State guide

California Nature Guide

California holds more ecological range than any other state, from the fog-cooled coast and the giant sequoias of the Sierra Nevada to the Central Valley's Pacific Flyway wetlands and the wildflower deserts of the south. Its Mediterranean climate inverts the usual nature calendar — the rains, the green hills, and the great wildflower bloom arrive in winter and early spring, while summer turns hot, golden, and dry. That climate, plus the sheer span of habitat, gives California one of the longest and most varied nature calendars on the continent.