Description: Detailed large map of California showing cities, towns, counties, and a light road network for orientation.
Map of California (USA). California map with cities, counties, and towns. Refer to this detailed map of California that shows the full county grid, all administrative capitals (county seats), major cities and towns, bordering states and waters, and a few highway hints for orientation only. The ideal map style for local residents, travelers, and geography students who like to avoid road clutter.
California cannot be categorized into just one section of a single surfing page. This map extends from Oregon in the far north to Tijuana, Mexico, in the far south, with the Pacific Ocean along the entire west side and Nevada and Arizona on the east. If you take a look at this map, you will see all 58 counties represented by their own color block. They are continually tied together by a web of interstates and state highways that connect cities most travelers already recognize by name.
In the south, you see San Diego and Los Angeles. Around the bay, you see San Jose and San Francisco. Further north toward the Central Valley, you see Sacramento. Further inland, you see Fresno, Bakersfield, and Stockton. Finally, up north you see Redding and Eureka. Popular Lakes: Lake Tahoe, Mono Lake, Clear Lake, Salton Sea, and Sacramento Delta are important blue landmarks that you should be familiar with.
A few quick numbers help frame the rest of the page: capital is Sacramento (Sacramento County); largest county by land area is San Bernardino County at about 20,062 square miles, largest county in the contiguous United States; county with the most people is Los Angeles County, also the most populous in the nation; the smallest by land area is San Francisco County at about 47 square miles; least populous is Alpine County; and the state itself is about 163,696 square miles, the third largest state in the United States by area after Alaska and Texas.
Borders and waters at a glance: This map of California cities and county lines shows Oregon closing off the north across Del Norte, Siskiyou, and Modoc counties; Nevada running the entire length of the east side past Modoc, Lassen, Sierra, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, Alpine, Mono, Inyo, and San Bernardino counties; Arizona meeting the southeast corner across the Colorado River through San Bernardino, Riverside, and Imperial counties; and Mexico forming the entire south edge along San Diego and Imperial counties.
The map's 58 counties all appear as colored blocks, and the main orientation lines become the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Colorado rivers, with Lake Tahoe anchoring the Sierra crest. A few lightly textured road signs, I-5, I-80, I-10, I-15, I-40, and I-8, anchor the state's biggest metro anchors: Los Angeles (in Los Angeles County) to the south; San Diego (in San Diego County near the border); San Jose (in Santa Clara County); San Francisco's own city-county; and Sacramento (in Sacramento County) up in the Central Valley. This map displays California's cities and county borders. It is designed more for orientation than turn-by-turn navigation.
California's northern boundary with Oregon; its eastern, with Nevada; its southeast, across the Colorado River, with Arizona; and its whole southern boundary with Mexico (Baja California). There are 58 counties in the state. Adjacent to Los Angeles County in the USA, San Bernardino covers an area of approximately 20,062 square miles, making it the largest county in the contiguous USA.
In terms of population, San Bernardino County is the 14th largest county in the USA. San Francisco County is the smallest by area, or land mass, at only about 47 square miles. Alpine County, with a population of over 1,000 residents, is the least populous county, while Los Angeles County is the most populous, with a population of 9.6 million.
On February 18, 1850, when California attained statehood, the original 27 counties were established, including Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, and San Francisco. Imperial County is the newest, established in 1907. The state in question has a total area of around 163,696 square miles (423,970 square kilometers), including around 155,779 square miles (403,466 square kilometers) of land. It is the third largest state in the United States after Alaska and Texas.
The state capital, Sacramento, is located in Sacramento County at the confluence of the American and Sacramento rivers. Furthermore, the state's major metros run from the San Francisco Bay Area through Sacramento and the Central Valley to Los Angeles and San Diego in the south. California's landforms are distinguished by coastal ranges and Pacific coastline to the west; Central Valley trough through the center; Sierra Nevada crest and foothills to the east; and a filling of Mojave and Colorado deserts in the southeast corner.
