List of National Natural Landmarks in California facts for kids
From List of National Natural Landmarks, these are the National Natural Landmarks in California. There are 37 in total.
| Name | Image | Date | Location | County | Ownership | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amboy Crater |  |
May 1973 | 34°31′11.69″N 115°43′26.92″W / 34.5199139°N 115.7241444°W | San Bernardino | Federal (Bureau of Land Management) | A 6,000-year-old volcanic cinder cone, made up of pahoehoe, just off historic U.S. Highway 66. |
| American River Bluffs and Phoenix Park Vernal Pools |  |
1976 | 38°39′10.33″N 121°12′59.95″W / 38.6528694°N 121.2166528°W | Sacramento | Federal (United States Bureau of Reclamation), state (California State Parks), and municipal (Fair Oaks Recreation and Park District) | Contains vernal pools, and blue oak woodlands. |
| Año Nuevo State Reserve |  |
1980 | 37°7′7.24″N 122°18′24.02″W / 37.1186778°N 122.3066722°W | San Mateo | State (California Department of Parks and Recreation) | One of the largest mainland breeding grounds for the northern elephant seal. |
| Anza-Borrego Desert |  |
1974 | 33°14′57.38″N 116°24′24.63″W / 33.2492722°N 116.4068417°W | Imperial, Riverside, San Diego | State (California Department of Parks and Recreation) | The largest desert state park in the nation. |
| Audubon Canyon |  |
1968 | 37°55′46.01″N 122°40′55.85″W / 37.9294472°N 122.6821806°W | Marin | Private | The largest known nesting area for great blue herons and great and snowy egrets on the Pacific Coast. |
| Black Chasm Cave |
 |
1976 | 38°26′3.4″N 120°37′35.3″W / 38.434278°N 120.626472°W | Amador | Private | A small three-level cave containing a variety of speleothems and some of the best helictite formations in the western U.S. |
| Burney Falls |  |
1984 | 41°0′43.79″N 121°39′7″W / 41.0121639°N 121.65194°W | Shasta | State (California Department of Parks and Recreation) | Contains some of the best examples in the western United States of a river drainage regulated by stratigraphically controlled springs. |
| Cinder Cone Natural Area |  |
1973 | 35°17′21.95″N 115°35′6.99″W / 35.2894306°N 115.5852750°W | San Bernardino | Federal (Mojave National Preserve) | A complex of over 20 large cinder cones of recent origin with extensive and continuous lava flows. |
| Cosumnes River Riparian Woodlands |  |
1976 | 38°15′56.57″N 121°26′21.22″W / 38.2657139°N 121.4392278°W | Sacramento | Private, Federal, State, and County | A small remnant of a rapidly-disappearing riparian woodland community type that once formed a major part of the central valley. |
| Deep Springs Marsh | 1975 | 37°20′00″N 118°01′03″W / 37.33333°N 118.01750°W | Inyo | Private | An example of increasingly rare desert marsh. | |
| Dixon Vernal Pools | 1987 | 38°16′31.29″N 121°49′25.49″W / 38.2753583°N 121.8237472°W | Solano | Private | The best example of valley needlegrass grassland in the central valley. | |
| Elder Creek | 1964 | 39°43′32.04″N 123°37′34.35″W / 39.7255667°N 123.6262083°W | Mendocino | State (University of California Natural Reserve System) | A largely undisturbed watershed containing large old stands of Douglas fir, broadleaf evergreens, and deciduous trees. | |
| Emerald Bay |  |
1968 | 38°57′25.49″N 120°5′36.3″W / 38.9570806°N 120.093417°W | El Dorado | State (California Department of Parks and Recreation) | An outstanding example of glacial geology. |
| Eureka Dunes |  |
1983 | 37°5′45.6″N 117°40′30″W / 37.096000°N 117.67500°W | Inyo | Federal (Death Valley National Park) | The tallest dune complex in the Great Basin. |
| Fish Slough Area of Critical Environmental Concern | 1975 | 37°28′8.69″N 118°24′3.1″W / 37.4690806°N 118.400861°W | Inyo, Mono | Mixed- federal (Bureau of Land Management), state, municipal | A large, essentially undisturbed, desert wetland that provides habitat for the alkali mariposa lily and the endangered Owens pupfish. | |
| Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes |  |
1974 | 34°57′56.13″N 120°39′1.24″W / 34.9655917°N 120.6503444°W | San Luis Obispo | Mixed- federal (Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes National Wildlife Refuge), state, private | A coastal dune tract with off-road vehicle recreation, a national wildlife refuge, beaches, and nesting for the western snowy plover. |
| Imperial Sand Hills |  |
1966 | 32°55′0″N 115°3′0″W / 32.91667°N 115.05000°W | Imperial | Federal (Bureau of Land Management) | One of the largest dune patches in the United States. |
| Irvine Ranch Natural Landmarks |  |
2006 | 33°43′53.4″N 117°41′34.8″W / 33.731500°N 117.693000°W | Orange | Mixed- state, county, municipal | A remarkably complete stratigraphic succession ranging in age from late Cretaceous to the present. |
| Lake Shasta Caverns |  |
