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California’s nickname, the Golden State, recalls the gold rush of 1848 that catapulted it into statehood. It also recalls the shimmering fields of golden poppies that early Spanish seafarers marveled at. “It looks like the land is on fire!” we can imagine them exclaiming. But perhaps most of all, it represents the rich diversity of our third largest state. In Death Valley, which stretches eastward into neighboring Nevada, is North America’s lowest point—282 feet below sea level. It’s also one of the hottest. A mere sixty miles away, cool snow frosts Mount Whitney, which towers 14,494 feet above sea level, the highest mountain in the lower 48 states. California also boasts living monuments, including Earth’s largest living things - redwoods. These giant trees dominate a coastal rainforest that stretches north into Alaska. California’s skies are patrolled by the rare California condor, North America’s largest flying bird. California is renowned for its diverse disasters, including floods, fires, and earthquakes. (The San Andreas Fault is the most famous earthquake fault in North America.) Yet its generally mild climate makes California the most populous of the fifty states. What other state could host Disneyland, Hollywood, and the San Diego Zoo? The desert basins of southern California give way to mighty mountain ranges farther north. Mount Whitney belongs to the Sierra Nevada, a mountain range which marches northward through eastern California. The Sierras are the home of Yosemite National Park, a glacier-carved rock garden of the gods watered by America’s highest waterfall. Along the Pacific coast are more mountains. The rugged Coast Ranges also tumble northward, broken into countless ridges and spurs. The coast of Southern California is renowned for its sandy beaches. Farther north, California’s 840-mile coast becomes rocky, rugged, but still beautiful. Between the Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges lie one of Earth’s richest agricultural areas—the Central Valley. Seen from the air, the Central Valley is a crazy-quilt of vegetable farms drained by the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers. Other fertile valleys lie within the spurs of the Coast Ranges. Northern California is part of the Pacific Northwest, a world apart from Disneyland, movie stars, and surfers. Lassen Peak and Mount Shasta dominate the slumbering volcanoes of the Cascades and other mountain ranges that ripple northward. Related Links
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