A cave mouth at Lava BedsThe caves here are lava tubes; a collapsed one makes an entrance. Siskiyou County, at the top of the map.
A coast redwood, trunk straight as a mastThe tallest trees in the world; one in Redwood National and State Parks tops 379 feet. Far northwest corner.
A Dungeness crab, claws upCalifornia's most abundant crab; it ranges from Alaska south to Point Conception. In the sea off the north coast.
A Roosevelt elk bull with full antlersThe largest of North America's four kinds of elk by body mass. North coast.
A yellow banana slug among redwood needlesCalifornia has seven species of banana slug, and they are often bright yellow. Damp forest, north coast.
The Avenue of the Giants, a road between redwoodsA scenic road about 31 miles long through Humboldt County. North coast.
Battery Point Light on its isletAt low tide you can walk to the islet over a strip of land. Crescent City, top left corner of the map.
Burney Falls dropping into its poolOne drop of 129 feet on Burney Creek, in Shasta County. Northeast.
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North coast and mountains, continued
Castle Crags, a row of granite spiresIce wore away the softer rock and left towering granite crags and spires. In the mountains of the far north.
Fern Canyon in the redwood parksA canyon in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County. North coast, close to the ocean.
Lassen Peak above a line of pinesThe southernmost active volcano of the Cascade Range. Northeast, south of Mount Shasta.
The Lost Coast, mountains meeting the seaA mostly natural, undeveloped shore in Humboldt and Mendocino counties. North coast.
Mount Shasta, a snowy cone standing aloneA stratovolcano 14,179 feet high. Near the top of the map, in the middle.
Point Arena Light, a tall white towerA white cylinder with a black lantern, lit in 1908. One of the two tallest lighthouses on the West Coast. North coast.
Bay Area and the delta 14
A cable car on a San Francisco hillThe world's last cable car system still worked by hand. San Francisco.
A redwood grove in Muir WoodsA national monument in Marin County. Just north of the Golden Gate.
A row of painted ladies near Alamo SquareVictorian houses repainted in three or more colors to show off their trim. San Francisco.
A sea lion asleep on a floating dockCalifornia sea lions that are not breeding gather at marinas, wharves and even buoys. San Francisco Bay.
A tule elk on a grassy headlandAn elk found only in California. A herd lives at Tomales Point in Point Reyes National Seashore.
The Bay Bridge by way of Yerba Buena IslandTwo crossings that meet at an island in mid-bay, carrying ten lanes. Between San Francisco and Oakland.
The Bear Flag: a grizzly, a star and a red stripeFirst flown at Sonoma on June 14, 1846, with the words California Republic. Sonoma, north of the Bay.
The Delta, a maze of channels and islandsAn inland river delta where the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers meet. East of the Bay.
The Dragon Gate of ChinatownA ceremonial gateway at the entrance to Chinatown. San Francisco.
The Ferry Building clock towerA clock tower 245 feet high with four dials, each 22 feet across. San Francisco waterfront.
The Golden Gate Bridge, orange against the hillsA suspension bridge with towers 746 feet high, painted International Orange. At the mouth of San Francisco Bay.
Lombard Street and its eight hairpin turnsOne steep block of the street zigzags through eight hairpin turns. San Francisco.
The Palace of Fine Arts in San FranciscoBuilt for the 1915 world's fair and the only one of its buildings still on the site. San Francisco, Marina District.
Point Reyes Lighthouse below its long stairA 16-sided iron tower 35 feet tall, built in 1870; about 300 steps lead down to it. Coast north of the Bay.
Central Valley and Sierra Nevada 15
A California quail with its curved plumeThe state bird, or valley quail: plump and gray, with a down-curving black plume. Widespread; here, the Central Valley.
A giant garter snake in the reedsThe largest garter snake, 37 to 65 inches long, found only in the Central Valley.
A gold pan with a few nuggetsGold is the state mineral. It was found at Sutter's Mill in January 1848. Sierra foothills.
A golden trout in a mountain streamThe state fish, native only to California: first known from the Kern River's headwaters south of Mount Whitney.
A wooden storefront in the ghost town of BodieThe state's gold rush ghost town, kept in arrested decay; 10,000 people once lived here. East of the Sierra.
An almond orchard in blossomCalifornia grows about 80 percent of the world's almonds, mainly in the Central Valley. Rows down the middle of the map.