Every one of California's 58 counties and its seat, in alphabetical order: Alameda County (Oakland), Alpine County (Markleeville), Amador County (Jackson), Butte County (Oroville), Calaveras County (San Andreas), Colusa County (Colusa), Contra Costa County (Martinez), Del Norte County (Crescent City), El Dorado County (Placerville), Fresno County (Fresno), Glenn County (Willows), Humboldt County (Eureka), Imperial County (El Centro), Inyo County (Independence), Kern County (Bakersfield), Kings County (Hanford), Lake County (Lakeport), Lassen County (Susanville), Los Angeles County (Los Angeles), Madera County (Madera), Marin County (San Rafael), Mariposa County (Mariposa), Mendocino County (Ukiah), Merced County (Merced), Modoc County (Alturas), Mono County (Bridgeport), Monterey County (Salinas), Napa County (Napa), Nevada County (Nevada City), Orange County (Santa Ana), Placer County (Auburn), Plumas County (Quincy), Riverside County (Riverside), Sacramento County (Sacramento), San Benito County (Hollister), San Bernardino County (San Bernardino), San Diego County (San Diego), San Francisco (San Francisco), San Joaquin County (Stockton), San Luis Obispo County (San Luis Obispo), San Mateo County (Redwood City), Santa Barbara County (Santa Barbara), Santa Clara County (San Jose), Santa Cruz County (Santa Cruz), Shasta County (Redding), Sierra County (Downieville), Siskiyou County (Yreka), Solano County (Fairfield), Sonoma County (Santa Rosa), Stanislaus County (Modesto), Sutter County (Yuba City), Tehama County (Red Bluff), Trinity County (Weaverville), Tulare County (Visalia), Tuolumne County (Sonora), Ventura County (Ventura), Yolo County (Woodland), and Yuba County (Marysville).
If you look at the map's top-left corner, you are in the extreme northwest, as rugged coastline meets Oregon. Del Norte County has its seat at Crescent City and is located on a crescent harbor in the far north of California. The coast south into Humboldt County, seat of Eureka, hosts the towns of Eureka and Arcata behind spits and lagoons at Humboldt Bay.
Inland-based Trinity County (seat: Weaverville) is forested; mountain roads threaded through Trinity Alps. A further eastern destination in the far north of the interior, then, Siskiyou County (seat: Yreka) is directly on the I-5 corridor near Mt. Shasta, with Weed and Dunsmuir nearby and the Klamath River branching west toward the sea.
If you travel east from the Oregon border, you will arrive in Modoc County (Alturas), high-desert lake-and-marsh country, with Lassen County (Susanville) just south of it, near Eagle Lake. California's coastal forests meet the Great Basin sagebrush in the two counties, as shown on the map.
Moving farther to the south of this territory, Shasta County (seat: Redding) is located in the north-central interior under the Cascade Range. Tehama County (Red Bluff) and Glenn County (Willows) sit south and west of it, while Butte County (Oroville) - home of Chico - starts north.
The Sierra crest is home to Plumas County (seat: Quincy) and Sierra County (seat: Downieville), located along high river canyons where passes into the mountains commence. On maps, the Feather River system appears as a blue squiggle and a number of reservoirs that feed water down into the Central Valley below.
Shift west on the map into the North Coast Ranges. Mendocino County (seat: Ukiah) runs along a scenic coast highway that hugs the shoreline. North of San Francisco, Sonoma County (seat: Santa Rosa), Napa County (seat: Napa), and Marin County (seat: San Rafael) make up California's classic wine-and-coast belt, just beneath the Golden Gate. Lake County (seat: Lakeport) is one of the easiest to spot on the map, thanks to the wide blue saucer of Clear Lake sitting right in the middle of it.
Land in the Sacramento Valley is green and vast in the northern half. The counties of Colusa, Yolo, Sutter and Yuba slope around the lower Feather and Sacramento rivers, a grid of canals on the map suggesting rice paddies and orchards. Colusa County has waterborne links with towns and farms north and west of Sacramento. The capital of California is Sacramento.
