Local advice about the best months to visit California

As a lifelong Californian, I’m definitely biased, but in my opinion, there’s no bad month to visit California. That’s in part because it’s a huge state, packed with geographic and climate diversity

At 163,695 square miles (nearly 424,000 square kilometers), California really is big; about the same size as Maine, South Carolina, West Virginia, Maryland, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, and Rhode Island all put together. 

All that means that in any given month, you can likely find your perfect combo of climate and activities. Want to go to the beach in February? Head south to San Diego. Looking to ski in April? Tahoe is your go-to. Craving dry heat and pool weather in fall? Palm Springs or Joshua Tree is your ticket.

Here’s a quick rundown of what to expect by season in California. I’m following it up with a deeper dive into weather and California’s newest and least favorite season: fire season.

Winter: January, February, March

If you’re coming for snow sports, winter in California is prime time. Though Sierra Nevada destinations like Tahoe are best known for winter sports, there are ski resorts up and down the state, in destinations including SoCal-accessible spots like Big Bear and Mammoth, and Shasta in the north. Even Yosemite has a ski resort (Badger Pass), and in February, Yosemite draws visitors to see the natural sunset phenomenon known as Firefall.

Around the rest of the state, expect some rain, plenty of vibrant green hills, wildflowers, and a fair share of sunny but cool days. Drive through the Central Valley in late winter and you’ll find yourself surrounded by blossoming trees. Outdoors activities remain popular through winter, though you may need to bundle up a bit.

Spring: April, May, June

Northern California and the San Francisco Bay Area slides slowly into spring, with cooler days dominating the season. In California’s south, things tend to heat up more quickly. And in the deserts, April and early May usually offer the last mild days until fall. 

In late winter and early spring, the state erupts into bloom. The deserts hold beautiful floral displays even on years when there’s not a superbloom. And elsewhere around the state, wildflowers carpet the hillsides. 

Summer, July, August, September

Summer is peak season in Southern California, a time when people flock to the beaches to soak up the sun. In Northern California, summer is a little more unpredictable; fog is a familiar sight in San Francisco in summer, for instance. Inland, expect hotter temperatures and hills that turn from green to golden. 

In the mountains, summer is when you’ll see the best displays of wildflowers like lupine and mule ears. Generally, higher elevations yield cooler temperatures than you’ll find in the the surrounding inland valleys. 

Fall: October, November, December

Beautiful weather tends to extend into October in much of the state. Usually the first mountain snowfalls happen sometime around Thanksgiving. The fall months are a great time for travelers looking for smaller crowds and less expensive hotels. Most outdoor activities are year-round in California, so you can still hike, bike, paddle, and adventure through the fall months. Since kids are back to school in autumn, theme parks tend to be less crowded, especially on non-holiday weekdays.

California Weather and temperature 

California is queen of the microclimates, and though there’s a lot more variation around the state in temperatures, it remains true that the state’s weather is easy to love. It’s got desert and inland highs that break 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38ish Celsius) and winter mountain lows in the teens, but for the most part, on a California vacation you’re likely to get temperatures between 50 and 85 F around most of the state most of the time. 

Winters tend to be rainy (as Californians, we’re always hoping for wet winters, as it fills reservoirs and gives us the snowpack that feeds the water supply through the summer months) and summers are mostly dry, though Southern California sometimes sees a touch of the monsoon season that affects the Southwest. 

Fire season in the West

Fall used to be my favorite season in California, a time that felt like a mellower extension of summer, and one perfect for travel. But in the last decade or so, fall has morphed into fire season, a time when the dry summer has created unfortunately good conditions for fast-spreading wildfires.

For travelers, this can be tricky because it’s hard to plan for and—fires aside—late summer and early autumn really is a great time for California travel. For travelers, the issue tends to be less about fire danger and more about the smoke and air quality issues that can affect larger areas, depending on wind conditions. For California fire season, I regularly refer to an air quality app like IQAir and an app that will show you which way the wind is blowing (so you can see if your destination is likely to get hit with smoke) like Windfinder.