The Rough Guide to California [10 ed.] 1848368623, 978-1-84836-862-0

Citation preview

THE ROUGH GUIDE to

California Inspiring cities • Endless beaches • Creative cuisine

CALIFORNIA OREGON Alturas

Weed

Los Angeles IDAHO San Diego and around The deserts Death Valley, the Owens Valley and the Eastern Sierra The San Joaquin Valley, Yosemite and the Western Sierra The Central Coast San Francisco and the Bay Area The Gold Country and Lake Tahoe Northern California

1 2 3 4

Eureka

5

9

6 7 8

Fort Bragg

Reno

5

9

80

8

PACIFIC

Sacramento

7

San Francisco

UTAH

OCEA N

NEVADA Oakland Bishop

Santa Cruz

Fresno 15

4

5

Las Vegas

6 Bakersfield Barstow

Santa Barbara

40

1 Los Angeles

100 miles

Palm Springs

3 10

5

0

ARIZONA

San Luis Obispo

San Diego

2 8

MEXICO

About this book Rough Guides are designed to be good to read and easy to use. The book is divided into the following sections, and you should be able to find whatever you need in one of them. The introductory colour section is designed to give you a feel for California, suggesting when to go and what not to miss, and includes a full list of contents. Then comes basics, for pre-departure information and other practicalities. The guide chapters cover California in depth, each starting with a highlights panel, introduction and a map to help you plan your route. Contexts fills you in on history, wildlife, film and books while individual colour sections introduce California’s outdoors, music and cuisine. The book concludes with all the small print, including details of how to send in updates and corrections, and a comprehensive index.

This tenth edition published May 2011.

The publishers and authors have done their best to ensure the accuracy and currency of all the information in The Rough Guide to California, however, they can accept no responsibility for any loss, injury, or inconvenience sustained by any traveller as a result of information or advice contained in the guide.

The Rough Guide to

California

written and researched by

J.D. Dickey, Nick Edwards, Charles Hodgkins and Paul Whitfield

www.roughguides.com

Colour section

1

Introduction ............................... 6 Where to go ............................. 10 When to go .............................. 12 Things not to miss ................... 14

Basics

25

Getting there ............................ 27 Getting around ......................... 30 Accommodation....................... 36 Eating and drinking .................. 39 The media ................................ 42 Festivals and public holidays ... 43 Sports and outdoor pursuits .... 44 Shopping ................................. 51 Travel essentials ...................... 53

Guide

63

Los Angeles ........................ 65 San Diego and around ...... 161 The deserts ....................... 213 Death Valley, the Owens Valley and the Eastern Sierra ...... 261 5 The San Joaquin Valley, Yosemite and the Western Sierra ................................ 303 6 The Central Coast ............. 363 1 2 3 4

7 San Francisco and the Bay Area ........................... 429 8 The Gold Country and Lake Tahoe ........................ 549 9 Northern California ............ 601

Contexts

| C ONTE NTS |

Contents 683

History ................................... 685 Wildlife and the environment ... 696 California on film .................... 703 Books .................................... 711

