My ultimate California bucket list

I confess it’s taken me years to pull together my ultimate California bucket list — but that’s probably because there’s so much to do in the Golden State!

I’ve been chipping away at items ever since I moved here in 2005. Some things I did immediately (road trip along State Route 1), some fell off the list entirely (appear as a contestant on The Price is Right), and many I’d still like to do (bike the Golden Gate Bridge, hike in Yosemite, and so on). This post is a compilation of my top 50.

Keep in mind, this list is in no particular order. Also since I live in Southern California, it’s heavy on items in this part of the state.

What else would you add?

50 things you must do in California

1. Hike to the Hollywood sign
2. Stay at Madonna Inn
3. Watch a show at Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace
4. Summit Mount Whitney
5. See a Joshua Tree sunrise
6. Bike the Golden Gate bridge
7. Check out the mud pots in Lassen Volcanic National Park
8. Attend the Indigenous sunrise gathering on Alcatraz
9. Stay overnight in the haunted room at the Queen Mary
10. Tour Hearst Castle
11. Drive State Route 1
12. Visit General Sherman at Sequoia National Park
13. Whale watching at Dana Point
14. Disneyland
15. Visit La Brea Tar Pits
16. Sound bath at the Integratron
17. See Solvang during the holiday season
18. Go camping in Big Sur
19. Swim in Lake Tahoe
20. Drive around Catalina in a golf cart
21. Stay at Esalen
22. Order from the secret menu at In-N-Out (Actually I should do a separate list of California bucket-list foods)
23. Visit the Avenue of the Giants in Humboldt County
24. Spend time in Channel Islands National Park
25. Visit Watts Towers
26. Ride in a San Francisco cable car
27. See a movie in Hollywood Forever Cemetery
28. Buy books at City Lights
29. Tour Winchester Mystery House
30. Watch the rocks at Death Valley racetrack
31. See the swallows at San Juan Capistrano Mission
32. Hike Half Dome in Yosemite
33. See the Antelope Valley poppies in full bloom
34. Attend Pageant of the Masters
35. Help build floats for the Tournament of Roses Parade
36. Drive (the CA portion of) Route 66
37. Look through the telescopes at Griffith Observatory
38. Visit a fire lookout
39. See a live taping of a TV show
40. Experience the Magic Castle
41. Climb Kelso Dunes in the Mojave Desert
42. See the Mono Lake Tufa towers
43. Watch the sunset from Sunset Cliffs in San Diego
44. See a show at the Hollywood Bowl
45. Hike to Potato Chip Rock
46. Put dimes on Frank Sinatra’s grave
47. Visit Golden Gate fortune cookie factory in San Francisco’s Chinatown
48. Stroll Rodeo Drive
49. Explore Salvation Mountain and East Jesus
50. Be an extra in a film