The city is located in the mid-valley area of the county of Sacramento. The location is exactly where the American River and the Sacramento River meet. If you look at a map, you'll see I-5, which runs north and south through the area, I-80, which runs west and east toward Davis and Vacaville, and US-50 that slices further east toward the Sierra.
If you check the map at the river's mouth, you will see that the land fractures into channels tinted as water and wetlands; this is the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which feeds directly into San Francisco Bay. The Bay is surrounded by a circular area with counties. For example, the Solano County (seat: Fairfield) has Vallejo, Contra Costa County (seat: Martinez) has Richmond and Concord, Alameda County (seat: Oakland) has Berkeley and Fremont, San Mateo County (seat: Redwood City) which has a whole ladder of Peninsula cities, Santa Clara County (seat: San Jose) which has Sunnyvale and Mountain View, San Francisco (city-county, seat: San Francisco) at the tip and Marin County across the Golden Gate. Santa Cruz County was once characterized by cabins and played an important role in the development of the Central California Coast. San Benito County, which was settled even earlier, is a part of that history.
East of Sacramento, the foothills start climbing, and a whole column of gold-rush counties rides up the slope on the map: El Dorado County (seat: Placerville), Amador County (seat: Jackson), Calaveras County (seat: San Andreas), Tuolumne County (seat: Sonora), Mariposa County (seat: Mariposa), Placer County (seat: Auburn), and Nevada County (seat: Nevada City) with Grass Valley just next door. Right at the crest, Lake Tahoe straddles the California-Nevada line near Carson City and Reno. Follow the crest south and you reach Alpine County (seat: Markleeville), California's least populous county, Mono County (seat: Bridgeport) with the strikingly blue Mono Lake, and Inyo County (seat: Independence) with Bishop, Lone Pine, and the dry Owens Lake basin down in the Owens Valley.
On the valley floor, San Joaquin Valley the southern half of the Central Valley that stretches from San Joaquin County (seat: Stockton) through Stanislaus County (seat: Modesto), Merced County (seat: Merced), and Madera County (seat: Madera), down to Fresno County (seat: Fresno) with Clovis next door, from there on through Kings County (seat: Hanford) and Tulare County (seat: Visalia) to Kern County (seat: Bakersfield) at the valley's southern end. The San Joaquin River, Kings River, and Tulare Basin sloughs appear on the map, all organized by irrigation and drainage of agricultural land, while parallel I-5 and CA-99 run north to south, through the complete length of the valley.
If your gaze travels south from the Bay Area along the Pacific edge, your eyes will fall on Monterey County (seat: Salinas) with its northern centers of Monterey and King City. San Luis Obispo County (county seat: San Luis Obispo) is just south of the Big Sur cliffs, with Morro Bay and Paso Robles.
If you keep traveling on the Pacific Coast Highway, you will reach Santa Barbara County with its administrative center, Santa Barbara; you will also find Santa Maria and Lompoc. Next up is Ventura County, with its seat in Ventura. This county also includes the towns of Oxnard, Camarillo, and Thousand Oaks. The Channel Islands are offshore from here, and the whole Central Coast stretch lies where the Coast Ranges meet the Transverse Ranges.
Now you are in Southern California. Los Angeles County (seat: Los Angeles), the most populous county in the state, occupies a large portion of the map here, including Long Beach, Glendale, Pasadena, Santa Monica, and Lancaster in the Antelope Valley. To the southeast, Orange County (seat: Santa Ana) includes Anaheim, Irvine, and coastal cities such as Newport Beach and Huntington Beach.
Spread out further inland is Riverside County (seat: Riverside) with Corona, Palm Springs, and Temecula, and next to it San Bernardino County (seat: San Bernardino), the largest county by land area in the contiguous United States, with high-desert cities like Victorville and Barstow strung along the old Route 66 corridor. Look closely, and you can trace I-5, I-10, I-15, I-405, and US-101 weaving through the basin and pushing through mountain passes on their way in and out.
