#133 Box Springs Mountain

Box Springs Mountain is a beautiful reserve in Riverside. With its many hiking trails and rolling green hills in the wintertime, the 3,000 foot park provides sweeping views of the Inland Empire and its surrounding mountains. The City of Riverside as well as University of California Riverside manages the 1,155 acre reserve. Early Pioneers used this mountain for its natural spring and surrounded the spring with a box from which it got its name.

 

#132 Manzanar National Historic Site

Manzanar National Historic Site protects and preserves one of America's darkest moments in history. Japanese Americans were sent away to live in 'War Relocation Centers' aka concentration camps during World War II. This Owens Valley camp had very primitive conditions and was extremely hot and dusty in the summer while cold in the winter. It is not a place many choose to live by their free will. These American Citizens worked to keep the camp running with pitiful salaries about $8-19 a month or $115-275 in 2016 dollars.

Even though treated unfairly, these Japanese Americans were extremely strong and bonded together. They made the camp more beautiful by creating gardens with stunning landscapes while growing closer as families. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan gave a formal apology for the treatment of these law abiding citizens and created a reparations act. Although it is hard to remember, it is important to never forget about our past so we do not make the same terrible mistakes today.

 

#131 Crystal Cave

Crystal Cave is a beautiful cave in Sequoia National Park and one of 240 known caves in the park. Amazing polished marble chambers and formations decorate the walls and ceilings. At a constant 48 degrees, Pleistocene era fossils and minerals are protected among stalactites and stalagmites. Crystal Cave is a must see and a great way to discover the subterranean of Sequoia.

 

#130 Mission San Diego de Alcalá

Mission San Diego de Alcalá was the first of the 21 California Missions founded on July 16th 1769. It is known as the birthplace of Christianity in the West and was created to convert the Kumeyaay Native Americans. The Mission System was a new way of life for the Kumeyaay whose lives now consisted of living and working by the ringing bells. This linear idea of time did not serve the Kumeyaay well and the mission system crumbled during Mexican Independence. Unfortunately, many Native Americans had passed away from the diseases they were exposed to during Mission times.

#129 Cathedral Cove

Cathedral Cove is one of the jewels of Anacapa Island in Channel Islands National Park. Its crystal clear waters and rocky shore provide a dramatic ocean vista while seclusion and lack of visitors make it an extremely peaceful treat.

 

#128 Black Hill

Black Hill is a 665 foot mountain vista in Morro Bay State Park on the Central Coast along Morro Bay Lagoon. The hill provides a 360 degree view of San Luis Obispo county including the lagoon, ocean, Santa Lucia Mountain Range and the rolling green foothills. It is one of the famous 'Nine Sisters' volcano plugs in San Luis Obispo which formed over 20 million years ago. At a half mile round trip hike, this short hike boasts an incredibly memorable view. 

 

#127 Abalone Cove Shoreline Park

Abalone Cove Shoreline Park in Rancho Palos Verdes is one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline in Southern California. This 64 acre ecological reserve includes beautiful coves, tide pools and bluff top trails. Starfish and sunbathing seals surround the deep blue waters while the rolling hills in the background make for a perfect wild afternoon close to the city.

 

#126 Peter Strauss Ranch

Peter Strauss Ranch is an enchanting park in the Santa Monica Mountains. Beautiful oak woodlands surround the ranch house as well as the cactus garden, original swimming pool and bird cage ruins. Trails wind through the National Park Service property which was once the ranch for actor Peter Strauss. It is also sacred land for the Chumash Native Americans who resided in these mountains for thousands of years. 

 

#125 Laguna Coast Wilderness Park

Laguna Coast Wilderness Park preserves 7,000 acres of coastal park in the San Joaquin Hills. These coastal canyons contain a variety of endangered sage scrub, cactus and bird species. The beautiful hills provide miles and miles of trails and provide the perfect opportunity to explore Orange County as it once looked for thousands of years before development.

 

#124 Granite Mountains

The wild rock formations of the Granite Mountains in the Mojave National Preserve are out of this world. Exotic eroded shapes are a wonderland for the imagination. The highest peak at 6,796 ft make it an area rich in biodiversity and lies within a transition zone for the Mojave Desert, Sonoran Desert, Great Basin Desert and Colorado Plateau.