Sequoia Gem and Mineral Society

California Fun Facts and Trivia

 

  1. The highest and lowest points in the continental United States are within 100 miles of one another. Mount Whitney measures 14,495 feet and Bad Water in Death Valley is 282 feet below sea level.
  2. In the late 1850s, Kennedy Mine, located in Jackson, served as one of the richest gold mines in the world and the deepest mine in North America.
  3. An animal called the riparian brush rabbit calls Caswell Memorial State Park (near Manteca – great place to camp) its home. Endemic only to the state's park system, the critter lives in approximately 255 acres stretching along the area's once-vast hardwood forest.
  4. California Caverns claims the distinction of being the most extensive system of caverns and passageways in the Mother Lode region of the state.
  5. Death Valley is recognized as the hottest, driest place in the United States. It isn't uncommon for the summer temperatures to reach more than 115 degrees.
  6. Inyo National Forest is home to the bristle cone pine, the oldest living species. Some of the gnarled trees are thought to be over 4,600 years old.
  7. San Francisco Bay is considered the world's largest landlocked harbor.
  8. Sequoia National Park contains the largest living tree. Its trunk is 102 feet in circumference.
  9. It is estimated there are approximately 500,000 detectable seismic tremors in California annually.
  10. The state motto is Eureka!, a Greek word translated "I have found it!" The motto was adopted in 1849 and alludes to the discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada.
  11. California is known variously as The Land of Milk and Honey, The El Dorado State, The Golden State, and The Grape State.
  12. The redwood is the official state tree. Some of the giant redwoods in Sequoia National Park are more than 2,000 years old.
  13. The California poppy is the official state flower. The California grizzly bear (Ursus californicus) is the official state animal.
  14. Castroville is known as the Artichoke Capital of the World. In 1947 a young woman named Norma Jean was crowned Castroville's first Artichoke Queen. She went on to become actress Marilyn Monroe.