Northern California

Northern California, often called NorCal, is the northern part of the U.S. state of California. It includes 48 of the state’s 58 counties and is home to many important places. Some of the biggest cities are in the San Francisco Bay Area, like San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland. Other key areas include the Greater Sacramento region around the state capital, Sacramento, and places like Redding and Fresno.

Northern California has amazing natural beauty. It contains most of the Sierra Nevada mountains, including famous spots like Yosemite Valley and part of Lake Tahoe. The area also has the Cascade Range with Mount Shasta, one of the tallest peaks in the region. Many of the world’s largest companies, such as Alphabet Inc. (Google), Apple, Meta, and Nvidia, have their headquarters in Silicon Valley, which is located here.

People have lived in Northern California for thousands of years. Evidence shows that Native American groups were here at least 19,000 years ago. The first European settlement was a Spanish mission at Monterey in 1770, and more missions were built along the coast after that.

Description

North–south divisions of California

During the gold rush in California from 1848 to 1855, many new people moved to the state, but most did not settle in the south. At that time, the northern two-thirds of California was considered the main part, simply called "California," while the southern part was known as "Southern California." A big mountain range called the Tehachapi Mountains made travel difficult before highways were built. These mountains stretch from the Pacific Ocean through several areas and separate the north from the south.

There have been ideas to split California into different parts. In 1859, a plan was made to create a new southern territory called the Territory of Colorado, but it was never approved. Some people still talk about dividing California in different ways. The exact middle of California is near the town of Morgan Hill, and some people in the far north have wanted to create a new state called Jefferson or split California into more states.

Popular usage

The area along the coast north of the San Francisco Bay Area is called the North Coast, including places like Mendocino and Humboldt. The area north of Sacramento is sometimes called the Northstate and includes about 20 counties.

"Northern California" was once the name suggested for a new state if California were split into three parts, but this idea did not succeed.

Significance

Since the California Gold Rush, Northern California has been very important around the world in business, science, and culture. In the 1800s, people there developed new ways to mine gold and cut trees that others copied. Later, big companies like Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Google, Yahoo!, and eBay started there, changing how people do business.

Scientists in Northern California made big discoveries, like finding new elements and creating better computer chips. Famous artists and filmmakers such as Ansel Adams, George Lucas, and Clint Eastwood also came from this area. Northern California helped start movements like the beatniks, the Summer of Love, and winemaking. It was also where people first tried new, relaxed ways of working that are now used everywhere. Innovations include important medical advances and new fitness ideas. The area is also home to Travis Air Force Base, one of the largest Air Force bases on the West Coast.

Cities

Northern California’s largest area is the San Francisco Bay Area, which includes nine counties. Major cities in the Bay Area are San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland, along with many smaller towns around them.

Other important cities in Northern California include Eureka, Redding, Chico, Yuba City, Fresno, and Visalia. San Jose is the biggest city in Northern California, while San Francisco is a key cultural and financial hub. Fresno is the largest city in the San Joaquin Valley, and Sacramento is the state’s capital. Oakland is an important port and home to many people.

History

Northern California has been home to many people for thousands of years. The area was first inhabited by Native American tribes, such as the Shasta, Miwoks, and Yokuts.

In the 1500s and 1600s, European explorers began to arrive. Spanish explorers sailed along the coast, and later, Spanish missionaries built settlements called missions along the coastline. In the early 1800s, Russia established a small trading post called Fort Ross.

After Mexico gained independence from Spain, it controlled the region. In the 1840s, American settlers began to move into the area. When the Mexican-American War began in 1846, some American settlers in northern California declared a small republic called the California Republic, which lasted only a short time before American forces took control.

The discovery of gold in 1848 brought a huge influx of people to the region, known as the Gold Rush. San Francisco grew quickly from a small village into a busy city. The Gold Rush also brought challenges, as new settlers often took land from the Native American tribes who had lived there for generations.

The years after the Gold Rush saw growth in population and farming. The building of railroads helped connect northern California to the rest of the country, bringing more people and goods. This time also brought new challenges, such as tensions over immigration and labor rights.

Prehistory to 1847

Inhabited for millennia by Native Americans, from the Shasta tribe in the north, to the Miwoks in the central coast and Sierra Nevada, to the Yokuts of the southern Central Valley, northern California was among the most densely populated areas of pre-Columbian North America.

