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Jonny Moseley's Night Rainbow
Jonny Moseley's Night Rainbow
See how the Olympic gold medalist shreds Squaw Valley's slopes under cover of darkness.
Olympic gold medalist Jonny Moseley and friends don electric light suits as they create an LED night rainbow down the slopes of Squaw Valley in Lake Tahoe.
Jonny Moseley Rides in Style
How do you create a night rainbow? Five crazy LED light suits and one Olympic skier.
Thomas H. Story/ Sunset Publishing
Northern California
Northern California
Discover the High Sierra
Snow-covered peaks in winter, gushing waterfalls in spring, wildflower meadows and glistening lakes in summer, vibrant colours in fall—this is a land of dramatic and wild beauty. World-class mountain resorts circling turquoise-blue Lake Tahoe, and at Mammoth Lakes cater to all, with scenic ski trails in winter and trails and vistas in summer.
Yosemite Valley…is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and gold and wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space.” --photographer Ansel Adams
Yosemite National Park, a World Heritage Site, is here, roughly 3½ hours east of San Francisco. Whether you hike a mountain, ski the steeps, or lounge in a hot tub beneath a canopy of stars, you’ll find your perfect getaway.
Chris Falkenstein
Yosemite in Winter
Visit during the park’s quietest season for unforgettable snowy beauty
With its iconic granite domes and spires etched in snow, and a hushed beauty that’s both intimate and wild, Yosemite National Park makes a magical...
In Yosemite Valley, the Merced River drops over 594-foot Nevada Fall and then 317-foot Vernal Fall, creating what is known as the Giant
Staircase.
![Jonny Moseley's Night Rainbow IMG_3821[1]](https://www.visitcalifornia.com/sites/visitcalifornia.com/files/styles/welcome_image/public/IMG_3821%5B1%5D.jpg)
At 14,505 ft. above sea level, Mt. Whitney is the highest point in the contiguous United States.
Colby Brown
Spotlight: Yosemite National Park
Unforgettable Beauty, Plunging Waterfalls
Famous for its plunging waterfalls and massive granite faces, this unparalleled parkland, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984,...
December
Enter Yosemite Valley to travel back in time to Christmas Past. Heraldic horns sound throughout Yosemite National Park's elegant ...
Lana Spicer
Amy Meredith/Flickr
Bass Lake
Visit a mini Tahoe south of Yosemite
Some think of Bass Lake, the pine-trimmed reservoir about a half-hour’s drive south of Yosemite National Park’s south entrance, as a smaller...
SPECIAL FEATURE
Family-friendly resorts, snowy escapes
High Sierra peaks, deep drifts on a Mammoth volcano, family-friendly resorts, snowy escapes on the edge of Yosemite and more—California has enough alpine destinations to keep any skier or boarder...
SPECIAL FEATURE
Relax after a day on the slopes
Kicking back after you kick off your boots is a snow-country tradition, and there’s plenty of post-slopes fun at California’s top alpine resorts. Have a beer or warm up with an Irish coffee, dance...
Jeff Enegerbretson
Yosemite Valley, to me, is always a sunrise, a glitter of green and golden wonder in a vast edifice of stone and space.
January-February
Experience one of California’s most magical winter settings, the Majestic Yosemite Hotel...
Courtesy of DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite
Rachid Dahnoun/Aurora Photos
Spotlight: Lake Tahoe
Majestic peaks encircle a turquoise-blue, year-round playground
Blue as a topaz and circled by majestic peaks, this High Sierra gem straddling the California-Nevada border is a bucket-list essential. Where else...
Rebecca Garrett
Spotlight: Mammoth Lakes
Snowy winters, wildflower summers
Surrounded by some of the highest peaks in the west, folks in this laid-back mountain town know they’ve got a good thing going. It’s a land of...
As it lay there with the shadows of the mountains brilliantly photographed upon its still surface, I thought it must surely be the fairest picture the whole earth affords.
July - August
With a pine-and-peak alpine setting and a relaxed and friendly ambiance, this appealing event in Bear Valley, roughly halfway between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite, includes performances by outstanding...
Courtesy of Bear Valley Music Festival
Steve Calderaro
Spotlight: Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks
Deep Canyons, Roaring Rivers
Famous for their giant sequoias, soaring mountains, deep canyons, and roaring rivers, this tandem set of parks have plenty to see, even though...
Kodiak Greenwood
Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve
Visit bizarre formations, cinder cones, and a super-salty lake
There are few places in California—and maybe on the planet—that can make you think you might just be on Mars. This is one of them. At this high-...
Kodiak Greenwood
Bodie
Tour the eerie remnants of a former boomtown
There's something eerily appropriate about bumping down the dusty desert road that winds the final few miles into Bodie State Historic Park. Round...
Courtesy of DNC Parks & Resorts at Yosemite
Alex Farnum
Guided Adventures
Learn to climb, join a pack trip, and more
While there are plenty of ways to play on your own in the High Sierra, there’s a whole host of ways to learn a new activity, like how to catch and...
Bishop
Explore an outdoorsy adventure town with an artistic side
Bishop brims with outdoor activities. Situated at the north end of the Owens Valley, with close access to some of the Sierra’s most dramatic high...
Lucas Himovitz
Calaveras Big Trees State Park
Look up at (and learn about) amazing giant sequoias
Established in 1931 to preserve a stunning stand of giant sequoias, this park offers one of the easiest places to see these towering trees. Head 4...
SPECIAL FEATURE
From Gold Rush history to the 8th wonder of the world, visit these favorites
Amy Meredith/Flickr
The General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park is the largest (by volume) tree in the world.
SPECIAL FEATURE
Gold Rush history, epic high-country landscapes, hidden wine country, and charming country towns
Granite monoliths, waterfalls, alpine meadows—it’s no secret that Yosemite delivery some seriously big wow moments. But what is a secret is the bounty of awesome things you can see and do on your...
Kodiak Greenwood
Courtesy of Mammoth Chambers of Commerce
Manzanar National Historic Site
Learn about a sobering time in U.S. history
During World War II, thousands of Japanese-Americans were moved from their homes throughout the West and brought to internment camps like Manzanar...
Jeff Moser/ Flickr
Grover Hot Springs State Park
Soak in naturally heated mineral pools
Nestled in a notch of the High Sierra about an hour’s drive southeast of Lake Tahoe, mineral springs bubble up from the earth, a testament to the...
California Welcome Centers in the High Sierra
Discover the beauty of the Sierra Nevada Mountains
As the gateway to California’s natural wonders located in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Welcome Centers in Truckee and Mammoth Lakes are great...
Toni Zernik
Truckee
This charming mountain town is the central hub for North Shore destinations
Up and over the hill from Lake Tahoe’s north shore, Truckee offers an easy base for an...
Discover the Central Valley
For a kickback day on a river—all within driving distance from downtown Los Angeles—you can’t beat the Kern and Kaweah Rivers. Southern Californians love to leave the city...
Spotlight: Channel Islands National Park
Closest to the mainland of all the Channel Islands, tiny Anacapa is only 12 miles/19.3 km out to sea, and hence the most visited: the boat ride over takes about an hour,...
Spotlight: Lassen Volcanic National Park
Looking up at this almost treeless, silent mountain, rising to 10,457 feet/3,187 meters in a turquoise-blue sky, it’s hard to imagine that a century ago, it was rocked by...