant in May 2020 and is famous for its Basque sausage. Music fans, meanwhile, should head to Buck Owens' Crystal Palace. At once a restaurant, museum and music venue, it’s the spiritual home of the Bakersfield Sound, a gritty style of country music.

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This charming California Gold Rush town sits at the north end of California’s famed golden Mother Lode, discovered in the late 1840s. The area takes its name from the placer gold deposits found in its riverbeds and hills. You can relive those days as you wander through the historical 19th-century architecture of its downtown or venture 352 feet down (107m) into a hard rock gold mine at the Gold Bug Park and Mine. It’s also one of California’s oldest wine regions, so take time to sample its famous Zinfandel grape varieties. 

Redding sits at the heart of the magnificent Shasta County and is known as the 'Golden State's waterfall mecca'. There are dozens of cascading waterfalls here, including the majestic McArthur-Burney Falls, which President Theodore Roosevelt once called the "eighth wonder of the world". Follow the Redding Waterfall loop for a weekend of rushing waters and cooling mists, making your way from Redding to Burney then Mount Shasta and back again. End the day by taking in a show at Redding’s stunning Art Deco Cascade Theatre.

Once a bustling desert resort, Calipatria is quite possibly the most eccentric city in California. Its abandoned Second World War army base has morphed into an alternative lifestyle compound called Slab City. Salton Sea, an inland ‘sea’ once blighted by toxic agricultural runoff, is now a bird-watching haven home to millions of migrating birds. And the flag atop the 164-foot (50m) municipal flagpole flies at sea level. But the city’s strangest attraction is surely Salvation Mountain (pictured), a 50-foot-high (15m) colourful mound created by local artist Leonard Knight and covered in folk art proclaiming Christian messages.

Located on California’s Central Coast, Pismo Beach is rightly famous for its long wide beaches, sunset strolls along its historic 1,200-foot-long (366m) pier and the natural playground at Dinosaur Caves Park, popular with kids. But it's also one of a handful of places in the state where you can count on seeing Monarch butterflies as they migrate along the coast between October and February each year. Millions of these colourful beauties congregate in the city’s aptly named Monarch Butterfly Grove, gathering in clumps in the eucalyptus groves and producing one of nature’s most unforgettable spectacles.

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Sitting high in the Eastern Sierra mountains of Mono County, the abandoned Gold Rush settlement of Bodie is the archetypal American ghost town. Between 1877-1882, Bodie was a bustling town with close to 8,000 residents, producing more than $38 million (£30.5m) in gold and silver. Today over 200 abandoned wooden buildings lay in a state of 'arrested decay', waiting to be photographed and explored. Shutters clap in the breeze, buildings creak and groan under the high-altitude sun, and drays and carts lie long abandoned.

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Welcome to California’s Volcano Alley, a hissing, spitting wonderland that is home to all four types of volcanoes – shield, composite, cinder cone and plug dome. Serene Manzanita Lake makes the perfect base with a campground, cabins, a museum and a picture-postcard view of the 10,457-foot (3,187m) Lassen Peak. You can kayak or do stand-up paddleboarding on the lake, hike through the area’s largest hydrothermal area along the gentle three-mile (4.8km) round-trip Bumpass Hell Trail, or challenge yourself on Ridge Lakes Trail that leads to a pair of alpine lakes at a basin with a lofty elevation of 8,000 feet (2,438m).

Solvang is a little piece of Scandinavia in the Santa Ynez Valley, built by Danish immigrants in 1911 to remind them of home. The main street is lined with traditional Danish buildings painted in terracotta and mustard hues, with bakeries serving up Danish treats, fresh from the oven. There’s also an Old World artisan marketplace. Every September the town’s heritage is celebrated with a colourful parade, Viking re-enactments and old-fashioned storytelling by a local 'Hans Christian Anderson'. The local wine is excellent too, celebrated in the 2004 movie Sideways, which was filmed in the town.

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Surrounded by towering peaks and lined by Ponderosa pine forests, Big Bear Lake is the perfect hub for enjoying the great outdoors. In winter, Snow Summit and Big Bear Mountain offer skiers and snowboarders 62 runs and 748 acres of spectacular skiable terrain. When the snow melts, biking, hiking and camping options abound, while the lake itself is a hive of paddleboarding, kayaking, water skiing and fishing. Just two hours from Los Angeles and San Diego, this jewel of the San Bernardino Mountains offers a cool, pine-scented escape from big city life.

Sitting 140 miles (225km) north of San Francisco, the Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands are the only land-based part of the California Coastal National Monument. It’s a cinematic landscape of coastal bluffs, sea arches, estuaries and sandy beaches, best viewed from Point Arena’s historic 115-foot (35m) lighthouse. It’s the tallest of its kind on the Pacific Coast and depending on the time of year, you could catch a glimpse of humpback, blue and gray whales as they migrate between Mexico and Alaska.