The Mojave Desert lies east of the mountains, in San Bernardino and Kern counties, an area of long straight highways and towns that is easy to locate on the map. Further south, Imperial County (seat: El Centro), which includes the Colorado Desert, is centered on the large blue Salton Sea, with Brawley and Calexico located close to the Mexico border at Mexicali. The county of San Diego (San Diego is the county seat) is found in the bottom left of the map. This county holds the cities of La Jolla, Chula Vista, Oceanside, and Escondido. The two main trunk routes leading out of the city are I-5 and I-15.
Since each county block is colored and each seat is printed in the same standard way, your eye can answer everyday questions quickly through a quick scan of the map. San Jose is in which county? Santa Clara. What is the location of Fresno? The San Joaquin Valley has a Heart. Which area used to represent the Salton Sea? The Imperial City El Centro.
What is the farthest northwest corner seat located in? Crescent City in Del Norte. Oakland is located east of San Francisco. In Alameda, East Across The Bay. What is Riverside's distance from Los Angeles? To the southeast of it, in the Inland Empire region. The strength of this detailed map for residents, travelers, and students is this: counties first, then just enough road-network reference to keep your bearings.
Indeed, this map relies primarily on three rivers and a mountain lake for orientation purposes. The Sacramento River flows from the north and at the capital meets the American River. The San Joaquin River flows out of the western side of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
The Arizona border is formed by the Colorado River. The Sierra Nevada crest between El Dorado and Placer counties is anchored by Lake Tahoe, while the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ties the Central Valley to San Francisco Bay. If you remember these few landmarks, you will easily be able to place any county on the map.
Road-light orientation designation: This road layer is only supposed to be just light enough to place a county, not to plan a route. Interstate 5 runs the full length of California, from Oregon in the north to Mexico in the south. I-80 goes from the Bay of San Francisco to Sacramento, then Nevada.
Traffic continues to arrive in Arizona over the I-10 and I-8. The desert connector, I-15, connects San Diego and Los Angeles to Las Vegas, while I-40 crosses the Mojave farther south, in the south-central desert. The mentioned items should not be used for turn-by-turn navigation; they provide county placement cues only.
California counties still operate the same way they did in the nineteenth century. Although renumbered and new interchanges have been added, roads and highways still often change. A California county map will help you find everything that really relies upon county government: voter registration, property records, court jurisdiction, school districts, and emergency services all key off the county line, not the nearest highway exit.
When searching for a place, most people read this page by county first, which has a light roads layer. People planning a move to California, filing paperwork, or studying California geography typically need to know the county a town is in before they can get detailed directions. This map of California, therefore, leads with 58 color-coded county blocks and prominent county seats, while treating the interstate lines more as orientation cues than as the stars of the show.
California's ten largest cities by current population are Los Angeles (about 3,820,914, Los Angeles County), San Diego (about 1,388,320, San Diego County), San Jose (about 971,233, Santa Clara County), San Francisco (about 808,437, San Francisco County), Fresno (about 545,716, Fresno County), Sacramento (about 528,001, Sacramento County), Long Beach (about 449,017, Los Angeles County), Oakland (about 433,031, Alameda County), Bakersfield (about 410,647, Kern County), and Anaheim (about 346,824, Orange County). The technical belt of Silicon Valley is defined by Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, while the entertainment strip in Los Angeles County is centered on Hollywood and local studio lots.
The busiest container port complex in the country is the Port of Los Angeles and the neighboring Port of Long Beach. Meanwhile, the Port of Oakland supports much of Northern California's trade. The irrigated valleys of the Central Valley, notably in Fresno, Kern, Tulare, and Kings counties, are areas of agricultural concentration. Products that lead in value are dairy products, almonds, grapes, and vegetables.
