California's four main regions...

The Coast

The Central Valley

The Mountains

The Deserts

The Coast

  The northern and central coast's are cool and the wet climate helps thick forests grow.

  The southern coast is sunny.

  The California Coast stretches for 1,264 miles from the Oregon border in the north to Mexico in the south.

More than half of California's people reside in the coastal region.

[top]

The Central Valley

The Central Valley lies between the Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada.It is more than four hundred miles long and about fifty miles wide

The Central Valley is really two valleys in one. The San Joaquin Valley in the south is drained by the San Joaquin River. The Sacramento Valley in the north, is drained by the Sacramento River.

Land in the Central Valley is some of the best farmland in the world. It is hot and dry in the summer and cool and wet in the winter so it is perfect for growing.

[top]

The Mountains

  Over half of the land in the state is covered with mountains.

Califonia Mountain Peaks Map	Mt. Whitney Mount Whitney, the highest point in the United States, outside Alaska, It is14,495 feet above sea level in Sequoia National Park	Mt. Shasta In southeastern Siskiyou County is Mount Shasta. It's from volcanic origin and is 14,162 feet high.
		Klamath	Cascades (Shasta Cascades, includes Mount Shasta)
Mt. Lassen Mt. Lassen is 10,457 feet. It was an active volcano between 1914 and 1921.	The Sierra Nevada and the Coast Ranges are California's two major mountain ranges	The Klamath Mountains and the Cascades are located along the northern border of the state.
The Transverse Ranges bisect southern California.	Peninsular Ranges including Baja, California

[top]

The Deserts

Much of the eastern half of southern California is a large desert triangle.

  California Deserts like the Mojave Desert and the Colorado Desert are hot and dry year round.

Death Valley covers 3,000 miles of land	Joshua Tree