Ocean, mountain and desert are California's defining features. There are several different mountain ranges: The Coastal Range wends its way north from Santa Barbara and into Oregon. The Cascades extend into the northern interior, and the Sierra Nevada's jagged peaks tower over the eastern third of the state. The Peninsular Ranges extend from Los Angeles south into Mexico's Baja peninsula, and the unusual east-west Transverse Ranges separate Southern California from the rest of the state. In between all these mountains are a number of fertile valleys, including the vast Central Valley—an extremely flat area that's an agricultural powerhouse.
The southern part of the state is one vast semiarid desert fringed by valleys and mountains. Modern water projects transformed much of this land into rich farmland and then into lush urban and suburban settings. Yet much of the desert remains. Death Valley boasts the lowest elevation in the U.S.—and often the highest summer temperatures; to the east of Death Valley, the Sierra Nevadas taper off into the Mojave Desert.