European explorers

The first European to explore the coast was Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, sailing for the Spanish Crown; in 1542, Cabrillo's expedition sailed perhaps as far north as the Rogue River in today's Oregon. Beginning in 1565, the Spanish Manila galleons crossed the Pacific Ocean from Mexico to the Spanish Philippines, with silver and gemstones from Mexico. The Manila galleons returned across the northern Pacific, and reached North America usually off the coast of northern California, and then continued south with their Asian trade goods to Mexico.

In 1579, northern California was visited by the English explorer Sir Francis Drake who landed north of today's San Francisco and claimed the area for England. In 1602, the Spaniard Sebastián Vizcaíno explored California's coast as far north as Monterey Bay, where he went ashore. Other Spanish explorers sailed along the coast of northern California for the next 150 years, but no settlements were established.

Spanish era

The first European inhabitants were Spanish missionaries, who built missions along the California coast. The mission at Monterey was first established in 1770, and at San Francisco in 1776. In all, ten missions stretched along the coast from Sonoma to Monterey (and still more missions to the southern tip of Baja California). In 1786, the French signaled their interest in the northern California area by sending a voyage of exploration to Monterey.

The first twenty years of the 19th century continued the colonization of the northern California coast by Spain. By 1820, Spanish influence extended inland approximately 25 to 50 miles (80 km) from the missions. Outside of this zone, perhaps 200,000 to 250,000 Native Americans continued to lead traditional lives. The Adams-Onís Treaty, signed in 1819 between Spain and the young United States, set the northern boundary of the Spanish claims at the 42nd parallel, effectively creating today's northern boundary of northern California.

Russian presence

In 1812, the Russian state-sponsored Russian-American Company established Fort Ross, a fur trading outpost on the coast of today's Sonoma County. Fort Ross was the southernmost Russian settlement, located some 60 miles (97 km) north of Spanish colonies in San Francisco. In 1839, the settlement was abandoned due to its inability to meet resource demands, and the increasing Mexican and American presence in the region.

Mexican era

After Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, Mexico continued Spain's missions and settlements in northern California as well as Spain's territorial claims. The Mexican Californios (Spanish-speaking Californians) in these settlements primarily traded cattle hides and tallow with American and European merchant vessels.

In 1825, the Hudson's Bay Company established a major trading post just north of today's Portland, Oregon. British fur trappers and hunters then used the Siskiyou Trail to travel throughout northern California. The leader of a further French scientific expedition to northern California, Eugene Duflot de Mofras, wrote in 1840 "...it is evident that California will belong to whatever nation chooses to send there a man-of-war and two hundred men."^: 260  By the 1830s, a significant number of non-Californios had immigrated to northern California. Chief among these was John Sutter, a European immigrant from Switzerland, who was granted 48,827 acres (197.60 km²) centered on the area of today's Sacramento.

American interest

American trappers began entering northern California in the 1830s.^: 263–4  In 1834, American visionary Ewing Young led a herd of horses and mules over the Siskiyou Trail from missions in northern California to British and American settlements in Oregon. Although a small number of American traders and trappers had lived in northern California since the early 1830s, the first organized overland party of American immigrants to arrive in northern California was the Bartleson-Bidwell Party of 1841 via the new California Trail.^{: 263–273}  Also in 1841, an overland exploratory party of the United States Exploring Expedition came down the Siskiyou Trail from the Pacific Northwest. In 1846, the Donner Party earned notoriety as they struggled to enter northern California.

Californian independence and beginning of the United States era

When the Mexican–American War was declared on May 13, 1846, it took almost two months (mid-July 1846) for word to get to California. On June 14, 1846, some 30 non-Mexican settlers, mostly Americans, staged a revolt and seized the small Mexican garrison in Sonoma. They raised the "Bear Flag" of the California Republic over Sonoma. The "Bear Flag Republic" lasted only 26 days, until the U.S. Army, led by John Frémont, took over on July 9. The California state flag today is based on this original Bear Flag, and continues to contain the words "California Republic."

Commodore John Drake Sloat ordered his naval forces to occupy Yerba Buena (present San Francisco) on July 7 and within days American forces controlled San Francisco, Sonoma, and Sutter's Fort in Sacramento. The treaty ending the Mexican–American War was signed on February 2, 1848, and Mexico formally ceded Alta California (including all of present-day northern California) to the United States.