Travel store

719

Small print & Index

727

Epicurean California colour section following p.192

Exploring the outdoors colour section following p.384

West Coast sounds colour section following p.600

3 왗왗 Joshua Tree National Park 왗 Newport Beach

101

Fort Bragg

HUMBOLDT REDWOODS STATE PARK

Eureka

REDWOOD NATIONAL PARK

101

299

Weed

5

Napa

Lake Berryessa

Clear Lake

Redding

Engle Lake

Medford

er

5

San José

Oakland

5

20

Goose

99

Stockton

Sacramento

80

395

50

120

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

Lake Tahoe

Mono Lake

Mammoth Lakes

S

Carson City

Reno 95

OREGON

Pyramid Lake

Honey Lake

Alturas

TAHOE NATIONAL FOREST

Eagle Lake

299

LAVA BEDS Lake NATIONAL MONUMENT

Lake Almanor

LASSEN VOLCANIC NATIONAL PARK

Shasta Lake

Mt Shasta

97

Upper Klamath Lake

Riv

San Francisco

1

36

JEDEDIAH SMITH 199 REDWOODS STATE PARK

80

95

6

N E V A D A

White Mountain Peak

Walker Lake

95

50

IDAHO

93

below sea level

0

300

600

1500

3000

6000

9000

12000

Feet

50

| INTRODUCTION | WHE RE TO GO | W HE N TO GO

4

Sacramento

R R A IE

UTAH

San Miguel

E 5

San Nicolas

N

E

Santa Catalina

Los Angeles

Bakersfield

Bishop

J

395

A

374

5

15

Tijuana

ANZA-BORREGO DESERT STATE PARK

Palm Springs

Barstow

D E S E R T

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK

178

San Diego

V E

Lone Pine

Gulf of Santa Catalina

Long Beach

Mt Whitney

Mt Williamson

San Clemente

99

Santa Cruz

CHANNEL ISLANDS NATIONAL PARK

Santa Rosa

Santa Barbara Sant a B arbara Cha nnel

101

in

100 miles

Big

y

0

C

AL ST OA

NG RA

O C E A N

an u

lle

1

er

Va

San Luis Obispo

r

J

q oa ey

101

Fresno

SEQUOIA & KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARKS A A D

P A C I F I C

u

Riv

Monterey

uin

Santa Cruz

S aq

Va l l O

V

ens

M

nJ o

T he Ow 40

MEXICO

8

Salton Sea

Mexicali

10

MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE

15

Las Vegas

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK

127

95

95

95

Rive

r

93

| INTRODUCTION | WHE RE TO GO | W HE N TO GO

Sa

Colorado

S

5

ARIZONA

| INTRODUCTION | WHE RE TO GO | W HE N TO GO

Introduction to

California Few regions of the world have been as idealized and mythologized as California – and yet it seldom fails to live up to the hype. The glamour, surf beaches and nearendless sun of LA and the Southern California coast are rightly celebrated, but from here you’re only a few hours’ drive from majestic snowy mountains, Wild West ghost towns, barren deserts pocked with Joshua trees and even ski resorts. Up the coast, boutique wine regions mix with primeval forests, wild seascapes and the sophistication of San Francisco and the Bay Area. This amazing variety is packed into just 160,000 square miles of North America’s West Coast. That’s an area nearly twice the size of Great Britain, and yet California only ranks as the third largest state in the union, after Alaska and Texas.

6

California represents the ultimate “now” society: urban life is lived in the fast lane, conspicuous consumption is often paramount, and, in some circles, having the right hairstyle, wardrobe, tan and income is everything. The supposed superficiality of California is just one side of the coin, however, created in equal measure by outsiders and Californians themselves – by San Franciscans contemptuous of LA’s position as entertainment, theme-park and beach-culture capital of America, and by Angelenos with a disregard for San Francisco as an outpost of snooty yuppies with pretensions to hipster, and hippy, culture. While there may be plenty of such elements in both towns, the full range of cultures and communities of California cannot be reduced to any one stereotype – there’s simply too much going on here.

• California’s “Golden State” nickname is perpetuated by the golden poppy, or Eschsholtzia californica, which appears all over California each spring and is the state flower. • California raised the flags of Spain, England, Mexico and the short-lived Bear Republic before it was admitted to the Union on September 9, 1850, as the thirty-first state. • Each year, California becomes home to more immigrants than any other state, with most settlers hailing from Latin America and Asia, though a smattering come from Europe, Russia and the Middle East. Almost a third of all immigrants to the US settle here.

Beyond the main centres, the atmosphere and environment change dramatically, the saturated cities giving way to dense groves of ancient trees, primitive rock carvings left by Native Americans, and eerie ghost towns. The sheer grandeur of the landscape is hard to beat – anywhere. The Pacific crashes on barely accessible coastlines teeming with sea lions. The snow-capped granite spires and clifs of the Sierra Nevada harbour gentle meadows where bears roam free. Raging snowmelt rivers carve deep canyons lined by thick forest of cedar and fir. Often, just a few miles away, you’re into desert landscapes dotted with abandoned mines and, if you time it right, blazing fields of golden California poppies.

| INTRODUCTION | WHE RE TO GO | W HE N TO GO

왖 The Transamerica Pyramid, San Francisco

Fact file

• The third largest state in the US, California boasts an almost 700-mile coast along the Pacific and around 25,000 square miles of desert. It’s also the most populous state, at almost 37 million inhabitants. In 2010, for the first time since the Gold Rush, California-born residents made up the majority of the state’s population. • Based on agriculture and the electronic, aerospace, film and tourism industries, the state’s economy is the strongest in the US. Indeed, if it were a country, California’s economy would rank as eighth largest in the world. In 2010 there were over 663,000 millionaires in California – more than any other state in the nation.

