Sonoma 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

Average elevation: 6,486 ft

In the 1860s, San Franciscans began to feel the need for a spacious public park similar to Central Park, which was then taking shape in New York City. Golden Gate Park was carved out of unpromising sand and shore dunes that were known as the Outside Lands, in an unincorporated area west of San Francisco's…

Average elevation: 233 ft

Twain Harte is situated in Tuolumne County along Highway 108 at an elevation of 3,640 feet (1,110 m).

Average elevation: 3,684 ft

Average elevation: 1,627 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

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: 761 ft

"MURPHY'S CAMP is a curious old mining-town in Calaveras County, at an elevation of 2,400 feet (730 m) above the sea, situated like a nest in the center of a rough, gravelly region, rich in gold. Granites, slates, lavas, limestone, iron ores, quartz veins, auriferous gravels, remnants of dead fire-rivers and…

Average elevation: 2,303 ft

Average elevation: 2,943 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: 2,434 ft

Cameron Park is situated in an interior chaparral zone or brush zone just east of the Central Valley. It is the closest population center to the Pine Hill Ecological Reserve. Native vegetation includes an abundance of redbud and manzanita bushes, and brush in general. Where treed the native trees are primarily…

Average elevation: 1,342 ft

Average elevation: 725 ft

Average elevation: 7,100 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: 180 ft

Average elevation: 187 ft

Average elevation: 141 ft

The mountain is also the site of the Bay Area NEXRAD weather radar. The high elevation is necessary for line of sight in the region's varied terrain, but it also limits the ability to detect storms with bases lower in the atmosphere.

Average elevation: 2,526 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: 12,756 ft

Average elevation: 5,233 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

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: 387 ft

Average elevation: 427 ft

Average elevation: 167 ft

In January 2006, Ramona Valley was designated the country's 162nd American Viticultural Area (AVA) by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, which recognized the area for its distinctive microclimate, elevation, and soil attributes.

Average elevation: 1,539 ft

Average elevation: 11,572 ft

Average elevation: 3,740 ft

Average elevation: 1,191 ft

Average elevation: 656 ft

Average elevation: 56 ft

The area is surrounded on the southwest by the Santa Rosa Mountains, by the San Jacinto Mountains to the west, the Little San Bernardino Mountains to the east and San Gorgonio Mountain to the north. These mountains peak at around 11,000 feet (3,400 m) and tend to average between 5,000 and 7,000 feet (1,500 and…

Average elevation: 236 ft

Average elevation: 509 ft

Downieville is a census-designated place in and the county seat of Sierra County, California, United States. Downieville is on the North Fork of the Yuba River, at an elevation of 2,966 feet (904 m). The 2020 United States census reported Downieville's population was 290.

Average elevation: 3,796 ft

Average elevation: 472 ft

Average elevation: 269 ft

Average elevation: 23 ft

Average elevation: 3,310 ft

Average elevation: 3,911 ft

Average elevation: 938 ft

Average elevation: 59 ft

Average elevation: 207 ft

Average elevation: 2,103 ft

Average elevation: 98 ft

Average elevation: 1,056 ft

Average elevation: 115 ft

Average elevation: 807 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

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: 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: 1,404 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: 4,049 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: 1,804 ft

Average elevation: 492 ft

Average elevation: 1,322 ft

Average elevation: 4,560 ft

Average elevation: 187 ft

Average elevation: 3,219 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

Average elevation: 5,607 ft

Average elevation: 5,118 ft

Average elevation: 6,614 ft

Average elevation: 197 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: 3,501 ft

Average elevation: 4,272 ft

Average elevation: 4,833 ft