Devils Postpile, a cliff of basalt columnsColumns of basalt standing side by side like posts. Near Mammoth Lakes, eastern Sierra.
El Capitan, a wall of graniteA vertical granite rock formation, first climbed in 1958. Yosemite National Park.
The General Sherman Tree, a giant sequoiaBy volume the world's biggest tree, about 52,500 cubic feet. Sequoia National Park, southern Sierra.
Half Dome, sheer on one sideIt rises nearly 5,000 feet above Yosemite Valley, to 8,800 feet above sea level. Middle of the Sierra Nevada.
Lake Tahoe ringed by mountainsNorth America's largest alpine lake, 1,645 feet deep. On the Nevada line.
Mount Whitney's jagged crestNo peak in the contiguous United States is higher. Southern Sierra Nevada.
Tower Bridge in Sacramento, middle span raisedA vertical lift bridge: the center section rises between two towers. Sacramento.
Tufa towers at Mono LakeA salty soda lake with knobbly tufa rock along its shore. Mono County, east of the Sierra.
Yosemite Falls in three drops2,425 feet in all: an upper fall, middle cascades and a lower fall. Yosemite Valley.
Central coast 14
A California condor soaringThe largest land bird in North America, back in the coastal mountains of California after 1987.
A gray whale's fluke on its way southThe state marine mammal swims south along the coast from December to February and north in March and April.
A Monterey cypress bent by the windWild trees grow only in two small groves near Carmel. Monterey Peninsula.
A sea otter cracking a shell with a stoneSea otters use rocks to open shells, one of the few mammals to use tools. In the kelp off the central coast.
A winter cluster of monarchs at Pacific GroveMonarchs from west of the Rockies fly to California for the winter. Monterey Peninsula.
Bixby Bridge, a concrete arch on the Big Sur coastAn open arch with a main span of 360 feet, finished in 1932. Big Sur, south of Monterey.
Elephant seals hauled out at Piedras BlancasNamed for their great size and the bull's big nose. On a beach of the central coast.
Keyhole Rock at Pfeiffer BeachFor a few days in December and January the setting sun shines through the arch. Big Sur coast.
McWay Falls landing on a beachA tidefall in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. Big Sur coast.
Mission Santa Barbara, the Queen of the MissionsFounded on December 4, 1786, the tenth of the California missions. Santa Barbara.
Morro Rock at the mouth of its bayA volcanic plug standing in Morro Bay. Central coast, halfway down the map.
Pigeon Point LighthouseA tapered brick tower first lit in 1872, one of the two tallest lighthouses on the West Coast. South of San Francisco.
The rock spires of Pinnacles National ParkThe worn-down half of an extinct volcano, carried 200 miles along the San Andreas Fault. Coast Ranges.
Tall fronds of a kelp forest, seen from belowBrown seaweed standing like trees in the water. Along the coast near Point Conception.
Deserts and the south 15
A California poppy, a cup of goldThe state flower since 1903, also called copa de oro. A poppy reserve lies in Antelope Valley, Los Angeles County.
A desert bighorn ram on a rocky slopeBorrego is Spanish for sheep. Anza-Borrego is California's biggest state park. Inland from San Diego.
A desert tortoise, head outThe state reptile walks about 20 feet a minute. Deserts of the southeast.
A garibaldi, bright orangeThe state marine fish, about 14 inches long, lives in shallow water off the Southern California coast.
A Joshua tree with its arms upA close relative of the Mojave yucca, found mostly in the Mojave Desert. Southeast.
A saber-toothed cat skullThe state fossil, with upper canine teeth 8 inches long. Its bones lie in the Rancho La Brea tar pits, Los Angeles.
A sailing stone and its track on Racetrack PlayaOn this dry lake, stones leave long straight tracks behind them. Above the northwest side of Death Valley.
A surfboard leaning on a lifeguard towerSurfing became the official state sport in 2018. Southern beaches.
An island fox on a clifftopA small fox found only on six of the eight Channel Islands. Off the southern coast.
The Kelso Dunes at sunriseA dune field of 45 square miles; its tallest dunes rise 650 feet. Mojave Desert.
Mission San Juan Capistrano and its swallowsKnown for the yearly Return of the Swallows; an 1812 earthquake leveled its Great Stone Church. South coast.
Old Point Loma LighthouseFirst lit in 1855, 46 feet tall, in Cabrillo National Monument. San Diego, bottom corner of the map.