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왔 Napa Valley vineyards

| INTRODUCTION | WHE RE TO GO | W HE N TO GO 8

It’s easy to mix up your trip so that a morning spent whitewater rafting might be followed by an afternoon of wine tasting, before you watch the sun go down on a West Coast beach. The rigours of a long hike in the mountains can be eased by a wallow in some hot springs. And it can all be linked on a classic road trip; few are better than the one outlined in the box on p.12. Despite its focus on the here and now, California does have a fascinating past. Hunter-gathering Native American tribes had the place largely to themselves until Spanish missionaries up from modern-day Mexico started building a string of missions from 1770. Contact was minimal and on a small scale until the Gold Rush of the 1840s and 1850s – a period which gave California its “Golden State” moniker. People of all social and political stripes flocked to California, a pattern that has continued ever since and which has undoubtedly contributed to making this one of America’s most polarized states, home to right-wing bastions like Orange County and San Diego and yet also a principal source of America’s most dynamic left-wing movements: environmentalism, women’s lib, and gay and immigrant rights. Some of the fiercest protests of the 1960s took root here, and in many ways this is still the heart of liberal America, as California continues to set the standard for the rest of the country (if not the world) regarding progressive action and social tolerance. Put simply, this is a place that can be all things to all people. Whatever you want California to be, you’ll find it somewhere; and no matter what you expect, it’ll always surprise you.

Best of California | INTRODUCTION | WHE RE TO GO | W HE N TO GO

People are drawn to California year-round for its wonderfully diverse landscapes, fascinating sights and the extremes that make this the US’s most enticing state – our favourites are listed below. For our definitive list of the Californian highlights you really shouldn’t miss, see pp.14–24. Activities Rafting the Kern River, Kernville. See p.311. Hiking Half Dome, Yosemite National Park. See p.352. Riding the Giant Dipper roller coaster, Santa Cruz. See p.423. Skiing and boarding, Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe. See p.585. Cycling in Napa and Sonoma valleys. See p.608. Natural wonders Kelso Dunes, Mojave National Preserve. See p.259. Mono Lake, Lee Vining. See p.297. Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks. See p.322. Lassen Volcanic National Park. See p.657. Mount Shasta. See p.668. Festivals Pageant of the Masters, Laguna Beach. See p.133. Doo-dah Parade, Pasadena. See p.142. Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, San Francisco. See p.437. Pumpkin Festival, Half Moon Bay. See p.532. Jumping Frog Jubilee, Angels Camp. See p.570. Beaches Leo Carrillo State Park, north of Malibu. See p.81. Tourmaline Surfing Park, San Diego. See p.190. Pfeiffer Beach, Big Sur. See p.403. Stinson Beach, Marin County. See p.541. Sand Harbor, Lake Tahoe. See p.590. Foodie destinations LA burger joints. See p.134. Palm Springs. See p.232. Gourmet Ghetto, Berkeley. See p.541. San Francisco. See p.476. Yountville, Napa Valley. See p.611. Offbeat attractions Watts Towers, LA. See p.91. Salvation Mountain, Salton Sea. See p.245. Forestiere Underground Gardens, Fresno. See p.317. Mystery Spot, Santa Cruz. See p.425. Trees of Mystery, Del Norte County. See p.647. Historic sites Hollywood movie palaces, LA. See p.98. Old Town, San Diego. See p.183. Bodie Ghost Town, near Mono Lake. See p.300. Mission San Miguel Arcangel, San Miguel. See p.396. Johnsville, Plumas County. See p.581.

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| INTRODUCTION | WHE RE TO GO | W HE N TO GO

Where to go t’s worth keeping in mind that distances between the main destinations can be huge, and naturally you won’t be able to see everything on one trip. In an area so varied, it’s hard to pick out specific highlights, and much will depend on the kind of holiday you’re looking for. You may well start of in Los Angeles, far and away the biggest and most stimulating California city: a maddening collection of freeways and beaches, seedy suburbs and high-gloss neighbourhoods, and extreme lifestyles. From here you can head south to San Diego, with its broad, welcoming beaches and a handy position close to the Mexican border, or inland to the California deserts, notably Death Valley – as its name suggests, a barren, inhospitable landscape of volcanic craters and windswept sand dunes that in summer becomes the hottest place on earth. An alternative is to make the steady journey up the Central Coast, a gorgeous run following the shoreline north of LA through some of the state’s most dramatic scenery, and taking in some of its liveliest small towns, particularly Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz. The Central Coast marks the transition from Southern to Northern California – a break that’s more than just geographical. San Francisco, California’s other defining metropolis, is quite diferent from LA: the coast’s oldest, most European-styled city, it’s set compactly over a series of steep hills, with wooden Victorian houses tumbling down to water on both sides. From here you have access to some of the state’s most extraordinary scenery, not least in the national parks to the east, especially Yosemite, where powerful waterfalls cascade

