• A sunset in southern California over the Pacific.SUNSET SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA image by VPMARKET from Fotolia.com
  
  From national state parks to waterways and forests, southern California--which stretches from the greater Los Angeles area to the Inland Empire--boasts gorgeous natural attractions open to tourists year-round. While known for its major metropolitan cities like Los Angeles, Malibu, Venice Beach and San Francisco, the natural curiosities and phenomena in the area blend natural and urban environments.
  
  

Los Angeles: La Brea Tar Pits

• With an unlikely location in the heart of swarming Los Angeles, the La Brea Tar Pits is one of the world's most famous fossil sites. With more than 3 million fossils from the last Ice Age, you can visit with huge mammoths, saber-toothed tigers and giant ground sloths that all became trapped and preserved forever in the asphalt oozing out of the ground the last 40,000 years. Visitors to the Page Museum at the pits discover ancient plant species and extinct animals, and learn how scientists have used fossils from the pits to piece together the last Ice Age. Peer through the windows at the Page Museum Laboratory where you can watch archaeologists dust and repair bones. Tour the museum's outdoor portion to see the erect, life-size mammal replicas.
  
  Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits
  
  5801 Wilshire Blvd.
  
  Los Angeles, CA 90036
  
  213-934-7243
  
  tarpits.org
  
  

Ventura County: Santa Clara River Parkway

• The Santa Clara River Parkway is a project of the California State Coastal Conservancy to acquire and restore floodplain land along the lower Santa Clara River. As of 2010, the project is largely underway and tourists to the southern California area can visit the largest river system in southern California, which will soon open for recreation and more conservation efforts. The waterways, located in the San Gabriel Mountains near the Community of Acton in Los Angeles County, flow westerly for approximately 84 miles through Ventura County to its outlet into the Pacific Ocean.
  
  

San Diego: Point Loma

• The historic Point Loma lighthouse watches over the Pacific.point loma lighthouse image by Ronnie Howard from Fotolia.com
  
  Point Loma, a hilly seaside community of San Diego, California, makes up the southern-most tip of the peninsula bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west and the San Diego Bay on the east. Visitors to Point Loma tour more than 660 acres of native habitat in a Mediterranean climate. Over 200 species of birds have been recorded here, including land, shore and sea birds. The sea breeze and the scenic rocky trails show off southern California's ecosystem.
  
  Cabrillo National Monument
  
  1800 Cabrillo Memorial Drive
  
  San Diego, CA 92106-3601
  
  619-557-5450
  
  nps.gov/pwr/cabr
  
  

San Francisco: Mount Diablo State Park

• Mount Diablo State Park, situated just east of San Francisco, encompasses 20,000 acres of moderate and challenging hiking trails. Drive near the summit of Mount Diablo for views over all of San Francisco and into the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Ideal for families, this state park offers parks, camp sites, towering rock formations and extensive trails you can hike or travel on horseback.
  
  Mount Diablo State Park
  
  96 Mitchell Canyon Road
  
  Clayton, CA 94517-1500
  
  925-837-2525