California snow play means sledding, tubing, building snowmen, snowball fights, and snow angels — no skis or snowboard required. It is the winter trip for families, first-timers, and anyone who wants snow without a lift ticket, from groomed tubing parks in Tahoe and Mammoth to bring-your-own-sled hills in Lassen and Read more…
California stargazing places are better than most people realize. The state holds five official DarkSky International designations — three Dark Sky Parks and two Dark Sky Communities — and the darkest of them, Death Valley, holds the highest rating DarkSky International gives. Most Californians live under city lights and have Read more…
California whale watching seasons do not follow a single calendar. There is no one best month for all whales — two main seasons overlap in spring and fall. Winter and spring belong to the gray whale migration; summer and fall belong to blue and humpback whales feeding offshore. Pick the Read more…
A Highway 49 road trip is the best way to see California’s Gold Country in one drive. The highway runs nearly 300 miles along the western Sierra foothills, from Oakhurst in the south to Vinton in the north, passing through the towns where the Gold Rush actually happened. In a Read more…
Route 66 in California is the last stretch of the Mother Road, running about 345 miles from the Colorado River at Needles to the Pacific at Santa Monica, according to the National Park Service. It packs the whole Route 66 story into one state: empty desert highway, a neon-lit ghost Read more…
This Anderson Valley wine guide covers a slow, scenic wine weekend in Mendocino County, where Highway 128 winds past vineyards, redwoods, and farm towns. Anderson Valley is one of California’s quietest wine regions, known for cool-climate Pinot Noir, bright Alsace-varietal whites, and sparkling wine made in the traditional French style. Read more…
Healdsburg is the rare wine country town that works just as well on foot as it does by car. About 70 miles north of San Francisco, it packs dozens of tasting rooms, standout restaurants, and a leafy historic plaza into a few blocks. This Healdsburg travel guide covers the best Read more…
A Highway 395 road trip is the best way to see California’s Eastern Sierra in one drive. The highway runs north along the foot of the Sierra Nevada, with 14,000-foot peaks on one side and high desert on the other, and the scenery changes completely every few miles. In a Read more…
Los Olivos is the kind of small town that makes you slow down without trying. There is still no traffic light; a flagpole stands in the middle of the main street, and hay trucks share the road with visitors heading to tasting rooms. This Los Olivos travel guide is built Read more…
Some weekends ask for a packed itinerary, and some ask you to slow down. This Russian River Valley guide is built for the second kind: two unhurried days in Sonoma County, about a 1.5-hour drive north of San Francisco, where the plan is redwoods in the morning, wine in the Read more…