California Trivia

1. Racetrack Playa is what type of place?

From Quiz Racetrack Playa

Answer: A dried lake bed with rocks

Playa means "beach" in Spanish, but has changed to mean a dried up lake bed in English. In this case, the lake bed contains not only dried up and cracked mud, but some special rocks that have a mystery associated with them.

From Quiz Exploring California

Answer: San Bernardino

Although some of Alaska's boroughs and census areas are larger, San Bernardino (Saint Bernard) County comprises 20,105 sq mi/32,355 sq km in southern California. The county is larger than any of the nine smallest U.S. states and the 71 smallest countries. It was established in 1853.

From Quiz Random Trivia About "The Golden State"

Answer: Ronald Wilson Reagan

Years before being elected the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan served as California's 33rd Governor from 1967 until 1975. Reagan, a native of Tampico, Illinois, started his California experience in 1937, when he traveled to the state with the Chicago Cubs baseball team as one of their play by play announcers. A movie "screen test" resulted in Reagan being hired as a contract player for Warner Brothers Studio. During his acting career, Reagan was featured in more than 60 films, with two of the most referenced movies being "Knute Rockne All American" (1940) and the comedy "Bedtime for Bonzo" (1951). Reagan also played roles in over 15 television series, most notably his role as host and series star in several episodes of "Death Valley Days" (1964). Reagan's political interest prior to becoming the state governor included holding several positions in the Screen Actor's Guild, the labor union for motion picture industry, and serving as the president of the union organization from 1947 to 1952, and then again from 1959-1960. Reagan and his wife Nancy resided on a sprawling 200 acre ranch in the Santa Ynez Valley, just north of Santa Barbara, California. Reagan's final resting place is in Simi Valley, California, on the grounds of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. One interesting side note is that while serving as President of the United States, residents of the Santa Ynez Valley and parts of Santa Barbara County always knew when the President was visiting his ranch. Residents noted that some electrically powered items, such as automatic garage doors, short-wave radios, and television reception would be disrupted, or suddenly cease to operate. Powerful radio signals from the space satellite used by the President for communications purposes overwhelmed and in some cases short circuited other electrical waves as the satellite was being honed to the President's location.

From Quiz San Francisco Bay Area--Locations and Landmarks

Answer: Mt. Diablo

Mount Diablo (which means Devil Mountain in Spanish) is a popular East Bay hiking destination. Mt. Hamilton, in the South Bay, is the highest elevation in the region. Mission Peak is also in the East Bay (but farther south) and Mt. Tamalpais is in Marin County in the North Bay.

From Quiz Places to be in So Cal

Answer: Balboa

Balboa Island/Peninsula is a beautiful coastline spot in Orange County. You can cross the harbor on the ferry on foot, bicycle, or even in the car for a small fee. Once you get across, all kinds of fun things are available from romantic dinner cruises to family fun at the beach or in the arcade.

From Quiz City of Santa Clarita

Answer: 1987

This very young city is now ranked in the top 20 of cities to live in in the United States. The population in 2007 is 177,418.

From Quiz Northern California

Answer: Oakdale

Oakdale is home to one of only three Hershey's chocolate factories in North America. The whole southeast end of town smells like chocolate!

From Quiz Quirky Little Livermore

Answer: The East Bay

Livermore is located in what is called the "Tri-Valley Area" of the East Bay. The Tri-Valley Area is comprised of the Livermore Valley, the Amador Valley and the San Ramon Valley. It is home to the cities of Livermore, Plesanton, Dublin, San Ramon, Danville and Sunol. Livermore is a good hour's drive from San Francisco, but "The City" is easily accessible via our subway system, BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit)

From Quiz Mountains of California

Answer: Mount Whitney

Mount Whitney is a fairly easy climb, with some hikers making the round trip in one day. Its elevation can make for hard breathing at the top.

From Quiz A Slightly Different View of California

Answer: Anaheim

Anaheim was given its name by early German settlers who combined "Ana" from the nearby Santa Ana River and "heim" which is German for home. We of course are off to Disneyland.

From Quiz Modesto and Its General Area

Answer: Fresno

Contrary to popular belief, the majority of grapes grown in California are used to make raisins, not wine. Selma, a small suburb just north of Fresno is known as the "Raisin Capital of the World."

From Quiz California Highway 1 North

Answer: Big Sur

When you travel through Big Sur, it appears as if almost no one lives there. You may need a guide book to find the side roads that lead to the beaches. The areas is said to be home to aging Beatniks.

From Quiz Marin County, California

Answer: Miwok

The Miwoks lived in Marin County and the area to the north. The mild climate allowed them to feast on deer, fish, shellfish, berries, nuts and roots. The main staple of their diet, however, was a paste made from acor ns.

From Quiz The Golden State

Answer: Eastern California

The towns in the Owens Valley include: Big Pine, Bishop, Independence and Lone Pine.