Gold Rush and California statehood

The California Gold Rush took place almost exclusively in northern California from 1848 to 1855. It began on January 24, 1848, when gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in Coloma. News of the discovery soon spread, resulting in some 300,000 people coming to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. San Francisco grew from a tiny hamlet, home to about 1,000 Californios into a boomtown of over 50,000 people in the 12 years between 1848 and 1860. New roads, churches, and schools were built, and new towns sprung up, aided in part by the development of new methods of transportation such as steamships which came into regular service and railroads which now connected the coasts. The Gold Rush also had negative effects: American colonists chose to use genocide as a tool to remove the Indigenous people so that they could look for gold on their land.

The Gold Rush also increased pressure to make California a U.S. state. Pro-slavery politicians initially attempted to permanently divide northern and southern California at 36 degrees, 30 minutes, the line of the Missouri Compromise. But instead, the passing of the Compromise of 1850 enabled California to be admitted to the Union as a free state.

Population and agricultural expansion (1855–1899)

The decades following the Gold Rush brought dramatic expansion to northern California, both in population and economically – particularly in agriculture. The completion of the First transcontinental railroad in 1869, with its terminus in Sacramento (and then later, Oakland), meant that northern California's agricultural produce (and some manufactured goods) could now be shipped economically to the rest of the United States. In return, immigrants from the rest of the United States (and Europe) could comfortably come to northern California. A network of railroads spread throughout northern California, and in 1887, a rail link was completed to the Pacific Northwest. Almost all of these railways came under the control of the Southern Pacific Railroad, headquartered in San Francisco, and San Francisco continued as a financial and cultural center.

Substantial tensions during this era included nativist sentiments (primarily against Chinese immigrants), tensions between the increasing power of the Southern Pacific Railroad and small farmers, and the beginnings of the labor union movement.

Economy

Northern California is very important for many kinds of work, especially in making new technology like computer programs, tiny parts for electronics, medicines, and medical tools. The area is also good at making clean energy, and it has jobs in government, finance, travel, shipping, making things, and growing food. Many big companies and important offices, like the Federal Reserve and the 9th Circuit Court, have their places in San Francisco.

Climate

Northern California has a warm or mild to cool climate. The Sierra mountains get snow from late fall through winter and sometimes into spring. Summers are mild along the coast and usually warm and dry, while winters are cool and often wet.

High temperatures in winter range from the 50s °F (10–15 °C) to the 30s °F (−1 – +4 °C), and in summer from the 60s °F (15–20 °C) to the 90s °F (32–37 °C), with some areas, like the Sacramento region, reaching into the 100s °F (37–42 °C). Snow covers the mountains above 3,000 feet (910 m) from mid-January through February. Fog sometimes appears on the coast, especially in summer, making those areas some of the coolest places in North America. Since the early 2000s, droughts and wildfires have happened more often because of climate change.

Population

The population in the northern part of California has been growing steadily over the years.

The biggest growth happened in the 1940s when many veterans and their families moved there after World War II. They were drawn by new jobs in factories. The largest number of new people moved in during the 1980s, with over 2.1 million people coming because of job opportunities, especially in Silicon Valley and the defense industry during the Cold War. Since the year 2000, Northern California has grown faster than Southern California because of the strong economies in the Bay Area and Sacramento.

Parks and other protected areas

National Park System

Main articles: List of areas in the United States National Park System and List of national parks of the United States

The U.S. National Park System has many beautiful parks in northern California. The most famous is Yosemite National Park, which even appears on a special coin. Other important parks include the Kings Canyon–Sequoia National Park area, Redwood National Park, Pinnacles National Park, Lassen Volcanic National Park, and Death Valley National Park, the largest park in the lower forty-eight states.

National Monuments and other federally protected areas

Main articles: List of national monuments of the United States, United States National Marine Sanctuary, List of National Wildlife Refuges of the United States, and List of national forests of the United States

There are also many special places protected by the government, such as Muir Woods National Monument, Giant Sequoia National Monument, and Point Reyes National Seashore. Large areas of forest, called national forests, cover parts of northern California, including the Shasta–Trinity, Klamath, Modoc, Lassen, Mendocino, Eldorado, Tahoe, and Sequoia national forests.

