If you think of the must-visit places of California, Yosemite, the Hollywood board or the Golden Gate Bridge are probably in mind. But this large state has many obscure attractions that can keep themselves against the big guns. Net credit has unveiled the most underrated places to visit in California, and we immediately add them to our list.
A castle has been built by an ‘Outsider architect’, a cemetery of rusted war boats that still have to be taken out of use and a store that sells time travel stocks. Yes, really. So, how did they find out which lesser -known places are still worth visiting?
They plagued Atlas Obscura and found all places in California that had fewer than 1,000 Google reviews, but had earned a four-star rating or higher. The result is this new series of maps with the most underrated places to visit in every California region …
Most underrated places to visit in California
1. China Flat Museum Bigfoot Collection
The museum itself may not be huge, but the encapsulated range of Ape-Man-Artefacts gives it the feeling of a Victorian cabinet of curiosities. Among other things, rarities you see preserved footprints of the mysterious being and a gigantic wooden sculpture of his parable. Why wouldn’t you go out after that and try to find the ‘real’ thing?
2. The al atmosphere
The Allosphere is a fantastic voyage-like version of the Planetarium concept. Instead of looking at the stars, scientists and visitors can look at the 360 degrees, 24 million pixel screen system and experience the inside of a brain scan or another microscopic event.
The facility can be found in the California Nanosystems Institute Building at the University of California Santa Barbara. It is also one of the largest echoic rooms in the world (which means it gets deadly quiet when they disable the great 512-channel sound system).
3. Folsom Prison Museum
This former penitentiary is known as the prison where Johnny Cash recorded his famous live album in 1968. Now that it is ‘closed to business’, the prison retains a creepy feeling of yesteryear. Animatronic ‘Puppet Prisoners’ populate the cells, and the museum is fully staffed by former prison protectors.
4. Mojave Lava tube
At the Mojave Lava tube you can follow a 10,000-year-old path of melted lava through tar-black tunnels that are of course illuminated by rays of the hole-pepper ceiling. You really touch the old history while you walk your hands along the walls of solidified lava.
5. Malibu Hindu Temple
This is a unique opportunity to see a piece of authentic Hollywood history that looks like it was blasted from the other side of the world. The temple is cinematic intercultural and appeared in both Hollywood Beverly Hills Ninja (1997) and ‘Kollywood‘(Tamil) Film Jeans (1998). It is open every day of the year for services, recitals and puja.
6. Hollywood Forever Cemetery
This may sound like a gloomy place for a visit, but it has all the pizzzazz and glamor that you expect from Tinsel Town. Showbiz names such as Cecil B. Demille, Johnny Ramone and Estelle Getty belong to the ‘Kitsch-But-Respectful’ charts. Every summer, films are projected on the wall of the Mausoleum of Rudolph Valentino.
7. The Glass Beach
Until 1967, the inhabitants of Fort Brag threw waste such as devices and vehicles over the cliff to the coast. Occasionally they threw a Molotov cocktail to burn it up and make more space. Years later (and after a clean -up surgery), the only thing that remains is a landscape of glass pebbles, worn smoothly by the ocean waves.
Editors’ note: Some of these attractions are temporarily closed due to COVID-19. Check in advance if you can plan visits.
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