I

왖 Yosemite National Park 10

into a sheer glacial valley that’s been immortalized by Ansel Adams – and countless others – in search of the definitive landscape photograph. Yosemite is the highlight of the Sierra Nevada mountains; south from here are the vast national parks of Sequoia and Kings Canyon, and north an interesting mix of quaint towns like Nevada City and resorts such as Lake Tahoe. North of San Francisco, the population thins and the landscape changes yet again. The climate is wetter up here, the valleys that much greener and flanked by a jagged coastline shadowed by mighty redwoods, the tallest trees in the world. Though many visitors choose to venture no further than the Napa Valley and Sonoma Wine Country and the Russian River Valley on weekend forays from the city, it’s well worth taking time out to explore the state’s northernmost regions, which are split distinctly in two. The coastline is simultaneously rugged and serene, guarded by towering redwoods; the interior, meanwhile, dominated by majestic Mount Shasta, is a volcanoscarred wilderness that’s as diferent from the stereotype of California as you could imagine.

With an estimated 500,000 tremors detected annually in the state, California is a seismic time bomb, bisected by the most famous faultline in the world, the San Andreas, which runs loosely from San Francisco to Los Angeles and marks the junction of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates. Given its fearsome reputation, though, it’s not the most active fault at the moment – that honour goes to one of its connected faults, known as the Hayward. Despite the 1906 San Francisco earthquake’s notoriety, it wasn’t actually the quake itself that levelled the city, but a careless homeowner cooking breakfast on a gas stove at the time; the ensuing fire raged for four days, razed 28,000 buildings, and left at least 3000 dead. Since then, there have been several significant quakes, most recently in 1989, when San Francisco again shook during the Loma Prieta, named after its epicentre close to Santa Cruz and responsible for the horrifying collapse of a double-decker freeway, and in 1994, when the Northridge quake tore through the north side of LA, rupturing freeways and flattening an apartment building. Of course, everyone’s waiting for the so-called Big One, a massive earthquake that, it’s feared, could wipe out Los Angeles or San Francisco. Speculation has intensified recently, since experts have pegged the interval between major ruptures in the southern reaches of the San Andreas at 140 years: the last such quake was Fort Tejon in 1857.

| INTRODUCTION | WHE RE TO GO | W HE N TO GO

왖 Gourmet dining in Beverly Hills

On shaky ground

11

The classic California road trip | INTRODUCTION | WHE RE TO GO | W HE N TO GO

With a couple of weeks at your disposal and an ambition to see a cross section of the best California has to offer you can’t go too far wrong with this city, coast, wine, mountain and desert loop starting in LA (though equally feasible from San Francisco or even Las Vegas). Los Angeles Get your fix of Tinseltown and beach culture. The Central Coast Drive slowly up Hwy-1 with stops at Santa Barbara, Hearst Castle, Santa Cruz and along the wild Big Sur Coast. San Francisco Sample the best of the Bay Area with a side trip to the Sonoma and Napa valley wineries. Gold Country Swing east into the quaint old gold towns of the Sierra foothills. Yosemite Gaze slack-jawed at the magnificent scenery and visit the stupendously big sequoias of California’s finest national park. Owens Valley Photograph the otherworldly tufa towers in Mono Lake and the world’s oldest trees in the bristlecone pine forests of the White Mountains. Death Valley Experience the barren landscapes of the hottest place on earth. Joshua Tree Freakish trees, sensual boulders and the howl of the coyote make camping in this national park a real treat. Palm Springs Sip a cocktail by the pool in a Mid-century Modern resort and take in a celebrity tour. Los Angeles Last chance to wrap up your shopping.

When to go alifornia’s climate is as varied as its landscape: in Southern California, count on endless days of sunshine from May to October, and warm, dry nights – though LA’s notorious smog is at its worst when temperatures are highest, in August and September. Along the coast, mornings can be hazily overcast, especially in May and June, though you’ll still tan – or burn – under grey skies. In winter temperatures drop somewhat, but, more importantly, weeks of rain can cause massive mudslides that wipe out roads and hillside homes. Inland, the deserts are warm in winter and unbearably hot (49°C is not unusual) in summer; desert nights can be freezing in winter, when it can even snow. For serious white stuf, head to the mountains, where hiking trails at the higher elevations are covered with snow from November to June: skiers can take advantage of wellgroomed slopes among the Sierra Nevada mountains and around Lake Tahoe. The coast of Northern California is wetter and cooler than the south, its summers tempered by sea breezes and fog, and its winters mild but damp. San Francisco, because of its exposed position at the tip of a peninsula, can

