Best Landscape Photography Locations in California

California packs an unusually wide range of landscape photography into one state: Pacific coastline and redwood forest, the granite peaks and valleys of the Sierra Nevada, and the Mojave Desert further inland. Yosemite and Big Sur are the best-known draws, but the eastern Sierra and its high-altitude sites offer some of the darkest, clearest skies in the state for night photography.

By Robert Bridgewater · Last updated July 29, 2026

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Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe

Lake

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Valley or low-lying terrain · 2,020 m elevation

Wine Country

Landscape

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Flat or gently rolling terrain · 162 m elevation

Skeleton Church

Lake

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Flat or gently rolling terrain · 1,947 m elevation

Lassen volcanic park

Landscape

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Elevated terrain · 2,312 m elevation

Roy's Motel & Café

Desert

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Flat or gently rolling terrain · 194 m elevation

Lake Sabrina

Lake

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Valley or low-lying terrain · 2,774 m elevation

Firefalls horse tail falls, Yosemite

Waterfall

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Elevated, dramatic terrain — ridge or summit position · 1,782 m elevation

Old Barn at D'Agostini Reservoir

Lake

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Flat or gently rolling terrain · 562 m elevation

Methuselah Tree, White Mountains

Mountain

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Flat or gently rolling terrain · 3,122 m elevation

View of Half Dome

River

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Valley or low-lying terrain · 1,219 m elevation

Zabriskie Point Hills

Hill

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Flat or gently rolling terrain · 210 m elevation

Golden Canyon, Death Valley National Park, Nevada

Valley

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Valley or low-lying terrain · 9 m elevation

Lake Siskiyou

Lake

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Flat or gently rolling terrain · 969 m elevation

Napa Valley, California

Valley

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Flat or gently rolling terrain · 95 m elevation

North Lake

Lake

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Valley or low-lying terrain · 2,820 m elevation

Mobius Arch, Alabama Hills

Hill

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Flat or gently rolling terrain · 1,425 m elevation

Afterglowing

Desert

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Flat or gently rolling terrain · 1,142 m elevation

Whitney Portal Road

Mountain

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Flat or gently rolling terrain · 1,661 m elevation

June Lake loop

Lake

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Flat or gently rolling terrain · 2,363 m elevation

Dante's View Peak Lookout

Mountain

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Elevated, dramatic terrain — ridge or summit position · 1,729 m elevation

Racetrack Playa

Hill

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Flat or gently rolling terrain · 1,130 m elevation

McWay Beach and Falls

Waterfall

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Flat or gently rolling terrain · 64 m elevation
On the coast

June lake loop

Lake

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Valley or low-lying terrain · 2,200 m elevation

Cathedral beach

Beach

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Valley or low-lying terrain · 1,217 m elevation

The width

Lake

Bortle 2 — excellent to rural dark sky
Flat or gently rolling terrain · -81 m elevation

Planning a night out at one of these locations? Use the free Milky Way Calendar to check moon phase and dark-sky windows, or read the Blue Hour & Star Trail Photography Guide for how to plan the shoot itself.

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