The seasonal show of fall color in California is not limited to falling leaves.  Every autumn, beautiful orange and black Monarch butterflies return to the Monterey Bay area to mate.  One of the best places to see the display is at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz.  Jodi Apelt of the California State Parks reports that on every Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. through Feb. 14 (or until the migratory Monarchs depart), Monarch Butterfly Tours will occur.  Natural Bridges is located at the end of West Cliff Drive.   To know that the Monarchs are there when you plan to visit, call (831) 423-4609 in advance.

Monarch Butterfly (1/16/06)

Other colorful California State parks fall events in the Santa Cruz area include a program on Mushrooms of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Nov. 7 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Ranche del Oso Nature and History Center near Waddell Creek Bridge (16 mi. north of Santa Cruz off CA-1).  A mushroom taxonomist will describe where to find them, how to be sure they’re “the right ones,” and tips on gourmet preparation of wild mushrooms.

On the Sunday of the Thanksgiving Day Weekend (Nov. 29), a “Creeping Forest Ramble” will leave at noon from Park Headquarters at Big Basin Redwoods State Park.  Docent Doreen Devorah will lead a three-hour, 2.5 mi hike up and down the “creeping” terrain, along creeks, through fire-scarred redwoods and over log bridges.   Bring water, a snack and good hiking shoes.

Photo Credit: © 2006, John Poimiroo

Fall color is peaking above 8,000′ in the Eastern Sierra.  California Fall Color has posted a beautiful photograph of aspen leaves in a stream, each a dazzlingly bright tone of green, yellow, orange and red.  Weekly updates on this site report where the color is peaking throughout California.  Whoever says California has no change of season reveals they’ve never traveled to these colorful places.

Coloma was where James Marshall discovered gold in 1848.  This past weekend, another first look at gold occurred near Coloma, where brush in drainages leading to the American River showed California’s first gold of autumn.  For more about California Fall Color, CLICK HERE.

As one of Northern California’s crossroads, Redding was long a place to stop and fill up, with its restaurants then known as being more filling than fulfilling. That rep is changing with the arrival of Rivers Restaurant, a modern curve of glass and steel on a bluff overlooking a bend in the Sacramento River.

Rivers has brought showmanship to Redding, in its architecture and expansive views of the river and Mount Shasta (including a glimpse of Santiago Calatrava’s Sundial Bridge) and inventive presentations of comfort food.

Chef Cal DeMercurio takes “food you grew up eating” like “Mac-n-Cheese” and serves them in unexpected forms… an iceberg lettuce salad that’s been mesquite grilled, pulled pork made from Korean-styled meat, Chilean sea bass smoked over applewood and served on a bed of Gorgonzola cheese polenta and beef entrees, of course. After all, this is Redding where construction workers’ plates of steak and prime rib have been overflowing since Shasta Dam was built in the 1930s.

Still the standard for carnivores in Redding is Jack’s Grill, which since 1938 has been serving 10- and 16-ounce U.S.D.A. prime choice New York, Filet Mignon and Top Sirloin steaks. The Market Street Steakhouse is Redding’s upstart eatery, attracting a younger crowd than Jack’s for Kobe steaks and porterhouse, in addition to the standards. Of course, not everything eaten in Redding is red meat.

Buz’s Crab serves Red Snapper and almost every conceivable type of seafood. Though located 140 miles from the sea, inland Buz’s is the nation’s largest distributor of Dungeness crabs, shipping the arthropods to crab feeds far and wide.

For more about dining in Redding, CLICK HERE.

Marshall Pike takes us to the Roosevelt Elk - the largest game species in North America - at Redwood National and State Parks in Humboldt County, California.  CLICK HERE to see the elk.