May 2012 | 40°48′16.2″N 122°18′15.98″W / 40.804500°N 122.3044389°W | Shasta | Private | A well-decorated Solutional cave that contains a diverse assemblage of calcite cave formations. |
| Lanphere Dunes and Ma-le'l Dunes | 2021 | Humboldt | Federal (Bureau of Land Management, Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge) | Considered to be the largest and best quality sand dune ecosystems representing coastal dunes in the area. | ||
| Miramar Mounds | 1972 | 32°50′43″N 117°8′19″W / 32.84528°N 117.13861°W | San Diego | Federal (Marine Corps Air Station Miramar) | Contains unique soil features called mima mounds, which are found in only three or four locations in the country, and vernal pools. | |
| Mitchell Caverns and Winding Stair Cave |  |
1975 | 34°56′26.97″N 115°30′51.97″W / 34.9408250°N 115.5144361°W | San Bernardino | State (California Department of Parks and Recreation) | Regarded as the most important solution caverns in the Mojave Desert. |
| Mt. Diablo State Park |  |
1982 | 37°52′37.75″N 121°55′25.79″W / 37.8771528°N 121.9238306°W | Contra Costa | State (California Department of Parks and Recreation) | One of the few areas in the region where geologic strata of Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Tertiary age can be seen in an aggregate thickness of 42,000 feet (13,000 m). |
| Mount Shasta |  |
1976 | 41°24′35.6″N 122°11′41.52″W / 41.409889°N 122.1948667°W | Siskiyou | Federal (Shasta-Trinity National Forest) | One of the world's largest and most impressive stratovolcanoes, within the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. |
| Pixley Vernal Pools | 1987 | 35°59′3.85″N 119°12′45.04″W / 35.9844028°N 119.2125111°W | Tulare | Private | One of the few remaining natural vernal pools containing rare endemic crustacean species such as vernal pool fairy shrimp. | |
| Point Lobos |  |
1967 | 36°31′1.56″N 121°56′33.36″W / 36.5171000°N 121.9426000°W | Monterey | State (California Department of Parks and Recreation) | An outstanding example of terrestrial and marine environments in close association, and the only known habitat of Monterey cypress and variegated brodiaea. |
| Pygmy Forest at Jug Handle State Natural Reserve | .jpg) |
1969
1973 |
39°22′29.3″N 123°47′22.15″W / 39.374806°N 123.7894861°W | Mendocino | State (California Department of Parks and Recreation) | Includes a five step ecological staircase on which a unique forest of low, stunted trees and shrubs is located. |
| Rainbow Basin |  |
1966 | 35°1′46″N 117°2′12″W / 35.02944°N 117.03667°W | San Bernardino | Federal (Bureau of Land Management) | Deep erosion canyons with rugged rims with fossil evidence of insects and Miocene mammals. |
| La Brea Tar Pits (Rancho La Brea) |  |
1964 | 34°3′46.62″N 118°21′21.49″W / 34.0629500°N 118.3559694°W | Los Angeles | Municipal (City of Los Angeles) | Site of the world-famous natural asphalt tar pits. |
| San Andreas Fault |  |
1965 | San Benito | Private | One of the best illustrations of earth displacement caused by small crustal movements. | |
| San Felipe Creek Area | 1974 | 33°10′11″N 115°49′19″W / 33.16972°N 115.82194°W | Imperial, San Diego | Federal (Bureau of Land Management), state (California Department of Fish and Wildlife) | A marsh containing probably the last remaining perennial natural desert stream in the Colorado Desert region. | |
| Sand Ridge Wildflower Preserve | .jpg) |
1984 | 35°18′31.26″N 118°47′24.29″W / 35.3086833°N 118.7900806°W | Kern | Private | A remnant natural area displaying a great diversity of floral species including the Bakersfield cactus. |
| Sharktooth Hill | 1976 | 35°26′30.57″N 118°56′26.18″W / 35.4418250°N 118.9406056°W | Kern | Private | One of the most abundant, diverse and well- preserved fossil marine vertebrate sites in the world. | |
| Tijuana River Estuary |  |
1973 | 32°33′7.2″N 117°7′9.59″W / 32.552000°N 117.1193306°W | San Diego | Federal (Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve), state, municipal | One of the finest remaining saltwater marshes on the California coastline. |
| Torrey Pines State Reserve |  |
1977 | 32°54′59.58″N 117°14′58.7″W / 32.9165500°N 117.249639°W | San Diego | State (California Department of Parks and Recreation) | Contains a natural Torrey pine forest, high bluffs and sea cliffs, and endangered bird species. |
| Trona Pinnacles | .jpg) |
1967 | 35°37′3.81″N 117°22′5.08″W / 35.6177250°N 117.3680778°W | San Bernardino | Federal (Bureau of Land Management) | A relict landform from the Pleistocene containing unique formations of calcium carbonate. |
| Turtle Mountain | .jpg) |
1973 | 34°19′5.53″N 114°51′7.28″W / 34.3182028°N 114.8520222°W | San Bernardino | Federal (Bureau of Land Management), state | Contains two mountain sections of entirely different composition. |
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List of National Natural Landmarks in California Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.