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

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: 98 m

Average elevation: 201 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: 3,888 m

Average elevation: 3,888 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

Average elevation: 550 m

Average elevation: 496 m

Average elevation: 43 m

Average elevation: 540 m

The prehistoric Hog Back landslide lies in the canyon of San Antonio Creek at 4000' elevation. When the slide occurred, it dammed the river, whose depth built up until the water was released catastrophically, forming a slot canyon which now holds some of the area's few good rock climbing routes (difficulty…

Average elevation: 2,675 m

Green Valley is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in the Sierra Pelona Mountains, in Los Angeles County, California. It lies at an elevation of 2936 feet (895 m). The population was 1,036 at the 2020 census, up from 1,027 at the 2010 census.

Average elevation: 1,057 m

Average elevation: 433 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

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

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: 480 m

Average elevation: 981 m

Average elevation: 11 m

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: 72 m

Average elevation: 803 m

Average elevation: 27 m

Average elevation: 1,709 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: 521 m

Average elevation: 1,595 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

The beach is less than 0.5 miles (0.8 km) long and sheltered in San Luis Bay, which is formed by Point San Luis on the west and Fossil Point on the east. Avila Beach faces south and the 600 foot elevation of Point San Luis breaks the prevailing northwesterly winds. It is therefore usually warmer than the other…

Average elevation: 46 m

Average elevation: 172 m

Average elevation: 190 m

Average elevation: 57 m

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: 469 m

Average elevation: 749 m

Average elevation: 1,986 m

Sierra City (Sierra, Spanish for "mountain range") is a census-designated place in Sierra County, California, United States. The elevation of Sierra City is 4,147 feet (1,264 m), and the town is situated in the canyon of the North Yuba River on California State Route 49, twelve miles northeast of the county…

Average elevation: 1,608 m

Crowley Lake is a census-designated place in Mono County, California. Crowley Lake sits at an elevation of 6,939 feet (2,115 m). The 2020 United States census reported Crowley Lake's population was 980.

Average elevation: 2,251 m

Average elevation: 943 m

Average elevation: 51 m

Average elevation: 1,171 m

Average elevation: 2,210 m

Average elevation: 2,361 m

Average elevation: 53 m

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: 2,086 m

Average elevation: 95 m

Average elevation: 22 m

Donner Peak is an 8,019-foot-elevation (2,444-meter) summit in Placer County, California, United States.

Average elevation: 2,171 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

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: 194 m

Average elevation: 1,043 m

Average elevation: 3,403 m

Average elevation: 1,261 m

Average elevation: 91 m

Average elevation: 339 m

Average elevation: 295 m

Average elevation: 428 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: 1,234 m

Average elevation: 1,008 m

Average elevation: 402 m

Average elevation: 1,542 m

Average elevation: 1,298 m

Average elevation: 42 m

Average elevation: 965 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

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: 1,560 m

Average elevation: 2,016 m

Average elevation: 60 m

Average elevation: 1,067 m

Average elevation: 1,302 m

Average elevation: 1,473 m