Merced County topographic map

The San Francisco Bay Area is characterized by a diverse and dynamic topography shaped by geological processes over millions of years. This region features a combination of coastal plains, steep hills, and rugged mountains, all influenced by the tectonic activity associated with the nearby San Andreas Fault…

Average elevation: 371 ft

Garberville is a census-designated place in Humboldt County, California. It is located on the South Fork of the Eel River 52 miles (84 km) south-southeast of Eureka, at an elevation of 535 feet (163 m). The population was 913 at the 2010 United States Census. It is approximately 200 miles (320 km) north of San…

Average elevation: 650 ft

The Santa Cruz Mountains are a region of great biological diversity, encompassing cool, moist coastal ecosystems as well as warm, dry chaparral. Much of the area in the Santa Cruz mountains is considered temperate rainforest. In valleys and moist ocean-facing slopes some of the southernmost coast redwoods…

Average elevation: 755 ft

Average elevation: 2,047 ft

Average elevation: 213 ft

Average elevation: 5,607 ft

Average elevation: -3 ft

Average elevation: 0 ft

Average elevation: 1,772 ft

Arrowbear Lake is an unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Its altitude is 6,086 feet (1,855 m) in the San Bernardino Mountains. It is located east of Running Springs along Highway 18 in the San Bernardino National Forest, a mountain community with a population of 736 in…

Average elevation: 6,325 ft

Pollock Pines is a census-designated place (CDP) in El Dorado County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area. Pollock Pines lies at an elevation of 3,980 feet (1,210 m) in the Sierra Nevada. The population was 6,871 at the 2010 census,…

Average elevation: 3,668 ft

Average elevation: 8,238 ft

Swall Meadows sits partway up the Sherwin Grade below the Wheeler Crest of the eastern Sierra Nevada, at an elevation range of approximately 6,000 to 7,000 feet (1,800 to 2,100 m). It is in pinon-juniper/subalpine zone habitat, with views south along the Sierra Crest of Mt. Tom, and east across the Owens…

Average elevation: 6,844 ft

Average elevation: 187 ft

Average elevation: 1,627 ft

El Dorado Hills (EDH), as defined by the 2010 census-designated place (CDP), is at the western border of El Dorado County, between the City of Folsom and the unincorporated community of Cameron Park. The northern limits of the CDP are Folsom Lake and the South Fork of the American River, where river rafters…

Average elevation: 833 ft

The climate in San Diego, like most of Southern California, often varies significantly over short geographical distances, resulting in microclimates. In San Diego, this is mostly because of the city's topography (the Bay, and the numerous hills, mountains, and canyons). Frequently, particularly during the "May…

Average elevation: 187 ft

Average elevation: 3,842 ft

Average elevation: 217 ft

Average elevation: 4,049 ft

Average elevation: 12,756 ft

The Half Dome Cable Route hike runs from the valley floor to the top of the dome in 8.2 mi (13 km) (via the Mist Trail), with 4,800 ft (1,460 m) of elevation gain. The length and difficulty of the trail used to keep it less crowded than other park trails, but in recent years the trail traffic has grown to as…

Average elevation: 6,191 ft

Mount Whitney (Paiute: Tumanguya; Too-man-i-goo-yah) is the highest mountain in the contiguous United States and the Sierra Nevada, with an elevation of 14,505 feet (4,421 m). It is in East–Central California, on the boundary between California's Inyo and Tulare counties, 84.6 miles (136.2 km) west-northwest…

Average elevation: 12,805 ft

Average elevation: 1,709 ft

Average elevation: -3 ft

Average elevation: 5,233 ft

Average elevation: 4,846 ft

Running Springs is a mountain community in the San Bernardino Mountains. It is an inholding in the San Bernardino National Forest. Situated at the junction of State Route 18 and State Route 330, it is a major gateway to the mountain communities of Lake Arrowhead, Arrowbear, Green Valley Lake, and Big Bear and…

Average elevation: 5,433 ft

Average elevation: 1,070 ft

The Berkeley Hills are bounded by the major Hayward Fault along their western base, and the minor Wildcat fault on their eastern side. The highest peaks are Grizzly Peak with an elevation of 1,754 feet (535 m) and Round Top, an extinct volcano with an elevation of 1,761 feet (537 m) and William Rust Summit at…

Average elevation: 518 ft

Average elevation: 1,677 ft

Average elevation: 187 ft

Mammoth Mountain is a lava dome complex in Mono County, California. It lies in the southwestern corner of the Long Valley Caldera and consists of about 12 rhyodacite and dacite overlapping domes. These domes formed in a long series of eruptions from 110,000 to 57,000 years ago, building a volcano that reaches…

