The County of Los Angeles Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pasadena

Since 1890, the Rose Parade (also known as the Tournament of Roses) has taken place every New Year's Day (or on January 2nd, if New Year falls on a Sunday) in Pasadena. It involves horses, marching bands and intricately designed floats covered in roses and other flowers. Following the parade, the Rose Bowl American football match takes place at the Rose Bowl stadium. This is a post-season college level football game that has featured teams from universities across the US since the inaugural match in 1902. The Rose Bowl stadium was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

Pasadena was incorporated as a city in 1886, 36 years after neighbouring Los Angeles. It is located in the San Gabriel Valley - the name 'Pasadena' means "of the valley" in the Ojibwe language.

The incorrect options are all cities in Sonoma County, located in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Answer: California poppy

From around February to May each year, the slopes of the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve become a sea of orangey-red flowers - the California poppies that became the state's official flower in 1903. The flower even has its own official day - April 6th - that would presumably be a good time to visit the reserve. There are several miles of trails laid out to allow people to get a good look at both the natural floral display and the wildlife of the area (although various types of snake are resident at the reserve, so it's possible that you may well not want to see the full range of wildlife available). For less outdoorsy types there are also museums, picnic areas and a visitor centre.

Antelope Valley is located between the San Gabriel and Tehachapi Mountains and, somewhat unsurprisingly, is named after the pronghorn species of antelope that used to roam the area until hunters managed to kill them off in the late 19th century.

The saguaro cactus blossom, sagebrush and Oregon grape are the state flowers of Arizona, Nevada and Oregon respectively - the three states that neighbour California.

Answer: Mount San Antonio

Mount San Antonio is located in the San Gabriel Mountains, on the border between Los Angeles County and San Bernardino County. It is the highest point in this mountain range, with its summit being around 3,065 metres (10,060 feet) above sea level. The bare patch on its southern face that inspired its local nickname is known as the Baldy Bowl and is a fell field - a type of scree slope that is generally noted for a lack of vegetation other than low-growing cushion plants.

Various hiking trails exist to allow people to climb up to the top of Mount San Antonio via all four faces. The mountain is home to the closest ski resort to the city of Los Angeles and the ski lifts are also available to give hikers a bit of a rest!

The incorrect options all include the names of other major cities in Texas.

Answer: Long Beach

Long Beach does have a Pacific coastline and an array of beaches, but its shores are more famous for its massive container port (the only larger one in the US is in neighbouring Los Angeles) and offshore oil installations. High levels of industry and urban development have resulted in significant air pollution problems and poor water quality test results - so you might want to think twice before diving into the water for a dip...

However, despite these issues, Long Beach has many tourist attractions (including the RMS Queen Mary) and a long-standing motorsport heritage. The annual Long Beach Grand Prix was first held in 1975 and has appeared on the Formula One, Champ Car and Indy Car calendars over the years.

Seaside (formerly known as East Monterey) is located in Monterey County and is known for hosting PGA Tour golf events; Oceanside is in San Diego County and became the host of the Beach Soccer Championships in 2007; and Laguna Beach can be found in Orange County and is known for surfing and volleyball.

Answer: Mojave Desert

The Mojave Desert covers over 124,000 square kilometres (48,000 square miles) in the south-west of the US - predominantly in California, but also including parts of Nevada, Arizona and Utah. It is a hot and dry desert characterised by the presence of Joshua trees and includes Death Valley - the lowest point on the North American continent.

The largest city in the Mojave Desert is Las Vegas in Nevada. However, neighbouring Lancaster and Palmdale in Los Angeles County, California are both sizeable cities with a large and growing population - in the 50 years between the 1960 and 2010 US censuses, their combined population increased eight-fold to over 300,000. Both cities are dependent on the California - Los Angeles Aqueduct System to provide sufficient water supplies in such a difficult desert location.

The Chihuahuan and Sonoran Deserts can both be found in the south-west of the US and the north-west of Mexico. The Baked Alaskan Desert doesn't exist - however, a Baked Alaska is a famous dessert.