Other

• Tilden Regional Park
• Alum Rock Park
• Angel Island
• Bidwell Park
• Big Basin Redwoods State Park
• Butano State Park
• Calaveras Big Trees State Park
• Castle Rock State Park
• Caswell Memorial State Park
• East Bay Regional Park District
• Farallon Islands
• Golden Gate Park
• Henry W. Coe State Park
• Humboldt Redwoods State Park
• Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park
• Lake Tahoe Basin
• Marble Mountain Wilderness
• Mill Creek State Park
• Mount Tamalpais State Park
• Suisun Marsh
• Sacramento River
• Talowa Dunes State Park
• Turtle Bay Exploration Park
• McArthur–Burney Falls Memorial State Park
• Wilder Ranch State Park
• Sequoia National Park

Educational institutions

Northern California is home to many famous schools, including Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley. There are also top public graduate schools such as Boalt Hall, UC San Francisco, and UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, which is the largest veterinary school in the United States.

The region has six University of California campuses:

• UC Berkeley
• UC Davis
• UC Hastings
• UC Merced
• UC San Francisco
• UC Santa Cruz

There are also eleven California State University campuses:

• California Maritime Academy
• Chico State
• CSU East Bay
• CSU Monterey Bay
• Fresno State
• Cal Poly Humboldt
• Sacramento State
• San Francisco State
• San Jose State
• Sonoma State
• Stanislaus State

There are also many private schools and research centers in the area.

Counties

Here are the counties in Northern California:

• Alameda
• Alpine
• Amador
• Butte
• Calaveras
• Colusa
• Contra Costa
• Del Norte
• El Dorado
• Fresno
• Glenn
• Humboldt
• Inyo
• Kings
• Lake
• Lassen
• Madera
• Marin
• Mariposa
• Mendocino
• Merced
• Modoc
• Mono
• Monterey
• Napa
• Nevada
• Placer
• Plumas
• Sacramento
• San Benito
• San Francisco
• San Joaquin
• San Mateo
• Santa Clara
• Santa Cruz
• Shasta
• Sierra
• Siskiyou
• Solano
• Sonoma
• Stanislaus
• Sutter
• Tehama
• Trinity
• Tulare
• Tuolumne
• Yolo
• Yuba

Regions

Northern California includes many different areas. Some of these areas are Big Sur, Cascade Range, Central California, Central Coast, Central Valley, Coastal California, East Bay (SF), Eastern California, Emerald Triangle, Gold Country, Greater Sacramento, Klamath Basin, Lake Tahoe, Lassen Peak, Lost Coast, Metropolitan Fresno, Mount Shasta, North Bay (SF), North Coast, Russian River, Sacramento Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, San Francisco Peninsula, San Joaquin Valley, Santa Clara Valley, Shasta Cascade, Sierra Nevada, Silicon Valley, South Bay (SF), Telecom Valley, Tri-Valley, Trinity Alps, Wine Country, Yosemite, and Yuba–Sutter area.

These places vary from coastal areas to mountain regions, each with its own special features.

Cities and towns with more than 50,000 inhabitants

Northern California has many big cities. Some of the largest cities are San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, Oakland, Stockton, Fremont, Modesto, Santa Rosa, and Elk Grove. There are many more cities with lots of people living in them.

Metropolitan areas

Northern California has three big areas where lots of people live. These areas have more than three-fourths of the region's people.

Major business districts

Some important business areas in Northern California include the San Francisco Financial District, Downtown Oakland, Downtown Sacramento, and Downtown San Jose.

Transportation

See also articles:

• Transportation in the Sacramento metropolitan area
• Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area

See also categories:

• Transportation in Alameda County
• Transportation in Alpine County
• Transportation in Amador County
• Transportation in Butte County
• Transportation in Calaveras County
• Transportation in Colusa County
• Transportation in Contra Costa County
• Transportation in Del Norte County
• Transportation in El Dorado County
• Transportation in Fresno County
• Transportation in Glenn County
• Transportation in Humboldt County
• Transportation in Inyo County
• Transportation in Kings County
• Transportation in Lake County
• Transportation in Lassen County
• Transportation in Madera County
• Transportation in Marin County
• Transportation in Mariposa County
• Transportation in Mendocino County
• Transportation in Merced County
• Transportation in Modoc County
• Transportation in Mono County
• Transportation in Monterey County
• Transportation in Napa County
• Transportation in Nevada County
• Transportation in Oakland
• Transportation in Placer County
• Transportation in Plumas County
• Transportation in Sacramento
• Transportation in Sacramento County
• Transportation in San Benito County
• Transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area
• Transportation in San Francisco
• Transportation in San Joaquin County
• Transportation in San Mateo County
• Transportation in Santa Clara County
• Transportation in Santa Cruz County
• Transportation in Shasta County
• Transportation in Sierra County
• Transportation in Siskiyou County
• Transportation in Solano County
• Transportation in Sonoma County
• Transportation in Stanislaus County
• Transportation in Sutter County
• Transportation in Tehama County
• Transportation in Trinity County
• Transportation in Tulare County
• Transportation in Tuolumne County
• Transportation in Yolo County
• Transportation in Yuba County

