Paramount 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

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 city marina is on one of three islands at a narrow point on the 13-mile-long (21 km) bay and increases in elevation slightly as it spreads north, south, and especially to the east. The city gently encroaches at least two miles (3.2 km) eastward into primarily Redwood and Douglas-fir second growth forests.…

Average elevation: 100 m

Average elevation: 1,709 m

Average elevation: 496 m

Average elevation: 1,298 m

Average elevation: 3,888 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

Average elevation: 2,124 m

Average elevation: 201 m

Average elevation: 367 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: 1,986 m

It is the fourteenth most topographically prominent peak in the contiguous United States. White Mountain Peak is one of only two fourteeners (peaks above 14,000 feet) in California that are not in the Sierra Nevada, the other being Mount Shasta at the far northern end of the state in the Cascade Range. It is…

Average elevation: 3,880 m

Average elevation: 1,628 m

Average elevation: 2,673 m

Average elevation: 40 m

Average elevation: 1,234 m

Cajon Pass (/kəˈhoʊn/; Spanish: Puerto del Cajón or Paso del Cajón) is a mountain pass between the San Bernardino Mountains to the east and the San Gabriel Mountains to the west in Southern California. Created by the movements of the San Andreas Fault, it has an elevation of 3,777 ft (1,151 m). Located in…

Average elevation: 1,169 m

Average elevation: 206 m

Average elevation: 277 m

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: 57 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: 428 m

Average elevation: 521 m

Average elevation: 871 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

Average elevation: 144 m

Gorda (Spanish for "Fat") is a hamlet in Monterey County, California. It is located 3 mi (4.8 km) south of Cape San Martin, at an elevation of 148 ft (45 m). It is one of the three small settlements of filling stations, restaurants, and motels located along State Route 1 on the Big Sur coast. The ZIP Code is…

Average elevation: 168 m

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: 3,011 m

Average elevation: 749 m

The Gulf of California would extend as far north as the city of Indio, were it not for the delta created by the Colorado River. Over three million years, through all of the Pleistocene, the river's delta expanded until it cut off the northern part of the gulf. Since then, the Colorado River has alternated…

Average elevation: 9 m

Average elevation: 642 m

Rescue, formerly Green Valley, El Dorado County, California, is an unincorporated community in El Dorado County, California. It is located north-northwest of Shingle Springs and north-northeast of Cameron Park. The zip code is 95672, and Rescue is located in area code 530. The town lies at an elevation of 1214…

Average elevation: 393 m

Average elevation: 43 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

Mount Shasta (/ˈʃæstə/ SHASS-tə; 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…

Average elevation: 3,717 m

Average elevation: 339 m

Average elevation: 313 m

Average elevation: 900 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: 322 m

Average elevation: 35 m

Average elevation: 246 m

Average elevation: 1,977 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: 1,334 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

Average elevation: 7 m

Average elevation: 45 m

Average elevation: 1,043 m

Average elevation: 8 m

Average elevation: 12 m

Average elevation: 194 m

Average elevation: 1,043 m

Average elevation: 3,403 m

Average elevation: 1,261 m

Average elevation: 803 m

Average elevation: 91 m

Average elevation: 339 m

Average elevation: 295 m

Average elevation: 34 m

Average elevation: 2 m

Average elevation: 138 m

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: 36 m

Average elevation: 986 m

Average elevation: 798 m

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: 1,464 m

Average elevation: 27 m

Average elevation: 1,008 m

Average elevation: 402 m

Average elevation: 1,542 m

Average elevation: 42 m

Average elevation: 965 m

Average elevation: 1,371 m

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: 837 m

Average elevation: 550 m

Average elevation: 62 m

Average elevation: 150 m

Average elevation: 403 m

Average elevation: 1,390 m

Average elevation: 57 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

Average elevation: 981 m

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: 1,887 m

Average elevation: 3,888 m

Average elevation: 1,560 m

Average elevation: 2,016 m

Average elevation: 60 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: 1,067 m

Average elevation: 1,302 m

Average elevation: 1,473 m

Average elevation: 1,831 m

Average elevation: 59 m