| California mountain
vacations and weekend getaways offer a variety of mountain
resorts throughout the state, and include features such as snow
skiing, mountain biking and casino gambling.
It's hard to believe you
can stand at the beach and look up to the top of the highest
peak, knowing that you'll be there within 90 minutes. California
is blessed with all the best, ranging from the mountains to the
sea, and even the desert. The land of extremes can influence
people's thinking so the rule is to thoroughly enjoy and respect
mother earth in all her glory. And glorious she is in the
California mountains.
From summer lake vacations
to winter snow skiing, cross country and sledding, or even
gambling, if you think California, you can add mountains to your
list of weekend getaways and vacations, right up there with
Disneyland and the beaches.
Some mountains to check
include several close to L.A.
Big
Bear Lake offers four seasons of play and has been
developed to offer activities throughout the year to lure
Southern Californians away from their beaches. Included are
lakes for fishing, skiing, parasailing, boat tours and bird
watching. But winter turns this summer paradise into a winter
wonderland. Mountain High skiing completes a year of fun for
anyone who loves excitement and being outdoors.
One of California's lesser
known gems are the leaves turning in the autumn in Mono County
mountains. With each 1,000 feet of elevation comes a change in
color, week by week as a chill sets in the air, causing the
trees to turn brilliant reds, yellow, oranges, pinks and lime
green. Once that spectacular season that's also popular for
trout fishing ends, get ready for snow in
Mammoth Mountains.
The average snowfall each winter is fantastic, making for white
vacations.
Idyllwild
offers a mellow mountain retreat that's not too commercialized
yet. Close to Los Angeles, this side of "the hill" in the San
Jacinto mountain range leads to Palm Desert on the other side of
the mountain. Idyllwild features arts, education and pure
relaxing in wonderful vacation cabins.
South
Lake Tahoe is everything you could want in mountain
retreat vacations for weekend getaways. You can fly into Reno
and catch a bus from the airport right up to your hotel room.
How cool is that? It's awesome. Heavenly ski slopes overlooking
Lake Tahoe in a winter snow scene that's crisp and clean. Ski by
day, gamble and go to adult entertainment at Nevada Stateline
right next to your hotel room. It's so convenient, it
ranks up there among the most user-friendly vacations you'll
find at California mountain resorts.
For a spiritual trip (all
the California mountains offer connections with nature,) check
out
Yosemite National Park. It's one of the most
breath-taking , "wow" vacations you can ever experience.
Ansel Adams immortalized aspects of the beautiful scenery but
even this famous photographer could not capture what's in store
for you. Believe it or not, it is one of the few mountains
accessible by Amtrak train. There are some transfers and
eventually you'll ride a connection bus up to the hotels, but it
leaves the driving to someone else so you can spend more time
gawking at the rock formations that reach to the heavens.
And we nearly forgot about
a treasure that's on the road outside of Redding just an hour or
two by car.
Lassen Volcanic National Park is unbelievable. One of
the most pristine parks in the national parks system has a
mandate to keep the park in its natural state. With a map,
you'll see geologic formations carrying you through time from
volcanic eruptions with evidence of lava flows, to actual plug
domes. Some areas are closed during the winter, but when summer
comes and the snow melts, you gotta run and go see it while it's
open.
So if you think California
is just a bunch of sandy beaches and dunes we talk about in over
70% of our web site, don't be swept away by the hype. The real
action is the mountains where you'll suddenly realize how
beautiful California is, and what a short little blip on the
screen we humans are in comparison to these mountains that
actually talk, just by their shapes and character lines. You
just need to take a weekend to explore, or a midweek vacation,
or getaway for as long as you can afford and see the areas of
California that aren't so crowded. If you ever deserved a break,
the California mountains offer some of the most scenic drives
and escapes on the planet.
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