Discover
Northern California

What's So Special About Northern California?
I Can Give it to You in One Word:

Northern California has Variety! Travel anywhere in NorCal, from the highest tip of the Sierra Nevada Mountains; to California's Wine Country; to its cities and towns; to California's Central Valley; to the rocky shores and sandy beaches of the NorCal coast; - where ever you go, you're sure to find something YOU love!

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This is your one-stop, online Travel Guide for tips on where to go, what to see, and what you can do in the North State. Whether you're planning to visit us here in NorCal or you're a long-time resident, there's always something new to discover! Join us in exploring our little corner of the world!

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From a family visit from years ago to something
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Travel Tips to Help You Discover Your
Favorite Northern California Sights and Sites!

One of Many Northern California Beaches;
Photo by Suzi Rosenberg

Because California borders the Pacific Ocean, you won't be surprised to discover long sandy California beaches!

But the rugged and windswept coastal bluffs; rivers pouring out into the sea; tide pools alive with sea urchins, hermit crabs, and anemones; saltwater marshes that play host to myriad bird species; quaint fishing villages still hard at work; seaside resorts; these may just catch you by surprise!

Opportunities abound along the Northern California coastline for fishing, birdwatching, sunbathing, beachcombing, surfing, tide pooling, boating, para-sailing - if it can be done on or near the ocean, the NorCal coast is the place to do it!

You'll encounter all of this and more along the edge of the ocean! From Big Sur, Carmel, and Monterey Bay, to San Francisco, Point Reyes, the Lost Coast, Crescent City and beyond...

Take a drive along State Highway 1 hugging the California coastline most of the way, and you'll discover isolated coves and beaches, the dramatic rocky headlands of Mendocino Village with sheer drops to the restless Pacific Ocean below; the fascinating off-shore rock formations called Sea Stacks; giant coastal Redwoods, and the wildlife that resides in or near the water. It's one of my favorite drives!

Discover the Northern California Wine Country!

Sonoma County Vineyard;
Photo by Wolf Rosenberg

California Wine Country - Sonoma County and Napa Valley - is famous, but we’ll unveil some new and less well known NorCal wine regions as well.

It seems new wineries and appellations crop up every day and they're growing wine grapes where only raisins grew before!

Some Northern California wine regions are rediscovering their area's ability to produce premium wines after a hiatus; others are finding ways to grow quality wine grapes where none grew before.

Just to name a few:

Lake County produced fine wines in the late 1800s, but
switched to other crops after Prohibition. Today, Lake County is back in the game and is home to many fabulous wineries, including Guenoc (now Langtry).
Mendocino County's Anderson Valley was originally known for its apple and other fruit orchards, but - although pioneer families probably grew grapes and produced wine for their own consumption, and other attempts at wine making occurred along the way - Anderson Valley didn't get underway as a wine-producing area until the 1970s.
And how about California's Gold Country - vineyards were planted in Amador County for commercial purposes as early as 1856 with the idea of satisfying the insatiable thirst for alcohol of your average Forty-niner! But, thanks to the Gold Rush Bust and Prohibition, wine making died out there until its resurgence in the 1960s. Today you'll find complex Zins and exotic varietals in the Sierra Foothills.
And then there's Lodi. That's right, just as in the CCR lyrics, "Oh! Lord, stuck in Lodi again" - There was a time when those lyrics made sense, but no more! Along with the Gold Country, Lodi is one of California's newer wine tasting destinations with a well-deserved reputation for fine wines.

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Northern California Cities: San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose, Santa Cruz... Nearly 100 in All!

SF Victorians in The Haight;
Photo by Wolf Rosenberg

NorCal cities are incredibly diverse.

Some are fun and playful; others are elegant and sophisticated.

Many have grown up out of their agricultural roots; while others seem to have popped up out of nowhere.

What they have in common is personality!

San Francisco is elegant and sophisticated with a European flair. Berkely embraces each counter-culture movement that comes along. Monterey has had its Steinbeck moments. And then there's hippie-dippy Santa Cruz, just to name a few of my favorites!

The Bay Area

The Bay Area is an obvious place to start when visiting Northern
California cities as there are so many, so close together. Explore the many and exciting opportunities for theater, opera, musicals, ballet; art, cultural, natural history museums; fine dining, five-star hotels; and shopping, shopping, shopping till you're dropping, dropping, dropping. Everything you would expect from city life!

Outside the Bay Area

But don't overlook Sacramento, California's State Capital. Sacramento rose out of the California Gold Rush and it shows. Later it had a long-lived reputation as a cowtown. And Sacramentans take a slightly guilty pleasure in promoting both these reputations. But Sacramento has come into its own as a destination city in its own right!.