From Quiz On the "California" Road Again

Answer: Channel Islands National Park

You can hire a boat to take you out to the islands. You're welcome to spend the night, camping out there also. Just a small fee and a little permit and you're headed to peace and quiet from the bustling California life. Two of the islands, San Nicolas and San Clemente, are run by the Navy and not by the National Park. Santa Catalina is another island and is off the coast; it has the most residents with over 4000. One island that I didn't mention is Santa Barbara Island, which is also run by the National Park.

From Quiz Racetrack Playa

Answer: Death Valley National Park

Death Valley National Park has portions in both Nevada and California. The Racetrack (as it is often called) is in California.

From Quiz Exploring California

Answer: giant sequoia

Named the General Grant tree, after President U.S. Grant, the giant sequoia is the second largest tree in the world. It is in the General Grant Grove section of Kings Canyon National Park and was named the national tree in 1925.

From Quiz Random Trivia About "The Golden State"

Answer: five

California is home to two American League (AL), and three National League (NL) baseball franchises. Northern California is represented by the San Francisco Giants (NL) and the Oakland Athletics (AL), who play home games at "AT&T Park" and the "Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum", respectively. Southern California is represented by the Los Angeles Dodgers (NL), and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (AL), playing their home games at "Dodger Stadium" and "Angel Stadium of Anaheim", respectively. In the southernmost portion of the state, the San Diego Padres (NL) play in "Petco Park".

From Quiz San Francisco Bay Area--Locations and Landmarks

Answer: Baseball World Series

The two teams in the 1989 World Series were the Oakland A's and the San Francisco Giants. The players were warming up for the start of game three when the quake hit. The fans in Candlestick Park didn't even realize the significance of the quake until about half an hour later, when TV footage began to broadcast the damage. Because the World Series that year involved the Bay Area's two professional baseball teams, many people left work early to see the game. This meant that traffic was much lighter than normal when the quake hit at around 5:15 pm, likely resulting in far fewer casualties.

From Quiz Places to be in So Cal

Answer: Irvine Spectrum

Just about anything you need can be found at the Irvine Spectrum if you are willing to part with enough of your cash. The location is quite large, complete with a parking structure, a shuttle for visitors forced to park very far away, and even valet parking to accomodate those who wish to use it. The Spectrum is marked by a huge, colorfully-illuminated obelisk at its main front entrance.

From Quiz California's Alps: The Sierra Nevada

Answer: John Muir

Few people did more to preserve California's wilderness areas than John Muir. His greatest 'gift' to the state was Yosemite National Park.

From Quiz Northern California

Answer: The Tower Theater

The first Tower Records is right across the street from the Tower Theater. Also at that intersection are Tower Liquors, Tower Books, and Tower Video.

From Quiz Quirky Little Livermore

Answer: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL, or, "The Lab" as Livermore residents call it) is one of the largest nuclear weapons testing facilities in the country. They don't actually blow huge weapons up, but they run diagnostics to make sure they will function properly. The lab is home to a huge (too big, in my opinion) store of radioactive material. Also, the lab is one of the forerunners in research in the fields of chemistry and biology.

From Quiz Modesto, California - Not Such a Bad Place

Answer: George Lucas

George was born in Modesto on May 14, 1944. He was raised on a walnut ranch along with his three siblings. After graduating from Downey High School he attended Modesto Junior College before deciding to attend the University of Southern California film school. "American Graffiti" is based on the local tradition of cruising McHenry Blvd in Modesto but it was actually filmed in Petaluma.

From Quiz Mountains of California

Answer: Mount Shasta

Mount Shasta is a hard and often dangerous climb, with sudden weather changes quite common. It is the highest point in Siskiyou County.

From Quiz The Real Orange County

Answer: The Bowers Museum of Cultural Art

The Bowers Museum, located in Santa Ana is Orange County's largest museum. Started in 1936 by the Bowers family, it was first devoted to the history of Orange County. It closed in the mid-1980's with the understanding that it would reopen with a new agenda and purpose. It reopened in 1992 as a cultural museum dedicated to promoting understanding between cultures through art. It is now one of the largest museums in the United States with this goal.

From Quiz California Missions

Answer: Carmel

The official name of the mission is Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo. There are missions in Los Angeles and San Francisco but none in San Jose.

From Quiz California--The Golden State

Answer: Eureka

"Eureka" means "I Have Found It".

From Quiz Some California Fun

Answer: Mystery Spot

There have beeen many theories on the unexplained gravity pull there. For me, I don't really know what to believe. All I do know is that I honestly felt very dizzy and couldn't walk without holding on to the railing.

This is category 3887
Last Updated Nov 16 2024 5:45 AM

= Top 5% Rated Quiz, Top 10% Rated Quiz, Top 20% Rated Quiz, A Well Rated Quiz
= added recently, = Editor's Pick = FunTrivia Editor = Gold Member
Teachers / educators: FunTrivia welcomes the use of our website and quizzes in the classroom as a teaching aid or for preparing and testing students. See our education section. Our quizzes are printable and may be used as question sheets by k-12 teachers, parents, and home schoolers.

 ·  All questions, answers, and quiz content on this website is copyright FunTrivia, Inc and may not be reproduced without permission. Any images from TV shows and movies are copyright their studios, and are being used under "fair use" for commentary and education.