California's Overlooked Gems (The Towns & Places The Tourists Don't Know About) (Los Angeles: movies, live)

[Masterful_Man]

I leave for California in a few days and will spend a good month travelling the state, visiting many different towns, natural sites, and the big cities.

I'd like your input on what towns and cool places are often overlooked or underrated, or maybe off the beaten path?

My journey will begin in San Diego and I'll slowly make my way north, so I've already drawn up a map of most of the places I'll visit along the way, but I'd like to include other places that won't be filled with tourists.

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Purehess]

Knights Ferry is a cool little spot. It has the longest covered bridge east of the Mississippi, 330 feet long.
Its just east of Modesto off of the 120. Another nice ride is taking the 38 through Arrowhead and Big Bear, lots of little shops and bars.

[Des-Lab]

If you're into nature walks, I can't think of many places better than Kern Wildlife Reserve. It's out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by desolate farmland. Lots of wetland preserves-water, trees, critters, etc. The peace, quiet, and solitude is unbelievable. And few people know about it. I've been there a number of times and never encountered more than maybe just two or three other visitors. And best of all. Costs nothing to get in. Just gas to get to and from there.

Closest towns would be either Delano, Corcoran, or maybe Kettleman City, though all are about 30 miles or more away. So this place is definitely isolated. Yet easy to get to and from. Can easily be turned in one day from most of SoCal.

From I-5, exit Utica. Take it all the way east to 6th St, turn south and go a few miles until you come to it.

From the 99, exit Grace Hwy in Delano, take it west about 30 miles. Dead ends right at the entrance to the Reserve.

Definitely worth a visit if you're into that sort of thing.

[Maliblue]

I wouldn't call it unknown, but Vasquez Rocks in Agua Dulce came to mind, north of LA off the 14 freeway. Fun to climb, and they doubled for alien planets in Star Trek, Lost in Space, and dozens of Sci Fi B-movies...

Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation-Parks-Full List of Parks-Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park1

Take 14 farther to Mojave, and you can see a cool graveyard of abandoned airliners

The Mojave Airport Boneyard | Lost America

[Ragnar]

Salton City and the Salton Sea can be otherworldly as well, in a post-apocalyptic way. Although many of the structures you'll see in photographs are no longer standing, there is still a desolate otherness to the area. Just be ready for the stench.

[nightlysparrow]

Originally Posted by Masterful_Man

I'll slowly make my way north

Via the 5 or the 101?

[janellen]

Take 395 and check out the east slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It'll take your breath away. Lots of cute little towns like Bishop, Independence and Lone Pine (where Mt Whitney is located). The Alabama Hills, where a lot of early Western movies were made is also located in Lone Pine. They have a western movie museum there.

[LEFT]Lone Pine Peak and Mt. Whitney, Lone Pine, CA
[/LEFT]

The Alabama Hills

[NewsView]

Julian, Oak Glen and Green Valley. The most "overlooked" of the aforementioned is by far Green Valley, a rural community comprised of Oak woodlands in the Sierra Pelona Mountains. The community of Green Valley occupies an unincorporated area of Santa Clarita in Northern Los Angeles County, and is surrounded by Angeles National Forest. If you take Lake Elizabeth Road out of Green Valley (toward Palmdale/Antelope Valley) you will see pastoral rolling hills in the Leona Valley area, which is not far removed from Green Valley. Nearby Elizabeth Lake and Hughes Lake are among a series of "sag ponds" that formed along the San Andreas fault.

Here's a little trivia/lore about Elizabeth Lake:

"In 1780, the Spanish explorer-priest Junipero Serra named the lake La Laguna de Diablo (English: Devil's Lake), because some who lived nearby believed that within it dwelt a pet of the devil, which later came to be known as the Elizabeth Lake Monster."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizab...ty,_California)

[Masterful_Man]

Originally Posted by nightlysparrow

Via the 5 or the 101?

Both.

I'll be doing a few diversions to the east as well to see a few of the national parks, mainly Yosemite and Sequoia, and some of the smaller towns on the interior. Or I might go up the coast first and see them on the way back.

Originally Posted by NewsView

Julian, Oak Glen and Green Valley. The most "overlooked" of the aforementioned is by far Green Valley, a rural community comprised of Oak woodlands in the Sierra Pelona Mountains. The community of Green Valley occupies an unincorporated area of Santa Clarita in Northern Los Angeles County, and is surrounded by Angeles National Forest. If you take Lake Elizabeth Road out of Green Valley (toward Palmdale/Antelope Valley) you will see pastoral rolling hills in the Leona Valley area, which is not far removed from Green Valley. Nearby Elizabeth Lake and Hughes Lake are among a series of "sag ponds" that formed along the San Andreas fault.

Here's a little trivia/lore about Elizabeth Lake:

"In 1780, the Spanish explorer-priest Junipero Serra named the lake La Laguna de Diablo (English: Devil's Lake), because some who lived nearby believed that within it dwelt a pet of the devil, which later came to be known as the Elizabeth Lake Monster."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Lake_(Los_Angeles_County,_California)

Wow, thanks for that. That will definitely be on my list to visit.
And it's only an hour and thirty minutes from L.A.?

Originally Posted by janellen

Take 395 and check out the east slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. It'll take your breath away. Lots of cute little towns like Bishop, Independence and Lone Pine (where Mt Whitney is located). The Alabama Hills, where a lot of early Western movies were made is also located in Lone Pine. They have a western movie museum there.

[LEFT]Lone Pine Peak and Mt. Whitney, Lone Pine, CA
[/LEFT]

The Alabama Hills

I might take 395 on the way back.
I'm debating whether I should just take the coastal route North and then go through the interior on the way back, I think it would work best that way.

[nightlysparrow]

Originally Posted by Masterful_Man

I might take 395 on the way back..

If so, world's largest ghost town: Bodie, CA is about 75 miles SE of Lake Tahoe.