The hottest and driest spot in all of North America is Death Valley National Park, a realm of extremes.
10. DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK
The largest alpine lake in North America, Lake Tahoe is situated at 6,225 feet in the Sierra Nevada Mountain range.
9. LAKE TAHOE
22 miles off Southern California's coast is Santa Catalina Island. Catalina is a Los Angeles County island.
8. SANTA CATALINA ISLAND
Yosemite... Its charms are irresistible. Its natural beauty cleans and warms like a fire, and you'll stay forever like a tree.”
7. YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK
Alcatraz Island is a 1.5-mile-offshore location in San Francisco Bay that is most famous for housing a former maximum-security jail.
6. ALCATRAZ ISLAND
Mount Hollywood's Griffith Observatory is one of the world's best public observatories. It's in LA's Griffith Park.
5. GRIFFITH OBSERVATORY
Joshua Tree National Park is one of the best in Southern California, straddling the Mojave and Colorado deserts.
4. JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK
Walt Disney first opened Disneyland Park, the first Disney theme park, in 1955. It is situated inside the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim.
3. DISNEYLAND PARK
Between Carmel Highlands and San Simeon, California's Central Coast is divided by the 90-mile-long Big Sur coastline.
2. BIG SUR COASTLINE
Golden Gate Bridge is a California icon. 1937's suspension bridge connects San Francisco to Marin County.
1. GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE