California Geology

If you're going to California, be sure to put some of these geologic attractions on your must-see list.

Share your photos of California geological attractions.

Even this simplified map of the state's rocks is complicated.

Because geology is beautiful.

This blue-green stone occurs all over the state, but seldom in boulders as fine as this museum specimen.

All about the San Andreas fault, including maps, books, photo tours and seismic information.

A very handy link list for virtual tours of geologic highlights all over the state, courtesy of the California Geological Survey (CGS).

Thegeozone.com presents detailed information on lost mines and lodes from California.

A survey of California's coastal geologic attractions, from north to south.

A photographic field trip to classic subduction-related rocks across northern California.

The California Geological Survey released this interactive map of active and young faults in 2010.

Pictures of California's largest dunefield, east of the Salton Sea.

This volcanic province stretches into Oregon and Washington too.

A day trip from King City to Panoche highlights a hidden part of the state.

In the western Sierra Nevada is a curious landscape that once yielded colossal amounts of gold.

A select gallery of photos from the Mojave Desert and surrounding region.

A thorough guide from the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

This remarkable geologic feature is full of interest.

The Hayward fault in the San Francisco Bay area is America's most expensive earthquake threat.

Signs and symptoms of movement along the nation's most threatening fault.

A tour of the world-class land and vegetation in this desert park at the eastern end of the Transverse Ranges.

The Kelso Dunes and adjoining Devil's Playground are the largest dune field in the Mojave Desert.

Laguna Beach is a showcase of Southern California rocks, tectonics and coastal dynamics.

This site apparently preserves signs of ice age mammals in its polished rock surfaces.

Rocks at these two places, now 180 km apart, were once one body. Their separation serves to measure motion on the San Andreas fault system.

The California Geological Survey serves maps for cities from Ventura to Lancaster to San Clemente.

The story of a day on the line spent with a group of seismo-specialists.

Some of the surprising variety found in my home town.

This online book on the Coast Range west of Sacramento has excellent geology sections by Eldredge Moores.

This iconic locality has starred in many movies, Western and otherwise.

Photos of wild geothermal activity in southern California.

Geological photo tour of the San Francisco Bay area.

The Hayward fault's type locality is in the East Bay city of Hayward.

A photo tour of San Francisco's geologic attractions.

Comparing and contrasting San Francisco and New York.

Not a week after it was finished, this dam failed killing more than 450 people. A short article on the site's deadly geology, with many photos, by Garry Hayes.

Shell Beach, north of San Francisco, is a remarkable showplace of the subduction-related rocks of the Franciscan Complex.

Pictures of this interesting beach and town near San Francisco.

Pictures, maps and notes from the Sutter Buttes of central California, "the world's smallest mountain range."

America's largest collection of tufa towers is in the Mojave Desert near the town of Trona.

The rugged mountains north of Santa Barbara are pierced by state route 33, between Ojai and Cuyama.

A group of geologists explores the mystery of terroir in the field.

Garry Hayes of Modesto Junior College made this deeply detailed tour with nice big photos.

The deepest resource in the universe on the California stone industry.

About.com's David Sweet guides you to the best outdoor places to stay.

About.com's Matt Rosenberg helps get you oriented.

Pictures from the San Andreas fault between Cajon Pass and the Salton Sea.

Photos and notes from the central San Andreas fault, which ruptured in the great 1857 California earthquake.

Photos and notes from the fault section between San Juan Bautista and Parkfield.

Photos and notes from this distinctive part of the San Andreas fault.

The San Andreas fault from its northern end down to San Juan Bautista, all of which ruptured in 1906.

About.com's Bob Strauss shows them and tells you more.

Point Pinole displays the north end of the Hayward fault in a public park.

The southern Cascade Range has its own new road-trip loop in northernmost California and south-central Oregon.