Places to Explore In The Central Valley

Discover the best places to explore in The Central Valley with curated recommendations from our travel experts.

Bakersfield

Bakersfield's founder, Colonel Thomas Baker, arrived with the discovery of gold in the nearby Kern River valley in 1851. With 364,000 residents, including the country’s...

  • 4 Restaurants
  • 3 Hotels
  • 7 Things To Do

Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park

In 1908 army chaplain and former slave Colonel Allen Allensworth and a group of African Americans decided to move west to create a community where...

  • 0 Restaurants
  • 0 Hotels
  • 1 Things To Do

Fresno

Fresno, with half a million people, is the center of the richest agricultural county in the United States. Cotton, grapes, and tomatoes are among the...

  • 3 Restaurants
  • 2 Hotels
  • 15 Things To Do

Hanford

Founded in 1877 as a Southern Pacific Railroad stop, Hanford had one of California's largest Chinatowns—the Chinese came to help build the railroads and stayed...

  • 1 Restaurants
  • 1 Hotels
  • 3 Things To Do

Kernville

The wild Kern River, which flows through Kernville en route from Mt. Whitney to Bakersfield, delivers some of the most exciting white-water rafting in the...

  • 1 Restaurants
  • 1 Hotels
  • 1 Things To Do

Lodi

With about 100,000 acres of mostly rich alluvial soils planted to more than six-dozen grape varietals—more types than in any other California viticultural area—Lodi is...

  • 4 Restaurants
  • 1 Hotels
  • 13 Things To Do

Merced

The 2005 debut of a branch of the University of California helped spur redevelopment in Merced County’s seat of government. The transformation has resulted in...

  • 3 Restaurants
  • 1 Hotels
  • 3 Things To Do

Modesto

Among the most striking "welcome to downtown" signs you'll see, the Modesto Arch, at 9th and I streets, bears the city's motto: "Water, Wealth, Contentment...

  • 3 Restaurants
  • 2 Hotels
  • 5 Things To Do

Oakdale

Oakdale was founded as an orchard community and, in a real stretch, calls itself the Cowboy Capital of the World. Formerly the home of a...

  • 0 Restaurants
  • 0 Hotels
  • 2 Things To Do

Stockton

California's first inland port—connected since 1933 to San Francisco via a 60-mile-long deepwater channel—is wedged between Interstate 5 and Highway 99, on the eastern end...

  • 1 Restaurants
  • 2 Hotels
  • 1 Things To Do

Visalia

Visalia's combination of a reliable agricultural economy and civic pride has produced the Central Valley's most vibrant downtown, with numerous restaurants, craft breweries, and cafés...

  • 3 Restaurants
  • 1 Hotels
  • 4 Things To Do

Explore The Central Valley

Sights 47

Shopping 2

Nightlife 1

Performing Arts 5

Restaurants 23

Hotels 14
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