Top 15 California destinations

Top places to see in California

There's no place like home. So explore California like a native. Here's our checklist of not-so-obvious but oh-so-essential sites. But tell us -- are we nuts? Today, with full expectation of howling dissent and snorts of derision, we present the Travel section's first California Golden 15. We, your neighbors, do so as the holiday travel season approaches and as distant strangers peddle their compendiums of places you should visit before you die. These are 15 places we think you must visit to grasp the wonder of this state, including Joshua Tree National Park, shown here. This is not California for beginners -- not Disneyland, not Hearst Castle, not the San Diego Zoo, not even Sutter's Mill. This is the California that speaks to the seasoned native and the thoughtful newcomer, the California that waits beyond the well-explored city limits of Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. (Don't get worked up about the numbers; the list of destinations is random, not by ranking.) -- Christopher Reynolds