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Located near Lincoln Park, these neglected steps built in the early 19th century were given a new lease of life in 2015 when local artist Aileen Barr was commissioned by Friends of Lincoln Park to give them a facelift. Together with a team of architects and builders, Barr transformed the steps into a magnificent Beaux Arts-inspired public art installation made up of dazzling and vibrant colours. Head to the top of the stairs to enjoy sweeping views of the Salesforce Tower and Golden Gate Bridge.

Sacramentans would like to keep this to themselves, but California’s capital is undergoing something of a renaissance. Microbreweries, gastropubs and trendy boutiques are popping up on every corner and the city’s award-winning chefs are embracing the farm-to-table philosophy with gusto. Throw in world-class museums and galleries, a jam-packed calendar of cultural events and the city’s intriguing Gold Rush history and Sacramento is a tempting alternative to its more visited sisters, San Francisco and LA.

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The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest high in the White Mountains is home to the oldest trees in the world. Here you’ll find the famous 4,848-year-old Methuselah tree as well as another, the Patriarch, that is an incredible 5,067 years old. They stand twisted and contorted, the very definition of the word ‘weathered’, scattered across an eerie landscape looking towards the Great Basin in Nevada. Walking among these venerable sentinels is humbling and awe-inspiring.

With its historic town square surrounded by vineyards and rolling hills, farm-to-table cuisine and mountains rising in the distance, the Temecula Valley is arguably the most underrated wine region in California. Nearly 50 wineries dot the valley, producing wines from Italian, Spanish and French grapes that thrive in the area’s unique soil. Small-batch vintages are the norm here, with many distributed only locally. Follow the Temecula Valley Wine Country trail. Or better still, sample one of the famous vintages while taking a hot air balloon ride as the sun rises over the gorgeous rolling hills.

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Discovered by miners in 1851, the Moaning Caverns were named for the otherworldly sounds that arise from its entrance. Back then, visitors were lowered to the bottom of the chamber in a bucket. Today, a spiral staircase takes you to the impressive stalagmites up to 14 feet (4m) long and to observe the delicate crystal 'cauliflower' on the walls. There's also the Mushroom Patch, a red-tinted flowstone formation that cascades down the main chamber. Fun fact: the caverns are big enough to hold the entire Statue of Liberty.

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Nestled at the base of the towering San Gabriel Mountains and only 10 miles (16km) northeast of downtown LA, Pasadena is probably best known for its annual Rose Bowl football match and Tournament of Roses parade. But look beyond the marching bands and rose-covered coats and you’ll discover a city of architectural gems and world-class museums, stylish shopping and red-hot restaurants and hotels. More and more people are discovering Pasadena’s secret charm, either as a base for visiting LA or to enjoy the city as a destination itself.

Experience the history of the Gold Rush in living, breathing colour at the Columbia State Historic Park in Tuolumne County. Visitors are transported back in time, where they'll see merchants dressed in 1850s attire, a working blacksmith shop and activities including gold panning and authentic stagecoach rides. Gold was discovered here on 27 March 1850 and by 1870 the 'Gem of the Southern Mines' produced more than £800,000 ($1 billion) of gold in today’s figures. Today this living Gold Rush town features the largest single collection of Gold Rush-era structures in California.

Established in 1931 to preserve an incredible stand of giant sequoias, Calaveras Big Trees State Park offers one of the easiest places to see these towering trees. There are three main groves, set over 6,498 acres, each with their own hiking trail. The 1.6-mile (2.5km) North Grove Loop is the easiest and starts near the Discovery Tree, an enormous stump the size of a helipad. The South Grove is 3.5 miles (5.6km) long and moderately demanding. The Bradley Grove Trail is the most challenging but ends at Beaver Creek, where you’ll find a beach that’s perfect for picnicking and swimming.

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In 1901 a Sicilian immigrant called Baldassare Forestiere came to Fresno to pursue his dreams of becoming a citrus farmer. After each hard day in the groves he began crafting a subterranean complex of patios, grottoes and garden courts under the hard, arid surface of the San Joaquin Valley. Today the complex spreads over 10 acres and exploring its twisting passageways and underground gardens of exotic hybrid fruit trees and vines is one of the most unique and fascinating things you can do in Fresno.

Colourful Capitola is California’s original beachside resort. What began as a humble tent camp along the shore of Monterey Bay in 1874 soon blossomed into one of America’s most romantic seaside destinations. That charm can still be seen in the brightly-painted seaside shops and restaurants tucked into a hillside along Soquel Creek and experienced strolling along the esplanade as the sun sets over the Pacific. Perch yourself on the sea wall and watch the world go by or dive right in for a swim, surf or paddleboard.

Located seven miles (11.3km) north of San Simeon on Highway 1, the Piedras Blancas rookery is arguably the most accessible in the world, with elephant seals hauling out on beaches only yards from the road. The best time of year to see these magnificent marine mammals in action is October to May, although the birthing and breeding season in January and February is spectacular too. Bear in mind the seals are (understandably) more aggressive at this time.

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