What is the most beautiful county in California? (Los Angeles, San Diego: live, beaches)

[Gentoo]

Hard to pick just one. My personal list:

Marin
Mendocino
Nevada
Placer
Siskyou
Inyo
Parts of San Bernardino County

[TarHeelTerritory]

Thanks everyone for the responses.

Does anyone have any thoughts on, for instance, Sonoma vs. Napa County specifically? Or like Mendocino vs. Humboldt or Santa Barbara vs. Ventura. Or any other comparisons of counties in a very similar geographic region? Aka what is the superlative county in a shared area and why?

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by TarHeelTerritory

Thanks everyone for the responses.

Does anyone have any thoughts on, for instance, Sonoma vs. Napa County specifically? Or like Mendocino vs. Humboldt or Santa Barbara vs. Ventura. Or any other comparisons of counties in a very similar geographic region? Aka what is the superlative county in a shared area and why?

At that level, the differences between most neighboring counties aren't much different than differences within a single county. Changes in most cases are gradual if at all. Not much difference between say Merced, Fresno, and San Joaquin Counties. However, Marin and Mendocino are quite clearly different counties. Sonoma which lies between them has characteristics of both. Then there are other counties like San Diego and Imperial which are different in almost every way except or course where they border one another.

[davdaven]

Monterey and Inyo Counties might top my list, but California is huge and many of its counties are bigger than other states, so even these two have good and bad parts.

Originally Posted by TarHeelTerritory

Does anyone have any thoughts on, for instance, Sonoma vs. Napa County specifically? Or like Mendocino vs. Humboldt or Santa Barbara vs. Ventura. Or any other comparisons of counties in a very similar geographic region? Aka what is the superlative county in a shared area and why?

There is too much diversity in each county to really say, I think, except in some cases. For example, I would choose Santa Barbara over Ventura, and San Diego over Orange.

[fresnochili]

Originally Posted by NW4me

Yes.... the redwoods, plus the coastline -- and the rivers too! -- make a magnificent combination.

I know, It's hard to pick just one..

[Boogoowoo]

I think Monterey

[DeanoSF]

A bit of a cop out, but it's too hard to narrow the most beautiful down to just one. In no particular order (of the ones I've seen):

Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Marin, San Diego, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Placer, Calaveras, Humboldt, San Francisco...

The not at all inspiring ones:

Sacramento, San Joaquin, Fresno, Solano

There are also some that are in the middle, for me, and have both:

Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Alameda, Contra Costa, Orange

[sacreole]

California is such a diverse state topographically speaking that you would need to break this down by region. In addition, one can find diverse climates and terrain in just one county alone. Riverside and San Bernardino Counties come to mind, which encompass deserts, mountains, and valleys. Even Los Angeles County features deserts, mountains, valleys, a coastline and two offshore islands (Santa Catalina and San Clemente).

[sprez33]

SLO and Monterey are my favorite among the many beautiful counties in CA. I love the golden rolling hills dotted with oak trees.

[RMESMH]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

I would go with Placer County, which includes part of the Tahoe National Forest, and some Tahoe lake shore. When it comes to the natural beauty of California, it's a matter of what you prefer - ocean, conifer forest, redwood forest, rivers, lakes, or mountains. With so many choices there, I would go with the part we find the most beautiful and where we go for vacation most years, the Sierras and Lake Tahoe.

Same here (because of Lake Tahoe).

Marin would be second.