Many other NorCal cities will surprise you with their offerings as well, like the city of Chico - my AHT (Adopted Home Town). Or Santa Rosa, at one time home to famed horticulturalist Luther Burbank, and cartoonist Charles M. Schultz, creator of the Peanuts cartoon. Or Salinas, agricultural community and surprisingly, the County Seat of Monterey County (most people think Monterey is the county Seat). Come along while we explore them all!

The Land of California Sunshine is Also
The Land of Winter Sports

Snow-bear and Heart - sculptor unknown;
Photo by Suzi Rosenberg

One of the things I love most about Northern California is not only the variety of scenery, but the variety of weather too!

On the same day, within a couple of hundred miles of each other, visitors and residents alike can be enjoying a balmy day at the beach or an exhilarating day of down-hill skiing!

Head out for the Sierra Nevadas or the Cascades. You can snow ski - downhill or cross-country - build a snowman family or make snow angels, ice skate, snowboard, or simply curl up in front of an enormous fireplace in a beautiful lodge - wearing your best resort après-ski togs - and sip hot toddies.

Everyone's heard of Lake Tahoe in the Winter - it's famous for its Winter sports areas like Squaw Valley where the 1960 Winter Olympics were held...

But did you know Yosemite National Park is stunning - and accessible - in the Winter as well? Get your Winter sports fix throughout the park (cross-country skiing and snowshoeing; ice skating), or at Badger Pass ski area (downhill skiing and snowboarding). Most people aren't aware of this option because they only visit during the Summer.

And Alpine County - affectionately nicknamed the California Alps - combines snow sports with hot springs. I can't imagine a better combination than that!

Discover the Outdoors Like You've Never Seen it Before

Lupine & Oak, Table Mountain;
Photo by Suzi Rosenberg

You won't find more diversification of nature and wildlife than you'll encounter in the wilds of Northern California, and in many cases, you don't have to go far to find it!

Travel the North State and you'll discover Redwood forests teeming with wildlife; wetlands along the Pacific Flyway, which are used by millions of migratory waterfowl as they migrate South in the Winter; and several species of whale that are very amenable to your whale watching pleasure.

Find rolling hills covered in mustard in the Spring, undulating oat grass in the Summer, and California Live Oaks year-round; Table Mountain near Oroville, with its Spring carpet of blue, yellow, white, red, orange, and multicolored wildflowers; and mountain ranges big - the Sierra Nevadas, the Cascades, the Trinity Alps, the California Alps - and small - Sutter Buttes - each with its own series of ecosystems!

There are rivers, streams, and lakes; rain forests and deserts; bears, mountain lions, elk, and deer; snow-covered granite peaks and long flat valleys; sports fishing and hunting; sandy beaches and rocky shores; literally something for everyone!

Whether you want a Sunday Drive in the country or a full-on isolationist backpacking trip into the Trinity Alps, you'll find it all here in Northern California!

But What if You're a History Buff?

Old Sacramento Gold Rush Days;
Photo by Suzi Rosenberg

Nothing says history like the California Gold Rush. There’s hardly a square inch of Northern California that wasn’t involved in one way or another.

A major jumping-off point: San Francisco;

Sacramento, the home of John Sutter, who owned the sawmill where gold was first discovered;

And these major players: the Great Central Valley - where crops and cattle were raised to feed the miners; The Sierra Nevadas, the Cascades, and the Trinity Alps, where the gold was found; the California Alps in Alpine County, which played such an important part in getting gold seekers to California.

Names like Placerville, Hangtown, Coloma, Fiddletown, Drytown (named for the dry gold mines, not the lack of saloons), Mokelumne Hill, Grass Valley, Nevada City, Auburn, Angels Camp - all evoke images of panning for color, Long Toms, hydraulic mining, and dredging.

But NorCal's history began long before the Gold Rush. When Mexico ruled, it was an era of pueblos, haciendas, and huge grants of land where cattle were raised and life was good for the landlords.

And prior to that came the Spaniards with their missions. The most northerly of these (although actually built under Mexican rule) is Sonoma Mission, which was erected in the town of Sonoma as an outpost against the Russians (a perceived threat which never actually materialized).

But even before the Spanish, the Russians, the Mexicans -
thousands of years before - a dense population of Native Americans called Northern California home and lived off the land in varying degrees of peace and war.

And we value our California history, so you'll find much of the natural and man-made remnants of our history preserved and/or restored for the benefit of the Student of History within us all.

There's something for everyone in Northern California! Whether
you're coming for a visit or you live here, DiscoverNorthernCalifornia.com - your one-stop, on-line Travel Guide and Go-To Place for your NorCal travel tips - will help you find what you're looking for.

Together we'll explore the well-know and popular tourist attractions, of course. But we'll also unearth the hidden and secret places as well - the types of things only the locals know. To tell you the truth, I've lived in Northern California most of my life and my husband and I are still discovering new things to see and places to go! Join us!!

Would you like to do what I'm doing? I never thought I could be a webmaster and create my own website, but look at me now - and you can do it too! Find out how you, too, can have the website of your dreams!

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