C

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| INTRODUCTION | WHE RE TO GO | W HE N TO GO

왖 Golden Gate Bridge

be chilly all year, with summer fog often rolling in and chasing of what may have started of as a pleasant day. Head across the bay to Oakland, though, and you’ll be back in the sun. Average temperatures and rainfall Jan

Apr

Jul

Oct

66/39 19/4 0.4/10

89/62 32/17 0.1/3

115/86 46/30 0.0/0

92/61 33/16 0.1/3

55/41 13/5 5.9/150

57/44 14/7 2.9/74

63/53 17/12 0.2/5

61/48 16/9 2.4/61

41/15 5/-9 6.9/175

53/26 12/-3 2.5/64

79/40 26/4 0.5/13

62/26 17/-3 2.2/56

68/48 20/9 3.3/84

73/54 23/12 0.8/20

84/65 29/18 0.0/0

79/60 26/16 0.4/10

66/50 19/10 2.3/58

69/56 21/13 0.8/20

76/66 24/19 0.0/0

74/61 23/16 0.4/10

56/43 13/6 4.5/114

64/48 17/9 1.2/31

71/55 22/13 0.0/0

70/52 21/11 1.0/25

Death Valley max/min (˚F) max/min (˚C) rain (inches/mm) Eureka max/min (˚F) max/min (˚C) rain (inches/mm) Lake Tahoe max/min (˚F) max/min (˚C) rain (inches/mm) Los Angeles max/min (˚F) max/min (˚C) rain (inches/mm) San Diego max/min (˚F) max/min (˚C) rain (inches/mm) San Francisco max/min (˚F) max/min (˚C) rain (inches/mm)

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| AC TIVITIE S | CONSUM E | E V E NTS | NATURE | S I GHTS |



things not to miss

It’s not possible to see everything that California has to ofer in one trip – and we don’t suggest you try. What follows is a selective taste of the state’s highlights, from its bustling beaches to its deserted Gold Rush outposts. They’re arranged in five colour-coded categories to help you find the very best to see, do and experience. All highlights have a page reference to take you straight into the Guide, where you can find out more.

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01

%LJ6XUPage 400 • Bask in the secluded beauty of Big Sur’s approximately ninety miles of rocky cliffs and crashing waves along the Pacific.

| AC TIVITIE S | CONSUM E | E V E NTS | NATURE | S I GHTS |

6DQWD0RQLFD0RXQWDLQVPage 118 • The verdant canyons and rocky crags of this range of low mountains, bordering the northern edge of Los Angeles, provide an escape for humans and refuge for wildlife.

02

6XUƂQJSee Exploring the outdoors colour section • From the gargantuan waves at Mavericks to the hot-dogging longboard heaven of Malibu, California’s consummate pastime can be enjoyed yearround on beaches all along its coast.

04

/DYD%HGV1DWLRQDO 0RQXPHQWPage 675 • The eerie black volcanic landscape and massive network of nearly 750 lava tubes are also the site of some grim history.

03

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| AC TIVITIE S | CONSUM E | E V E NTS | NATURE | S I GHTS |

05

+HDUVW&DVWOHPage 393 • Of all California’s lavish dreams, none quite rivals William Randolph Hearst’s monument to himself, which boasts a Mudejar cathedral facade. 0H[LFDQIRRGPage 40 • Duck into a roadside taquería or burrito joint to enjoy one of the state’s signature cuisines.

07

&UXLVLQJWKH6XQVHW 6WULS Page 109 • The Sunset Strip has long been a choice LA hangout, jammed with groovy bars and clubs, swanky hotels and towering billboards selling all manner of vices.

06

16

08

7XIDWRZHUVRI0RQR/DNH Page 299 • See the fluffy, sandcastle-like tufa spires that have frothed up from below the surface of this fast-shrinking body of water.

6HTXRLD1DWLRQDO3DUN Page 322 • The trees after which this park is named are some of the world’s biggest – and oldest – living things.

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| AC TIVITIE S | CONSUM E | E V E NTS | NATURE | S I GHTS |

6NLLQJDQG VQRZERDUGLQJ Pages 584 & 295 • Hit California’s celebrated slopes, home to unbeatable downhill skiing and snowboarding.

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5HG5RFN&DQ\RQPage 253 • Once used as a backdrop in Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, the canyon’s rock formations present a panoply of aboriginal carvings.

| AC TIVITIE S | CONSUM E | E V E NTS | NATURE | S I GHTS | 18

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6DQ)UDQFLVFR3ULGH Page 495 • In late June, the San Francisco Pride parade takes over the streets of San Francisco’s Castro district in exuberant fashion.