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We Love These California Destinations in Fall for Epic Foliage, Fewer Crowds, and All the Wine

Who says California doesn't put on a spectacular fall show? These under-the-radar wine regions, colorful mountain towns, and low-key beach getaways prove the state knows how to celebrate the season

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Jeff Morris/Getty

Explore SoCal's Anza-Borrego Desert

Most people visit Anza-Borrego in the spring when desert wildflowers blossom, but fall is an experience unlike any other. Think constellations, fall’s cool evening air, and moonrises over the badlands. The night sky covering this desert 90 miles from San Diego is perfect for stargazing all by your lonesome, or book an adventure tour to share s'mores over a campfire with friends or family.
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Fill Up on Oysters in Tomales Bay

When oyster season officially kicks off in September, you'd be wise to decamp for Tomales Bay. In California's Northern Coast, there's a special kind of seamlessness between the act of eating and just being in nature. At Tomales Bay Oyster Company, the oldest continuously run oyster farm in Cali, you can pick up five different kinds of oysters and a shucking knife, and take your loot for a beachside lunch at Millerton Point State Park, two minutes away. At night, settle into one the stilted cottages at Nick's Cove, which hosts shucking demos and has an oyster bar on-site.
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Go Boho-Chic in Laguna Beach

After Labor Day, the maddening summer crowds clear out of this coastal town 50 miles south of L.A. Laguna has always drawn creatives lured by its rugged cliffs, verdant hills, and sweeping canyons. It's so beautiful, the entire town was designated a Historic American Landscape in 2016.  Even as it's grown to include some of the most luxe resorts and restaurants around, Laguna hasn't lost its artsy soul. Strict buildings codes and the Laguna Beach Art Association help keep commercialism at bay. Stay at the Hotel Joaquin, which is barely a year old and harkens the boho-cool days when stars like Bette Davis and Bing Cosby would frequent the area. Live it up at the recently renovated Montage Laguna Beach—many argue the blufftop resort is the most stunning one on the coast. Other heavy-hitter spots to rest your head include the 167-room Surf & Sand Resort and The Ranch, a 19th-century homestead-turned sprawling hideaway. No need to plan out much of your day. You'll have plenty with which to keep entertained among the locally owned boutiques, galleries, and cafés. Or just hang around any of the 20 beaches that lie along this eight-mile stretch of SoCal.
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Soak Up Eastern Sierra's Fall Color

One of the best California fall trips, Eastern Sierra explodes with color for the season. The vibrant aspens, cottonwoods, and golden meadows pop against the granite boulders, evergreen trees, and glassy lakes. June Lake Loop (pictured) is a particularly scenic, as is Mammoth Lakes and Rock Creek Canyon. Plus, autumn's chill offers the perfect excuse to explore the area's hot springs. Plan an Eastern Sierra road trip to hit up all the best spots.
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Catch the Golden Season in Yosemite

Further north, in the High Sierra, quiet hikes and lazy picnics are yours for the taking in Yosemite National Park after the summer crowds thin out. The fall color is interspersed throughout the park, where most of the trees are evergreens. But when you find those pockets of gold and orange, it's pure magic. September also kicks off the start of trout fishing season and stargazing is best around mid-November for the annual peak of the Leonid meteor shower. Plan to stay in the valley―it’s central to everything and one of the peak areas to see golden big leaf maple trees, reddish or pink dogwoods, and orange oaks. Tiago Road is a sure bet for aspens (consider exploring the park on a motorcycle earlier in the season, but consider services shut down mid-September and roads close after the first snowfall around late-October), especially around Tuolumne Meadows.
6 /14 Courtesy Edna Valley Vineyards

Experience the Edna Valley Harvest

Wander through this quirky, unassuming wine region just south of San Luis Obispo. Located in a triangle bordered by Arroyo Grande, Pismo Beach, and San Luis Obispo, Edna Valley still retains a distinctive, backroad California charm. Today it's home to more than 3,000 acres of vineyards and 30 wine labels. Tasting rooms run the gamut from a former one-room schoolhouse to the stylish Edna Valley Vineyard. At the latter, you can sample Chardonnays in front of picture windows with views of the valley's most distinctive icon, Islay Peak, an ancient volcanic plug that rose from the ocean floor.
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Fall Under the Sonoma Coast Spell

