Northern California is famous for its redwood forests, fine wines, Victorian towns, the rugged coast, towering volcanoes, two national parks and a national seashore, famous ski resorts, Lake Tahoe, and Sacramento the state capital. As defined here it stops at the Golden Gate, and San Francisco, the San Joaquin and Yosemite belong to Central California. This "state" of Northern California, as I have defined it, begins within sight of where Iive, and contains some of my favorite places. I travel throughout this region year-around, but especially in the summer to enjoy the cool greenery of its forests and mountains.

Northern California begins with Redwood National Park in the northwest corner along the coast. The northern mountains are covered with two guidebooks: Mount Shasta and the Klamath-Trinity Mountains in the center and west; then Mount Lassen and the Modoc Plateau in the northeast. The Northern California Coast and Coast Ranges covers everything down to the outskirts of the Bay Area; then the Sacramento Valley, north half of the Great Central Valley; and finally Lake Tahoe and the Northern Sierra for everything between Yosemite and Lassen. Finally, the last stretch of coast and the last tier of valleys and ridges forms Marin and the North Bay Counties.