Airports

Main article: List of airports in California

There are 11 airports in Northern California that are used for bigger airplanes and regular flights.

Railroad

• Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) – a subway system that connects many cities in the Bay Area, including San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose
• Caltrain – a train that runs between San Francisco and Gilroy (south of San Jose)
• Muni Metro (San Francisco)
• VTA light rail (San Jose)
• Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) – a train that links Stockton and the Central Valley with San Jose and the Bay Area
• Sacramento Regional Transit District light rail
• Amtrak:
  • California Zephyr – a train that goes from Chicago to the Bay Area
  • Capitol Corridor – a train that runs from San Jose to Auburn (a town near Sacramento)
  • Coast Starlight – a train that travels along the coast from Los Angeles to Seattle, stopping in places like San Jose, Oakland, and Sacramento
  • Gold Runner – a train that connects Bakersfield in the Central Valley to Sacramento and Oakland

Major transit organizations

• AC Transit
• Arcata and Mad River Transit System
• County Connection
• El Dorado Transit
• Eureka Transit Service
• Fairfield and Suisun Transit
• Fresno Area Express
• Golden Gate Transit
• Lake Transit
• Mendocino Transit Authority
• Monterey-Salinas Transit
• Porterville City Operated Local Transit
• Redwood Transit System
• SamTrans
• San Benito Express
• SF MUNI
• San Joaquin Regional Transit District
• Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA)
• Santa Cruz Metro
• Solano Express
• SolTrans
• Sonoma County Transit
• Tri Delta Transit
• Visalia Transit
• VINE (Napa County)

Major transit ferries

• San Francisco Bay Ferry
• Golden Gate Ferry
• Blue & Gold Fleet
• Angel Island – Tiburon Ferry

Freeways

See also: Category:San Francisco Bay Area freeways

Interstate highways

• .svg) Interstate 80 (Eastshore Freeway/Lincoln Highway)
• .svg) Interstate 280 (Southern Embarcadero Freeway/Southern Freeway/Junipero Serra Freeway/Sinclair Freeway)
• .svg) Interstate 380
• .svg) Interstate 580 (Eastshore Freeway/MacArthur Freeway/Brown Freeway)
• .svg) Interstate 680 (Joseph P. Sinclair Freeway/Donald D. Doyle Highway/Blue Star Memorial Highway/Luther E. Gibson Freeway)
• .svg) Interstate 780
• .svg) Interstate 880 (Nimitz Freeway)
• .svg) Interstate 980 (Grove-Shafter Freeway)
• .svg) Interstate 238
• .svg) Interstate 5 (Golden State Freeway/West Side Freeway)
• .svg) Interstate 205 (Robert T. Monagan Freeway)
• .svg) Interstate 505
• Interstate 80 Business (Capital City Freeway)

U.S. Routes

• .svg) U.S. Route 6
• .svg) U.S. Route 50 (El Dorado Freeway)
• .svg) U.S. Route 101 (South Valley Freeway/Bayshore Freeway/James Lick Freeway/Central Freeway/Redwood Highway/Michael J. Burns Freeway/Redwood Highway)
• .svg) U.S. Route 395
• .svg) U.S. Route 97
• .svg) U.S. Route 199

