California Travel

Aside from crowds of hikers, campers, and general tourists, there's a dark side to these three locations in California; the famous Yosemite, Joshua Tree, and Mount Shasta. From strange disappearances, grisly murders, and bone-chilling paranormal hauntings to ghost sightings, these pristine locales have a lot more to offer than just serene hiking trails or camping. In this second installment of National Park Mysteries & Disappearances, Steve Stockton, along with Bill Melder, presents the listener with a side to these locations you've never heard before.

Acclaimed author, historian, and Guggenheim Fellow Kevin Starr is a professor at the University of Southern California. His extensive knowledge shines through this concise, yet comprehensive, depiction of the most fascinating aspects in California's history. From its colonial beginnings through Governor Schwarzenegger's administration, the Golden State has become a uniquely American phenomenon that has enchanted people with the possibility of a better life.

***Newly Updated in 2025*** Yosemite National Park is one of the most popular national parks in the United States. With its soaring granite peaks, waterfalls, and wildlife, it is no wonder it has become an iconic vacation destination for millions of people every year. Let this edition of 101 Travel Bits™ be your insider’s guide to Yosemite National Park. 101 Travel Bits are not your typical guidebooks. Each collection of 101 Travel Bits consists of 101 “bits” of information about one of the great places to visit in the world. This could be a “bit” of history, a “bit” of ...

Nick Neely chronicles his 650-mile trek on foot from San Diego to San Francisco, following the route of the first overland Spanish expedition into what was soon called Alta California. Led by Gaspar de Portolá in 1769, the expedition sketched a route that would become, in part, the famous El Camino Real. It laid the foundation for the Golden State we know today, a place that remains as mythical and captivating as any in the world.

The Mountains of California: Explore the Towering Sequoias, Glacial Valleys, and Wild Landscapes That Shaped John Muir’s Love for Nature. The book is both a personal adventure and a call to preserve the beauty of California’s wilderness, making it a classic piece of environmental literature.

Journalist Susan Casey was in her living room when she first glimpsed this strange place and its resident sharks, their dark fins swirling around a tiny boat in a documentary. These great whites were the alphas among alphas, the narrator said, some of them topping 18 feet in length, and each fall they congregated here off the northern California coast.

Fifteen years after a steamy tryst during her study abroad program, Morgan Ryder's structured life is thrown into disarray when Alex, her mysterious one-night fling, unexpectedly reenters her world as the pilot for her company. The sparks between the two women still sizzle as intensely as that long-ago night when they parted ways, their full identities shrouded. Alex's sudden reappearance forces Morgan to confront unresolved desires and shocking truths that threaten to upend her stable world. Her trusted friend and business partner, Sean, harbors a shattering secret, while their once-steady...

The biggest redwood trees are over 1,000 years old, rising more than 35 stories in what's left of the once-vast, ancient redwood forest. Believed to be impossible to ascend, these majestic giants have remained unexplored until recently, when a tiny group of daring botanists and amateur naturalists discovered a lost, dangerous, and hauntingly beautiful world high above California.

Summer and Leo would do anything for each other. Inspired by the way each has had to carve her place in a hostile and unforgiving world, and united by the call of the open road, they travel around sunny California in Summer’s tricked-out Land Cruiser. It’s not a glamorous life, but it gives them the freedom they crave from the painful pasts they’ve left behind. But even free spirits have bills to pay. Luckily, Summer is a skilled pickpocket, a small-time thief, and a con artist—and Leo, determined to pay her own way, has learned a trick or two.

A wondrous, uproarious, and surprisingly informative account of a year spend surfing, Caught Inside marks the arrival of an exuberant new voice of the outdoors. This remarkable narrative of Daniel Duane’s life on the water is enhanced by good-humored explanations of the physics of wave dynamics, the intricate art of surfboard design, and lyrical, sharp-eyed descriptions of the flora and fauna of the Pacific wilderness.