The salt flats of Badwater BasinNorth America's lowest point, 282 feet below sea level. Death Valley, eastern edge.
The Trona Pinnacles on a dry lake bedMore than 500 spires of tufa rock, some 140 feet high. Mojave Desert.
Wind turbines in San Gorgonio PassHundreds of turbines stand in rows across the pass. Inland from Los Angeles.
How this list was compiled: Original list written for Draw This Next on 2026-10-02: 72 real, named things from California, sorted by region so that each can be placed on a doodle map of the state (north coast and mountains; Bay Area and the delta; Central Valley and Sierra Nevada; central coast; deserts and the south), each marked easy, medium or hard. The subjects and the hints are our own. State symbols (the redwood, banana slug, Dungeness crab, Bear Flag, gold, golden trout, giant garter snake, California quail, gray whale, surfing, saber-toothed cat, desert tortoise, garibaldi and California poppy) and the gold rush ghost town of Bodie were read on 2026-10-02 on the California State Library's page of state symbols (https://www.library.ca.gov/california-history/state-symbols/). Half Dome, Yosemite Falls, the General Sherman Tree and the Joshua tree were read the same day on the National Park Service pages of Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, and Joshua Tree national parks (nps.gov). The height of Burney Falls is the one California State Parks gives on its page for McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park (https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=455), read the same day. Every other detail was read the same day in the English Wikipedia article for the subject (en.wikipedia.org; text free to reuse under CC BY-SA 4.0): Mount Shasta, Roosevelt elk, Lassen Peak, Burney Falls, Battery Point Light, Point Arena Light, Pigeon Point Lighthouse, Fern Canyon, Dungeness crab, Lost Coast, Castle Crags, Avenue of the Giants, Lava Beds National Monument, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco cable car system, California sea lion, Painted ladies, Lombard Street (San Francisco), San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, Palace of Fine Arts, Muir Woods National Monument, Point Reyes Lighthouse, Tule elk, San Francisco Ferry Building, Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, Dragon Gate (San Francisco), Almond, El Capitan, Mount Whitney, Lake Tahoe, Mono Lake, Tower Bridge (California), Sutter's Mill, Devils Postpile National Monument, Sea otter, Bixby Bridge, Mission Santa Barbara, Morro Rock, Northern elephant seal, Cupressus macrocarpa, McWay Falls, California condor, Pinnacles National Park, Monarch butterfly, Kelp forest, Pfeiffer Beach, Yucca brevifolia, Badwater Basin, Mission San Juan Capistrano, Kelso Dunes, Racetrack Playa, San Gorgonio Pass wind farm, Old Point Loma Lighthouse, Island fox, Trona Pinnacles, Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. No film studio, theme park, team, company or brand is listed. Licence: own work
How it works
This is a list of what to draw on a California map doodle, not a finished picture: 72 real, named things sorted by region, each with a checked detail and where it sits on the map.
Read the full guide
Outline first, then fill it in
Draw the outline of the state, then fill it region by region. Each idea names its place: Mount Shasta near the top of the map, in the middle; Lake Tahoe on the Nevada line; Old Point Loma Lighthouse in the bottom corner.
Five regions
The ideas are sorted by region: north coast and mountains, Bay Area and the delta, Central Valley and Sierra Nevada, central coast, deserts and the south. A state symbol stands in the region it belongs to: the Bear Flag at Sonoma, the golden trout in the southern Sierra. Level is under More filters.
Questions and answers
What should I put on a doodle map of California?
One or two things for each region: a coast redwood and Mount Shasta in the north, the Golden Gate Bridge by the Bay, Half Dome in the Sierra, Morro Rock on the central coast, a Joshua tree and Badwater Basin in the deserts.
What are California's state symbols?
Among them: the California poppy (flower), the California quail (bird), the redwood (tree), the golden trout (fish), the gray whale (marine mammal), the desert tortoise (reptile), gold (mineral) and the saber-toothed cat (fossil). Surfing is the state sport.
What is on the California flag?
A grizzly bear, a five-pointed star, a red stripe and the words California Republic. It began as the flag of the Bear Flag Revolt at Sonoma on June 14, 1846, and became the State Flag in 1911.
Is this a California map to print?
No. The page is a list of ideas with facts and holds no picture. Draw the outline yourself or trace it from an atlas, then add the things the list gives you.