Principal state highways

• State Route 1 (Pacific Coast Highway/Cabrillo Highway)
• State Route 3
• State Route 4
• State Route 9
• State Route 12
• State Route 13 (Ashby Avenue/Tunnel Road/Warren Freeway)
• State Route 16
• State Route 17
• State Route 20
• State Route 24
• State Route 25
• State Route 26
• State Route 29
• State Route 32
• State Route 33
• State Route 35 (Skyline Boulevard)
• State Route 36
• State Route 37 (Sears Point Tollway)
• State Route 41 (E.G. Lewis Highway, Yosemite Freeway, Southern Yosemite Highway, Wawona Road)
• State Route 43
• State Route 44
• State Route 49 (Golden Chain Highway)
• State Route 59
• // State Route 61 (Webster Tube/Posey Tube/Doolittle Drive/Davis Street)
• State Route 63
• State Route 65
• State Route 68
• State Route 70
• State Route 82 (Monterey Highway/El Camino Real/Mission Street)
• State Route 84
• State Route 85 (Stevens Creek Freeway/West Valley Freeway/Norman Y. Mineta Highway/CHP Officer Scott M. Greenly Memorial Freeway)
• State Route 87 (Guadalupe Parkway)
• State Route 88
• State Route 89
• State Route 92 (J. Arthur Younger Freeway/Jackson Street)
• State Route 96
• State Route 99
• State Route 104
• State Route 108
• State Route 113
• State Route 116
• State Route 120
• State Route 121
• State Route 128
• State Route 130
• State Route 132
• State Route 137
• State Route 139
• State Route 140
• State Route 152
• State Route 156
• State Route 160 (North Sacramento Freeway/River Road)
• State Route 162
• State Route 165
• State Route 168
• State Route 174
• State Route 180
• / State Route 185 (International Boulevard/East 14th Street/Mission Boulevard)
• State Route 190
• State Route 193
• State Route 198
• State Route 201
• State Route 216
• State Route 219
• State Route 236
• State Route 237
• State Route 238 (Mission Boulevard, Foothill Boulevard)
• State Route 245
• State Route 254 (Avenue of the Giants)
• State Route 262 (Mission Boulevard)
• State Route 267
• State Route 269
• State Route 275 (Tower Bridge Gateway)
• State Route 299

Communication

Telephone area codes

Northern California uses many different area codes for its telephone numbers. Some of these include:

• (/wiki/Area_code_209) for the northern San Joaquin Valley, like Stockton, Modesto, and Merced.
• 408/669 for most of Santa Clara County, including San Jose and Gilroy.
• 415/628 for San Francisco, Daly City, and Marin County. This is one of the three original area codes in California.
• 510/341 for the inner East Bay, like Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond, and Fremont. It was originally part of area code 415.
• (/wiki/Area_code_530) for a large northeastern part of the region, including Tehama County, Shasta County, Lassen County, Yuba County, Sutter County, Butte County, and Nevada County. It split from area code 916 in 1997–1998.
• (/wiki/Area_code_559) for the southern San Joaquin Valley, like Madera, Fresno, and Visalia.
• (/wiki/Area_code_650) for the San Francisco Peninsula, like San Mateo, Redwood City, and Palo Alto. It was originally part of area code 415.
• (/wiki/Area_code_707) for the North Coast from Sonoma County to the Oregon border. Cities here include Eureka, Ukiah, Santa Rosa, Napa, Vallejo and Fairfield.
• (/wiki/Area_code_831) for Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz Counties. It was originally part of area code 408.
• 916/279 for Sacramento County and its suburbs in western Placer and El Dorado Counties. This is one of the three original area codes in California, and it used to cover all areas now in 530.
• (/wiki/Area_code_925) for the outer East Bay, like Concord, Pittsburg, Walnut Creek, San Ramon, Pleasanton and Livermore. It was originally part of area codes 415 and 510.

Sports

See also: Bay Bridge Series and Sports in California § Northern California–Southern California rivalry

Major league professional sports teams

College sports teams

• California Golden Bears
• Cal Poly Humboldt Lumberjacks
• Stanford Cardinal
• Fresno State Bulldogs
• San Jose State Spartans
• Sacramento State Hornets
• UC Davis Aggies
• USC Trojans

Sports venues

• Laguna Seca Raceway (motorsport)
• Sonoma Raceway (motorsport)
• Olympic Club (golf)
• Silverado Country Club (golf)
• TPC Harding Park (golf)
• TPC Stonebrae (golf)

Sporting events

• Pac-12 Football Championship Game (college football)
• Emerald Bowl (college football)
• AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (golf)
• Frys.com Open (golf)
• Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic (golf)
• Grand Prix of Sonoma (motorsport)
• Toyota/Save Mart 350 (motorsport)
• Monterey Sports Car Championships (motorsport)
• Superbike World Championship (motorsport)