Most travel books tell you how to travel like a tourist. Although there is nothing wrong with that, as part of the Greater Than a Tourist series, this audiobook will give you travel tips from someone who has lived at your next travel destination. You will discover advice that will help you throughout your stay. This audiobook will not tell you exact addresses or store hours, but it will give you excitement and knowledge from a local that you may not find in other travel books.

Discover the breathtaking national parks of California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii like never before. Pacific Wonders blends vivid stories, fascinating history, and practical travel advice to create the ultimate companion for your next adventure. From towering redwoods to volcanic peaks, this guide reveals both iconic landmarks and hidden treasures. Learn the rich history behind each park, explore the best hiking trails with detailed tips, uncover secret spots most visitors miss, and immerse yourself in the diverse flora, fauna, and geology that make these landscapes extraordinary.

This photo-based tour includes over 85 photos from the following San Diego locations: the San Diego Zoo, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Sea World, Cabrillo National Monument, Old Point Loma Lighthouse, and the USS Midway.

California is the most multicultural state in the nation. As John Mack Faragher argues in this concise and lively history, that is nothing new. California's natural variety has always supported diversity, including Native peoples speaking dozens of distinct languages, Spanish and Mexican colonists, gold seekers from all corners of the globe, and successive migrant waves from the eastern states, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the Pacific Islands. Beautifully crafted and elegantly written, Faragher tells the stories of a colorful cast of characters, some famous, others mostly unknown.

Kin Stewart is an everyday family man: working in IT, trying to keep the spark in his marriage, struggling to connect with his teenage daughter, Miranda. But his current life is a far cry from his previous career...as a time-traveling secret agent from 2142. Stranded in suburban San Francisco since the 1990s after a botched mission, Kin has kept his past hidden from everyone around him, despite the increasing blackouts and memory loss affecting his time-traveler’s brain. Until one afternoon, his “rescue” team arrives - 18 years too late.

It's a travel story. In September 2023 we took a plane to San Francisco. We planned to visit California and that's what we did. After San Francisco we travelled to Merced, Yosemite, Sacramento and afterwards we went to Monterey, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. We travelled by bus and it was a fabulous experience. It was an opportunity to meet different people and the diversity of California. After Los Angeles we went back to San Francisco and finally back to France. Read the book, you'll know more about this beautiful journey.

Abducted off the space station where I teach the standard galactic language, I'm imprisoned with two other women in a cold, dirty cell on an alien ship. We're destined for something worse than death until a fierce, blue-haired alien male rescues us. We recover on his ship with his group of Heveian pirates. There, the attraction that formed when he first carried me in his arms grows into a force neither of us can deny. But something else has taken up residence on the ship. Something that will stop at nothing to destroy us all.

In 1959, Hollywood ingenue Mercy Welles seems to have the world at her feet. Far removed from her Nebraska roots, she has crafted herself into a glamorous Oscar-nominated actress engaged to an up-and-coming director… Until she shockingly vanishes without a trace, just as her career is taking off. Almost sixty years later, Kit O’Neill, a junior television producer in Manhattan, is packing up her recently deceased grandmother’s attic, only to discover a long-lost box of souvenirs that reveal that the grandmother who raised her and her sister was, in fact, the mysterious Mercy Welles.

Are you excited about planning your next trip? Do you want to try something new? Would you like some guidance from a local? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this Greater Than a Tourist book is for you. Greater Than a Tourist - San Francisco California USA by Tom Peterson offers the inside scoop on San Francisco from the point of view of someone who lived there for many years.

Are you ready to explore the sun-kissed beauty of Southern California, but don’t want to miss out on its hidden gems? Exploring the Best of Southern California is your ultimate 3-in-1 travel guide, written by a local who knows all the secret spots! This guide covers Santa Barbara, San Diego, and San Luis Obispo Counties—offering a complete adventure through some of the most scenic and culturally rich regions in the Golden State.