Test Your Knowledge of California Geography:

Question: Where is the western-most point in the continental U.S.
Answer: Cape Mendocino, Humboldt County.

Question: In which county are both the lowest spot on this continent and the highest peak in the continental U.S.?
Answer: Inyo County. Badwater in Death Valley, 282 feet below sea level, and Mount Whitney, 14,495 feet.

Question: Name four California rivers that flow north.
Answer: Carmel, Eel, San Joaquin, and Truckee rivers.

Question: The world’s smallest mountain range is in California. Name it.
Answer: Sutter Buttes, Sutter County.

Question: Name the lowest pass in the Sierra Nevada.
Answer: Beckwourth Pass, 5,221 feet, Plumas County.

Question: Name the highest pass that a highway crosses the Sierra Nevada.
Answer: Tioga Pass, 9,941 feet, Mono/Tuolumne counties.

Question: Name the pass through which the oldest emigrant trail crossed the Sierra Nevada.
Answer: Sonora Pass, 9,624 feet, Mono/Tuolumne counties.

Question: In what county is Mount Shasta?
a. Shasta
b. Siskiyou
c. Trinity
Answer: B

Question: In what county is Mount Lassen?
a. Lassen
b. Plumas
c. Shasta
Answer: C

Question: Which California river and its branches has produced more gold since 1848 than any other river in the continental U.S.?
Answer: Yuba River.

About Lynne Schaefer

Lynne Schaefer has written two newspaper columns ("The Schussboomer" about skiing in California, and "Notes from Lynne's Journal" about Oregon wildlife); travel and garden articles for regional magazines copy for DVD tours of the High Desert Museum and the Newberry National Volcanic Monument, both in Bend, Oregon. She has published three non-fiction books, A Traveler's Guide to Historic California, Christmas Trivia Quiz, and His Daughter's Remembrance.

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