Inyo 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: 113 m

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: 71 m

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: 230 m

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: 158 m

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: 3,717 m

Average elevation: 2,164 m

Average elevation: 42 m

Average elevation: 91 m

Average elevation: 1,977 m

Average elevation: 3,888 m

Average elevation: 53 m

Average elevation: 712 m

Average elevation: 1,680 m

Average elevation: 429 m

Average elevation: 106 m

Average elevation: 306 m

Average elevation: 2,484 m

Average elevation: 1,496 m

Groveland is a census-designated place (CDP) in Tuolumne County, California. Groveland sits at an elevation of 3,136 feet (956 m). The 2020 United States census reported Groveland's population was 540.

Average elevation: 898 m

Average elevation: 2 m

Average elevation: 798 m

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: 1,437 m

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: 3,903 m

Average elevation: 1,473 m

Average elevation: 521 m

Average elevation: 201 m

Average elevation: 624 m

Average elevation: 57 m

Average elevation: 118 m

Average elevation: 1,087 m

Average elevation: 2,846 m

Average elevation: 57 m

Average elevation: 571 m

McKinleyville (formerly Minorsville) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Humboldt County, California McKinleyville is located 5.25 miles (8.4 km) north of Arcata, at an elevation of 141 feet (43 m). The population was 15,177 at the 2010 census, up from 13,599 at the time of the 2000 census.

Average elevation: 49 m

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: 1,118 m

Average elevation: 2,082 m

Average elevation: 43 m

Average elevation: 2,098 m

Average elevation: 24 m

Average elevation: 1,334 m

Average elevation: 428 m

Average elevation: 3,888 m

Average elevation: 1,709 m

"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: 702 m

Average elevation: 496 m

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: 1,673 m

Average elevation: 98 m

Average elevation: 194 m

Average elevation: 1,261 m

Average elevation: 1,008 m

Average elevation: 1,298 m

Average elevation: 1,302 m

The highest peaks of the crest of the coast range are located at an average distance from the coast of three and a half miles [5.6 km]. In this distance they rise to elevations of from three thousand six hundred to five thousand feet [1,100 to 1,500 m] above the sea-level. From San Carpoforo Creek to…

Average elevation: 193 m

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

Average elevation: 1,123 m

Average elevation: 1,612 m

On January 17, 2007, an unusually cold storm brought snow in the Santa Monica Mountains. The hills above Malibu picked up three inches (eight centimeters) of snow - the first measurable snow in fifty years. Snow was reported on Boney Peak in the winter of 2005; and in March 2006, snow also fell on the summit…

Average elevation: 201 m

Average elevation: 1,303 m

Frazier Park is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California. It is 5 miles (8 km) west of Lebec, at an elevation of 4,639 feet (1,414 m). It is one of the Mountain Communities of the Tejon Pass. The population was 2,691 in the 2010 census, up from 2,348 in 2000.

Average elevation: 1,533 m

Average elevation: 107 m

Average elevation: 1,754 m

At 9,407 feet (2,867 m) in elevation, Mount Baden-Powell is traditionally considered to be the 5th highest peak of the San Gabriel Range; however it is the second highest peak in the range with more than 1,000 feet (300 m) of prominence, and is the highest peak not part of the Mount San Antonio massif.

Average elevation: 2,429 m

Average elevation: 644 m

Average elevation: 749 m

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: 254 m

Average elevation: 513 m

Average elevation: 21 m

Average elevation: 742 m

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: 409 m

Average elevation: 304 m

Average elevation: 103 m

Average elevation: 1,628 m

Average elevation: 148 m

Average elevation: 397 m

Average elevation: 9 m

Average elevation: 1,931 m

Average elevation: 2,552 m

Average elevation: 1,253 m

4S Ranch is underlain by Jurassic Santiago Peak Volcanics, Tertiary Stadium conglomerate, and slope wash alluvium. The land of 4S Ranch before development consisted of a variety of landforms ranging from nearly flat-lying mesas and gently rolling hills to rugged, steeply-sloping hillside terrain. Elevations…

Average elevation: 183 m

Average elevation: 22 m

Average elevation: 119 m

Average elevation: 5 m

Average elevation: 1,109 m

Average elevation: 322 m

Average elevation: 35 m

Average elevation: 246 m

Average elevation: 1,460 m

Average elevation: 189 m

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: 542 m

Average elevation: 950 m

Average elevation: 1,127 m

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: 30 m

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: 1,788 m

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: 2,627 m

Average elevation: 7 m

Average elevation: 45 m

Average elevation: 1,043 m

Average elevation: 8 m

Average elevation: 12 m

Average elevation: 1,043 m

Average elevation: 3,403 m