Answer: Channel Islands

The Channel Islands (sometimes referred to as the Channel Islands of California) are a group of eight islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are spread out along the coast of southern California, up to around 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the mainland. The four northern islands (Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel and Anacapa) along with Santa Barbara Island became part of the Channel Islands National Park in 1980. Largely uninhabited and undeveloped they are now home to a wide variety of plant, animal and marine life and provide a great tourist attraction for the area.

San Clemente Island and San Nicolas Island are now US Navy facilities, but Santa Catalina is the only one of the Channel Islands with a significant permanently settled population. It is home to the city of Avalon (named after the mythical island associated with King Arthur) and other smaller settlements. Avalon is a tourist resort, with hotels, clubs, a casino and golf course.

The incorrect options are all British Overseas Territories. The other set of Channel Islands (located off the coast of France) are British Crown dependencies.

Answer: Angeles National Forest

Pseudotsuga macrocarpa and Juglans californica are more commonly known as the bigcone Douglas-fir and California walnut respectively. They are two common species found in the Angeles National Forest, which covers around 2,700 square kilometres (700,000 acres) of the San Gabriel Mountains and Sierra Palona Mountains. It was established in 1908 by the merger of three smaller National Forests and is a protected area to ensure the survival of the ecosystem and local wildlife. The further designation as California Historical Landmark was granted due to its status as the first National Forest to be created in California.

The forest is also a tourist attraction, with interesting visitor and information centres, picnic areas, camping grounds and skiing locations. The historic Mount Wilson Observatory was used extensively by the famous astronomer Edwin Hubble in the 1920s and is still used for astronomical research in the 21st century. Sheep Mountain Wilderness is a popular location for hiking.

The incorrect options are all California Historical Landmarks located in Los Angeles County. The Cascades is part of the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct; Hancock Park is a city park in Los Angeles known for the La Brea Tar Pits; and Point Dume is a promontory on the Pacific coast near Malibu.

Answer: Pyramid Lake

Pyramid Lake and the rest of the West Branch California Aqueduct are part of a massive water management system that takes water from northern California and redistributes it to the hotter, drier and far more populous areas of southern California. It might sound simple, but it includes over 1,100 kilometres (700 miles) of canals and pipelines, more than 20 dams, pumping stations capable of lifting water over the 880 metre (2,900 feet) high Tehachapi mountains and a hydroelectric power system.

Pyramid Lake was created in 1973 by the construction of Pyramid Dam on Piru Creek - a tributary of the Santa Clara River. The pyramid-shaped rock that it is named after is an earthwork created during the construction of US Route 99, part of which now lies under the lake. Recreational activities available at Pyramid Lake include various visitor centres, picnic areas, boating, jet-skiing and fishing.

Bicycle Lake is a dry lake in San Bernardino County, Dog Lake is in Yosemite National Park and Square Lake is a mountain lake in Tehama County.

Answer: Bob Hope Airport

Bob Hope Airport has had a wide variety of names since it was first built in 1930. It was originally known as United Airport and has also been called Union Air Terminal, Lockheed Air Terminal, Hollywood-Burbank Airport and Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport. It was renamed in honour of Bob Hope after his death in 2003, as he had lived nearby and kept his private plane at the airport.

The airport is a regional one, generally providing short-haul flights to other cities in the western US such as Seattle, Portland, Phoenix and San Francisco. It is located just 16 kilometres (10 miles) from Hollywood.

Robert Stack, Gregory Peck and Buddy Ebsen were all American film actors who also died in 2003. 

Answer: Burbank

Burbank - the "Media City of the World" - is located in the San Fernando Valley at the base of the Verdugo Mountains. However, it is just 19 kilometres (12 miles) north-west of central Los Angeles and is a hub of the film and entertainment industry, with major companies such as Nickelodeon and NBC (in addition to Disney and Warner Bros.) having offices or studios in the city.

The Walt Disney Studios opened in 1940 and houses both the administration of the company and the production facilities that created some of the most famous animated films in history. Live-action films and television programmes are also produced on the site. It was the commercial success of 1937's 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' that allowed Disney to purchase the 50-acre site; his company had previously occupied premises around the Los Angeles area, including his uncle's garage, offices behind a real-estate agent's office and a smaller studio on Hyperion Avenue.

The incorrect options are all other cities located in Los Angeles County.