California Travel

Here are some highlights of my travels to California:

Road Trips (PDFs)

Central Nevada Road Trip 2024

I headed to the Carson City/Reno area to check out mining towns Virginia City and Dayton, as well as to visit a few state museums in Carson City. Then I headed east to the Ely area for more sightseeing. I capped off the trip with a pair of rock art sites in the Basin and Range National Monument area.

Palm Springs Area Road Trip 2024

I headed to Palm Springs, California by way of Phoenix, Arizona in order to visit some sites between the two cities and to finish off my list of sites in the Palm Springs area that I've wanted to see.

Wet Death Valley Road Trip 2024

Heavy rain in August 2023 and February 2024 created a lake in the heart of Death Valley. So, I thought I'd check that out and do some hiking at other regional sites.

California Deserts Road Trip 2023

I returned to the southeastern California Deserts to see some sites that I missed in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and the Palm Springs area when I was out there a year ago.

California Gold Country and Great Basin Road Trip 2022

Surprisingly, I had never really toured California's Gold Country before. So, I targeted that region and tacked on a handful of other California sites before heading into remote northwestern Nevada in order to visit some more interesting Great Basin sites. Stops included the site of the first A&W, Nevada's oldest brothel and a trio of unusual Trump supporters.

California Deserts Road Trip 2022

After checking out the annual poppy bloom at Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, I explored Palm Springs and outdoor sites in the Mojave and Colorado Deserts in southeastern California.

A Nevada-Great Basin Region Road Trip 2021

I finally took another Great Basin road trip through central and northern Nevada, with stops in California, Oregon and Idaho, using an itinerary that I first put together a few years ago. In addition to my usual geology, pre-Columbian archaeology and paleontology sites, highlights included a handful of ghost towns and two nuclear test sites.

Mojave Desert Road Trip 2020

I had planned on a more ambitious road trip through California's Mojave Desert sites last March, but COVID-19 pandemic closures cancelled those plans. For this road trip, I covered what I had planned to see on the Barstow stay portion of that earlier trip, including remote destinations just to the west and east of Death Valley National Park.

Death Valley and Goldfield Road Trip 2019

A relative and I took a 2-day road trip to introduce her to Death Valley and to check out some other sites in the area between Death Valley and Goldfield, Nevada.

Los Angeles, California Parks, Great Basin 2018

In September 2018 I headed to Los Angeles for a 4-day weekend getaway. On the way home I took the scenic route to Las Vegas, visiting some of California's famous national parks and then visiting some sites in the Great Basin as I made my way back home.

California's Mojave Desert 2018

In March 2018 I stayed close to home for a six-day road trip on which I explored the southern Mojave Desert, in particular Mojave Trails National Monument and Mojave National Preserve. I also checked out some destinations in the southern part of Lake Mead National Recreation Area and followed historic Route 66 from Kingman, Arizona to Barstow, California.

Great Basin Sights 2017

In August 2017 I took a 9-day road trip around the Great Basin region, visiting sites in eastern California, northern Nevada, southeastern Oregon and eastern Oregon that I had dropped from a number of past trips due to time constraints (and last year's forest fire in one case).

Great Basin Ghost Towns, Geology and Little Green Women 2017

In May 2017 I took a road trip that included three nights in the small town of Tonopah, Nevada; I had stopped there for the night on a handful of previous trips and had compiled a list of places to check out in the area; I took a California route back home that included some colorful geology and a place nicknamed Star Wars Canyon.

Desert Superbloom of California and Arizona 2017

In March 2017 I returned to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in southern California to check out a wildflower superbloom (result of the state's good winter rainfall), and then continued on to southwest Arizona to visit some sites there that I dropped from last fall's trip.

Palm Springs and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park 2016

Here is a photo set from a November 2016 trip I took to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park and some national monuments and other public lands sites in southern California.

Slide Shows (YouTube)

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