California's culture has evolved from its Spanish mission past to its tapes and films. A string of 21 missions on El Camino Real, from San Diego to Sonoma, marks California's first European settlement; though the cities of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, San Juan Capistrano, and others are not so named. The Sierra foothill counties of El Dorado, Amador, Calaveras, and Nevada, along with Sacramento's impending growth as the capital, were largely formed by the Gold Rush of 1848 to 1855.
The Golden Gate Bridge and cable cars of San Francisco are two instantly identifiable symbols of Northern California, while the Hollywood district of Los Angeles County is home to the world's film and television industry. Higher education is also widespread, with Stanford University in Santa Clara County; University of California, Berkeley in Alameda County; UCLA and USC in Los Angeles County; and Caltech in Pasadena, also in Los Angeles County.
On this map, Mount Whitney (Sierra Nevada, Inyo and Tulare counties) and the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Colorado rivers serve as landmarks for quickly locating counties. For elevation, terrain, watersheds, and land-cover detail, see our Physical Map of California.
California has a climate that ranges from Mediterranean along the coast to hot desert in the southeast, to alpine at higher elevations in the Sierra Nevada. For a complete seasonal and biome breakdown, see our Physical Map of California.
Traveling north and south is primarily on I-5, which runs like a thread through the entire state between Oregon and the Mexico border, including the Central Valley. There are several east-west travel corridors. I-80 crosses the north from San Francisco Bay through Sacramento to Nevada. Meanwhile, I-10 and I-8 cross the south toward Arizona. I-15 is California's main desert connection from San Diego and Los Angeles to Las Vegas.
I-40 crosses the Mojave farther south. Remember that in the state of California, ZIP code boundaries do not follow county lines, with a single ZIP code spanning more than one county. No matter how similar the ZIP prefixes, always go by the map or county index and never PREASSUME.
California has 58 counties, and this map shows every one with a colored block and its county seat.
Sacramento, the state capital, sits in Sacramento County at the junction of the American River and the Sacramento River.
Los Angeles County.
San Diego County.
Santa Clara County.
San Francisco is both a city and a county, California's only consolidated city-county.
Del Norte, Siskiyou, and Modoc counties.
Modoc, Lassen, Sierra, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, Alpine, Mono, Inyo, and San Bernardino counties.
San Bernardino, Riverside, and Imperial counties, across the Colorado River.
San Diego and Imperial counties, along the Baja California line.
I-5, I-80, I-10, I-15, I-40, and I-8 appear only as light reference lines, not for turn-by-turn directions.
At the junction of the American River and the Sacramento River.
Mariposa and Tuolumne counties on the west side, and Mono County on the east side when the passes are open.
On the California-Nevada line, shared by El Dorado and Placer counties on the California side.
In Imperial County within the Colorado Desert.
In Lake County, north of Napa and Sonoma.
In Napa County, north of San Francisco Bay.
Mostly in Santa Clara County, with parts of San Mateo County.
Redding is the seat of Shasta County, within the Shasta Cascade region.
The seat of Kern County, at the south end of the San Joaquin Valley.
The seat of Fresno County, in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley.
San Bernardino County, at about 20,062 square miles, also the largest county in the contiguous United States.
San Francisco County, at about 47 square miles.
Los Angeles County, with roughly 9.6 million residents, the most populous county in the United States.
Alpine County, with just over 1,000 residents, California's least populous county.
Los Angeles is California's largest city by population, followed by San Diego and San Jose.
Twenty-seven original counties were created on February 18, 1850, including Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, and San Francisco. Imperial County, formed in 1907, is the newest.
About 163,696 square miles, making California the third largest state after Alaska and Texas.
No. This map focuses on counties, cities, and towns; ZIP code boundaries do not always match county lines.
No. Printing or copying our maps from this site is not permitted.
Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Contra Costa, Alameda, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara.
San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare, and Kern.
Physical Map of California
Physical map and map image of California.
Vegetation Map of California
Vegetation map of California, showing arid and watershed locations of the state.
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