249 Outdoors- Other to Explore in California

Abbot Kinney Boulevard is a mile-long road lined with shops, restaurants, and galleries located in the southern part of Venice, Los Angeles, California. It stretches from Washington Boulevard to Main Street and is home to one-of-a–kind local goods as well as internationally recognized brands. The street has numerous international flagship stores, boutiques, art galleries, salons, and fitness studios. Abbot Kinney is also a popular nightlife spot.

Adventure Playground is an urban park and adventure playground in Berkeley, California, located at the Berkeley Marina.The adventure playground model, sometimes referred to as a "junk playground," is to provide children with the resources to build. The available tools include saws, hammers, workbenches, and nails. The legal liability raised by giving children relatively unrestricted access to these tools has made adventure playgrounds rare in the United States.

The Alameda Creek Regional Trail runs from the mouth of Niles Canyon in Fremont to the San Francisco Bay, allowing recreational access to the levees on both sides of Alameda Creek and its flood control channel. The trail on each side of the creek is roughly 12 miles long. The trail on the south bank provides access to Coyote Hills Regional Park. An additional 3.5-mile-loop trail off the Alameda Creek Trail, into and out of Coyote Hills, and back onto the Alameda Creek Trail.

The Albany Bulb is a former construction debris landfill on San Francisco Bay where people have been making informal outdoor sculptures and paintings for decades. It's home to 150 species of birds, huge trees, wildflowers, amazing views, and lots of walking trails.The Bulb is part of the City of Albany, and can be reached via Buchanan Street or the Bay Trail along the east side of San Francisco Bay.

This 20.6 acre bayside park, located along Alviso slough and adjacent to the salt ponds and marshes of Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The park offers a great variety of recreational opportunities within its boundaries and leads visitors to the Refuge for bird watching, hiking along the pathways, boardwalks, and on regional trails including the San Francisco Bay Trail.It offer fantastic views of the mountains surrounding the bay, and of the wildlife.

Amboy Crater is a dormant cinder cone volcano that rises above a 70-square-kilometer lava field in the eastern Mojave Desert of southern California, within Mojave Trails National Monument. The Federal Bureau of Land Management recommends using the Western Cone Trail to reach the volcano peak's rim, a steep and rocky hiking trail.

The American River Parkway is a 32-mile parkway that runs along the American River throughout Sacramento County, California and consists of many smaller parks and boat launching points.

This is an artificial lake in Morgan Hill, located in southern Santa Clara County The 4,275 acre Anderson Park also features the Coyote Creek Parkway multiple use trails, the Jackson Ranch historic park site, the Moses L. Rosendin Park, and the Burnett Park area. It provides limited fishing, picnicking, and hiking activities. Although swimming is prohibited, boating, water-skiing and jet-skiing are permitted in the reservoir.

This is a 42-acre saltwater marsh, is one of the largest wildlife refuges in Santa Barbara County and is managed by the City of Santa Barbara Parks Division. The refuge has a 29-acre freshwater/brackish lake, an artificially modified estuary that is usually about four feet deep, which drains through East Beach into the Pacific Ocean. Three islands are located in the lake. A great overlook of the Bird Refuge is available at the neighboring Santa Barbara Zoo, below the Condor Exhibit.

Año Nuevo State Park is a state park of California which are known for their pinniped rookeries. Located in San Mateo County. The reserve contains a diversity of plant communities, including old growth forest, freshwater marsh, red alder riparian forest and knobcone pine forest.

Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve is a state-protected reserve of California, United States, harboring the most consistent blooms of California poppies, the state flower. The reserve is at an elevation ranging from 2,600 to 3,000 feet above sea level, in the Mojave Desert climate zone. The intense blooming season for the California poppy falls usually within late winter to early spring, during the months of mid-February through mid-May.

Anthony Chabot Regional Park is located in the hills of Oakland, in Northern California. Popular activities include hiking, cycling and horseback riding. Camping is a major activity in the park with a 75-campsite family campground and seven group camps. It is part of the East Bay Regional Park District system, and covers 5,067 acres.

Aquatic Park Historic District is a National Historic Landmark and building complex on the San Francisco Bay waterfront within San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. The district includes a beach, bathhouse, municipal pier, restrooms, concessions stand, stadia, and two speaker towers.

Ardenwood Historic Farm is a Regional Historic Landmark in Fremont, California. It offers a glimpse into life on a family farm between 1890 and 1930. Step back in time as you explore the remnants of the once vast estate of George and Clara Patterson, whose family farmed the land for over 100 years, beginning in the 1850s. This farm consists of the Ardenwood Station, the former Ohlone village and burial site, a blacksmith shop, an area with farm animals, Patterson House, and a gazebo.

Arroyo Verde Park is a beautiful and important natural preserve and recreational resource. The park consists of 132 acres of relatively rugged land - featuring 14 acres of tree lined open grass areas, individual picnic/barbecue sites, three group barbecue areas, a nature center, several miles of hiking trails, restrooms and two children's play areas.

Artists Drive is a scenic viewpoint in Inyo County. It crosses a sloping mountainside composed of vibrant soil colored by rich metals. The drive passes an area dubbed the Artist’s Palette, which is among the unique landmarks in Death Valley National Park that must be seen to believe. Artist’s Drive is a one-way road traveling from south to north. For those coming from Badwater Basin, this is an ideal side trek en route to Furnace Creek.

The Backbone Trail is a long-distance trail extending 67.79 miles across the length of the Santa Monica Mountains in the U.S. state of California. Its western terminus is Point Mugu State Park, and its eastern terminus is Will Rogers State Historic Park in Pacific Palisades. The trail is open to hikers throughout its length. Dogs, mountain bicyclists and horseback riders are only allowed on portions of the trail as posted.

Bald Rock is a granite batholith located in Butte County, California, in the Plumas National Forest. it was formed from a large body of melted rocks deep in the earth's crust. The Bald Rock Pluton is two miles wide, and was formed approximately 140 million years ago. The dome rises nearly 2,000 feet above the Middle Fork Feather River and Bald Rock Canyon to an elevation of 3,509 feet above sea level. Bald Rock Dome is similar to Half Dome, in Yosemite.

Baldy Bowl is a fluvial cirque, in the San Gabriel Mountains of the U.S. state of California, that forms much of the upper south face of Mount San Antonio. It is one of the most visited backcountry locales in the San Gabriels, and is popular with skiers, hikers, and climbers. It has a base elevation of around 8,200 ft.

This is the largest tract of undisturbed marshland remaining in the San Francisco Bay. Fifteen miles of multi-use trails provide access to a unique mixture of tidal and fresh water habitats. The preserve encompasses 1,940 acres in both Palo Alto and East Palo Alto, and is owned by the city of Palo Alto. It is an important habitat for migratory shorebirds and is considered one of the best birdwatching spots on the West Coast.