Average elevation: 9,879 ft

Average elevation: 36 ft

Average elevation: 115 ft

Average elevation: 5,512 ft

Average elevation: 30 ft

Average elevation: 3,094 ft

Average elevation: 509 ft

Average elevation: 6,831 ft

Average elevation: 689 ft

Average elevation: 1,929 ft

Average elevation: 4,524 ft

Average elevation: 2,444 ft

Average elevation: 2,608 ft

Average elevation: 3,064 ft

Average elevation: 3,570 ft

Mount Shasta (Shasta: Waka-nunee-Tuki-wuki; Karuk: Úytaahkoo) is a potentially active volcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. At an elevation of 14,179 feet (4,321.8 meters), it is the second-highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth-highest in the state. Mount Shasta…

Average elevation: 12,195 ft

Average elevation: 1,056 ft

Average elevation: 115 ft

Average elevation: 807 ft

Average elevation: 6,486 ft

Average elevation: 4,790 ft

Average elevation: 620 ft

Diamond Springs (formerly, Diamond Spring and Diamond) is a census-designated place (CDP) in El Dorado County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 11,037 at the 2010 census, up from 4,888 at the 2000 census. The…

Average elevation: 1,778 ft

Average elevation: 3,117 ft

Average elevation: 4,377 ft

Average elevation: 3,698 ft

Hilmar is an unincorporated community in Merced County, California, United States. It is located 4.25 miles (6.8 km) west-southwest of Delhi, spanning 3.9 sq mi (10 km2) and at an elevation of 92 ft (28 m) above sea level. For census purposes, Hilmar is aggregated with a nearby community into the Hilmar-Irwin…

Average elevation: 98 ft

Markleeville hosts an annual bicycle ride called the Death Ride - Tour of the California Alps. The route goes over five passes for a total distance of 129 miles and over 15,000 feet of elevation gain. In 2010 3,500 riders participated and 2,417 completed the full course of 5 mountain passes.

Average elevation: 5,866 ft

Bodie (/ˈboʊdiː/ BOH-dee) is a ghost town in the Bodie Hills east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County, California, United States. It is about 75 miles (121 km) southeast of Lake Tahoe, and 12 mi (19 km) east-southeast of Bridgeport, at an elevation of 8,379 feet (2554 m). Bodie became a boom…

Average elevation: 8,619 ft

Average elevation: 322 ft

Average elevation: 23 ft

Average elevation: 148 ft

Average elevation: 3,422 ft

Average elevation: 26 ft

Average elevation: 39 ft

Average elevation: 636 ft

Average elevation: 3,422 ft

Average elevation: 11,165 ft

Average elevation: 4,137 ft

Average elevation: 2,635 ft

Average elevation: 299 ft

Average elevation: 1,112 ft

Average elevation: 968 ft

Average elevation: 112 ft

Average elevation: 1,404 ft

Average elevation: 7 ft

Average elevation: 453 ft

Contra Costa Centre is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Contra Costa County, California. Contra Costa Centre sits at an elevation of 92 feet (28 m). The 2010 United States census reported Contra Costa Centre's population was 5,364, while the 2020 census figure was 6,808. Contra Costa…

Average elevation: 118 ft

Average elevation: 3,235 ft

Average elevation: 2,618 ft

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 3.7 square miles (9.6 km2), 99.86% of it land. The elevation is 4,800 feet ASL.

Average elevation: 4,803 ft

Average elevation: 89 ft

Average elevation: 3,307 ft

Average elevation: 1,319 ft

Average elevation: 5,059 ft

Average elevation: 4,259 ft

Average elevation: 138 ft

Average elevation: 3,166 ft

Average elevation: 4,498 ft

Oakhurst is located on the Fresno River 3 miles (5 km) south-southwest of Yosemite Forks, at an elevation of 2,274 feet (693 m). Its coordinates are 37°19′41″N 119°38′58″W / 37.32806°N 119.64944°W / 37.32806; -119.64944. It is located at the junction of state highways 41 and 49, at the…

Average elevation: 2,746 ft

Average elevation: 1,804 ft

Average elevation: 203 ft

Average elevation: 492 ft

Average elevation: 1,322 ft

Average elevation: 4,560 ft

Shaver Lake (formerly, Musick Creek and Musick Creek Heights) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fresno County, California, United States. The population was 634 at the 2010 census, down from 705 at the 2000 census. Shaver Lake is on the southwest end of the lake of the same name, 10 miles (16 km) east of…

Average elevation: 4,715 ft

Average elevation: 3,219 ft

Average elevation: 5,118 ft