The rugged stretch of land that runs along Sonoma County's coast inspires grand passions. From the pocket coves of Bodega Bay and windswept bluffs of Sea Ranch to inland pine-covered peaks and ocean-carved sea stacks, the area is marked by layers of fog, gulls, sweetgrass, and wildness. It's a place where you can tidepool for hours in precious solitude or ride thrilling, frigid waves. Discover hidden gems along the coast, or take a road trip along the shore, Central Sonoma, or the valley.
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Roam Through Mendocino County's Redwoods

Ukiah, Mendocino County's largest city is best known for its soothing, small-town feel. And autumn explodes with foliage that rivals Vermont’s. Spend the morning hiking through Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve, then soak the afternoon away in a mineral bath at Vichy Springs Resort.
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Catch a Wave in Cardiff-by-the-Sea

Another Cali surf town that's better in the fall, Cardiff-by-the-Sea is known for its stellar surfing at beaches like Cardiff State Beach (also has good diving), Pipes, and Cardiff Reef. The sport is so much a part of the culture, the Patagonia store there is the company's first devoted to all things surfing. But the San Diego community is more than it's waves—it's a hotbed for nature lovers, too. Go to San Elijo Lagoon, 721-acres of protected wetlands popular with birders for its stock of herons, coots, terns, ducks, rare Nelson's sparrows and other animals.
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Sip Your Way Through Anderson Valley's Wineries

One of our favorite California fall trips is two hours from Napa and one hour from Sonoma: Anderson Valley, California's most underrated wine country. Expect to find farm-fresh food and sublime wine, like the ones you'll sip at Lazy Creek. These vineyards are some of the few that weren't torn out during a 1970s phylloxera scare. Result: The winery's coveted whites are some of the only ones made from old-vine grapes. Conditions (high altitude, ocean breeze, big difference n day and night temps) are favorable for cool-climate wines. Light, earthy Pinot Noirs are the region's calling card. Many of them are made sustainably. Some favorites include the biodynamic operation at Domaine Anderson and Navarro Vineyards, where lambs help tend weed the vineyards.
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Check Out Santa Ana Artists Village

Artists started moving into the landmark Santora Building about 15 years ago, and the Village has since grown into a funky fusion of galleries, artist studios, folk art shops, and some seriously good (and cheap) eats. The Artists Village’s 40-plus galleries open their doors along the Second Street Promenade for the First Saturday Art Walk. Peek inside local design workshops as you stroll through Santa Ana's changing fall leaves. More: Santa Ana Artists Village
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Follow Monterey's Wine Trail

The harvest is on at under-the-radar vineyards tucked against the mountains south of Salinas. Follow Monterey Country's Wine Trail to the wineries on River Road. Along the way, pick up organic broccoli and tomatoes at the Farm, an agriculture education center with a store, bakery, tours, and stellar view. Then, check out Vision Quest Ranch, where lions and lynxes roam.
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Dig for Gold in the Sierra Foothills

In the folded foothills of the Sierra Nevada, California's Gold Country, autumn lingers long into October, offering blue skies, tawny hills, and grapevines tinged fierce red. During the Gold Rush, people started planting vines—particularly Zinfandel—and in the last decade, an influx of creative new vintners has made Gold Country one of the most fascinating wine regions in the West. Though El Dorado, Calaveras, and Placer counties all have exciting options, Amador County is a good place to start. Wind down Shenandoah Road in Plymouth to find dozens of stylish tasting rooms.
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Fall for the Dramatic Death Valley Landscape

Death Valley National Park is extreme, dramatic, and vast with 3.5 million acres holding some of the most bizarre landscape scenes you'll ever see. It's the hottest place in North America, but November temperatures are mile with warm days and cool nights—and the park is often practically empty. For a first-time visit, one Sunset writer who transversed the park one fall, recommends you not miss Badwater Basin, Zabriskie Point (pictured), Artists Palette, and The Oasis at Death Valley (for lodging). Oh, and the stargazing is fantastic just about anywhere in this International Dark Sky Preserve.