The term "United States", when used in the geographical sense, is the contiguous United States, the state of Alaska, the island state of Hawaii, the five insular territories of Puerto Rico, Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa, and minor outlying possessions. The United States shares land borders with Canada and Mexico and maritime borders with Russia, Cuba, United Kingdom, Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas in addition to Canada and Mexico. The northern border of the United States with Canada is the world's longest bi-national land border.
Mount Whitney is the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States and the Sierra Nevada, with an elevation of 14,505 feet (4,421 m). It is located in East–Central California, on the boundary between California's Inyo and Tulare counties, 84.6 miles (136.2 km) west-northwest of the lowest point in North America at Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park at 282 ft (86 m) below sea level. The west slope of the mountain is in Sequoia National Park and the summit is the southern terminus of the John Muir Trail which runs 211.9 mi (341.0 km) from Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley. The east slope is in the Inyo National Forest in Inyo County.
The Santa Monica Mountains is a coastal mountain range in Southern California, paralleling the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. Because of its proximity to densely populated regions, it is one of the most visited natural areas in California. Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is located in this mountain range.
San Jacinto Peak is the highest peak of the San Jacinto Mountains, and of Riverside County, California. It lies within Mount San Jacinto State Park. Naturalist John Muir wrote of San Jacinto Peak, "The view from San Jacinto is the most sublime spectacle to be found anywhere on this earth!"
The Santa Lucia Mountains or Santa Lucia Range is a rugged mountain range in coastal central California, running from Carmel southeast for 140 miles (230 km) to the Cuyama River in San Luis Obispo County. The range is never more than 11 miles (18 km) from the coast. The range forms the steepest coastal slope in the contiguous United States. Cone Peak at 5,158 feet (1,572 m) tall and three miles (5 km) from the coast, is the highest peak in proximity to the ocean in the lower 48 United States. The range was a barrier to exploring the coast of central California for early Spanish explorers.
Mount Humphreys is a mountain peak in the Sierra Nevada on the Fresno-Inyo county line in the U.S. state of California. It is the 14th highest peak in California, and the highest peak in the Bishop area. The mountain was named by the California Geological Survey of 1873 for Andrew A. Humphreys, the chief engineer of the United States Army at the time.
Los Padres National Forest is a United States national forest in southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast from Ventura to Monterey, extending inland. Elevations range from sea level to 8,847 feet (2,697 m).
Mount Darwin is a flat-topped mountain in the Sierra Nevada, on the border of between Fresno and Inyo counties in Kings Canyon National Park and the John Muir Wilderness of California.
The King Range is a mountain range of the Outer Northern California Coast Ranges System, located entirely within Humboldt County on the North Coast of California.
The Black Mountains are a mountain range located in the southeastern part of Inyo County, California, within southeastern Death Valley National Park.
Montaña de Oro is a state park in California, United States. The park is located six miles southwest of Morro Bay and 2 miles south of Los Osos. The name "Mountain of Gold" comes from the golden wildflowers found in the park.
Table Mountain is located near the northern end of the Great Western Divide, a sub-range of the Sierra Nevada in California. The summit marks a point on the boundary between Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks and is 0.6 miles (1 km) south of Thunder Mountain and 1.3 miles (2.1 km) northeast of Midway Mountain.
Mount Eddy is the highest peak of the Trinity Mountains, a mountain range of the Klamath Mountains System, located in Siskiyou County, and Trinity County in northern California.
Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve is managed by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District in Santa Clara County, California. It's approximately 17,000 acres (6,900 ha) in area. The preserve is named for the Sierra Azul or "Blue Mountains", the name the colonizing Spanish used for the half of the Santa Cruz Mountains south of today's California Highway 17.
The Marble Mountain Wilderness is a 241,744-acre (978.30 km2) wilderness area located 60 miles (97 km) southwest of Yreka, California, in the United States. It is managed by the United States Forest Service and is within the Klamath National Forest in Siskiyou County. The land was first set aside on April 1931 as the Marble Mountain Primitive Area, which comprised 234,957 acres (950.84 km2). It was one of four areas to gain primitive status under the Forest Service's L-20 regulations that year. In 1964, it became a federally designated wilderness area when the U.S. Congress passed the Wilderness Act.
Island Mountain is a resistant formation of volcanic and metavolcanic rock in the Franciscan Assemblage of southwestern Trinity County, California. It was mined for sulfur metal deposits during the first half of the 20th century and was the final obstacle in the construction of a railroad line to Eureka, California in 1914. The name is applied to the range, the peak, a populated place and an abandoned railroad station, tunnel and bridge all but the first located within the S-bend of the Eel River which gave the peak its name.
Treasure Mountain, elevation 13,535 ft (4,125 m), is a summit in the Elk Mountains of western Colorado. The mountain is in the Raggeds Wilderness southeast of Marble. The massif has been the site of marble mining and a legend of lost French gold.
Temescal Mountains, formerly the Sierra Temescal, are one of the northernmost mountain ranges of the Peninsular Ranges in western Riverside County, in Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately 25 mi (40 km) southeast of the Santa Ana River east of the Elsinore Fault Zone to the Temecula Basin and form the western edge of the Perris Block.
North Yolla Bolly Mountain is a 7,868-foot (2,398 m) peak in the Klamath Mountains of the Coast Ranges located in Trinity County, Northern California. The mountain is located in an isolated part of the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness, in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, about 50 miles (80 km) west of Red Bluff. It is situated about 13 miles (21 km) from Mount Linn, the highest point of the Coast Ranges south of the Trinity Alps.
Thomes Creek is a major watercourse on the west side of the Sacramento Valley in Northern California. The creek originates in the Coast Ranges and flows east for about 62 miles (100 km) to join the Sacramento River, at a point about 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Corning in Tehama County.
