California trivia questions are a fun way to test your knowledge of the Golden State.
Straight off the bat, here is a warm-up question to get you started:
Question: What California-set 1982 film was the highest-grossing film of the 1980s at the U.S. box office?
Answer: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
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285 California Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated For 2024)
- Before the 1930s, airport codes were only two letters. As a result, some airports added the letter X to the end of the extant code, including what airport code in California?
Answer: LAX
- What “G” Cathedral, located on Nob Hill in San Francisco, is the cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of California? Is name is also used in a popular Christian hymn that is supposed to be “Amazing.”
Answer: Grace Cathedral
- Home to the adobe Mission San Francisco Solano and its Barracks used by the Mexican military, what “S” northern California city is also in the heart of a big winemaking region?
Answer: Sonoma
- Included in Time Magazine's list of "50 Podcasts To Listen to Right Now" in 2019, "The Big One" discusses the inevitable destruction of what massive (and unpredictable) event in California?
Answer: Earthquake
- What international southern Californian airport code fills in the following lyric from the 2009 Miley Cyrus hit "Party in the U.S.A.": "I hopped off the plane at ______ with a dream and my cardigan"?
Answer: LAX
- What pizza chain, whose logo features the silhouette of a palm tree in a yellow square, was founded by two former federal prosecutors in Beverly Hills in 1985?
Answer: California Pizza Kitchen
- Pierre Omidyar founded which popular online auction company in 1995 out of San Jose, California?
Answer: eBay
- Formally adopted by the state government in 1911, what animal is prominently featured on the state flag of California?
Answer: Bear
- California produces 98% of the United States' output of what green-colored nuts?
Answer: Pistachios
- A 2021 wildfire in Northern California burned through a town associated with the 19th century Gold Rush, ______ville. Fill in the colorful blank, which Kermit The Frog appropriately insisted it “was not easy being” in a song.
Answer: Green
- What man was the first openly gay elected official in the history of California? He was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1978.
Answer: Harvey Milk
- A State Historic Park commemorating one of the first non-indigenous settlements in Mexican controlled California in the 19th century is ______’s Fort in Sacramento, CA. Fill in the blank, an “S” name also associated with a Mill on the west coast associated with the Gold Rush.
Answer: Sutter's Fort
- What National Park in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains is known for mountains such as Half Dome and El Capitan?
Answer: Yosemite National Park
- What California National Park, located in the southern Sierra Nevadas, east of the city of Visalia, is named after the “S” tree species found in the park, a variety of Redwood?
Answer: Sequoia National Park
- Located in Sacramento since 1910, the Blue Diamond Growers is the world’s largest producer of what nut whose tree is native to Iran and whose most common varieties include Nonpareils, Mission and California?
Answer: Almond
- What online retailer of mattresses, founded in in California in 2016, sounds like it might be just as appealing to hummingbirds as it is to humans?
Answer: Nectar Sleep
- The University of California San Diego's Theodore Geisel Library is named for a writer who might be better recognized by what pen name?
Answer: Dr. Seuss
- At first count, over 60% of California voters rejected a September 2021 recall of what current governor?
Answer: Gavin Newsom
- What California island, notorious for other reasons, was occupied for over a year in 1969 and 1970 by activists associated with the American Indian Movement?
Answer: Alcatraz
- Marvin Gaye and Helen Reddy lent $25,000 to help a friend open a cookie store in Hollywood. What was this friend’s last name that he also lent to the rhyming brand of his “Famous” product?
Answer: Amos
- American scooter company Bird was founded and is headquartered in what California municipality located within Los Angeles County?
Answer: Santa Monica
- Each spring, the Boysenberry Festival juices up what California theme park whose namesake birthed that hybrid fruit?
Answer: Knott's Berry Farm
- A large natural history museum, located on Music Concourse Drive, is the California ______ of Sciences, with an Osher Rainforest among many exhibits. Fill in the blank, also the name of a philosophy school founded by Plato in Athens in 387 BC.
Answer: Academy
- "California, here we come, right back where we started from" is a lyric from Phantom Planet's song "California," which was famously used as the theme song for what teen drama?
Answer: The O.C.
- The Ivanpah Solar Power Facility, the largest solar power plant in the world, is located in what California desert? It is located in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Answer: Mojave Desert
- What is the name for the very long mattress that's a full four inches longer than a standard king size bed? The name of this item also happens to be the name of a Rihanna song released in 2010.
Answer: California King Bed
- What 1984 film stars Eddie Murphy as a Detroit cop who visits Beverly Hills, California to solve the murder of his best friend? The film launched Murphy's international stardom.
Answer: Beverly Hills Cop
- In 1902, the Michigan Wolverines pitched a 49-0 shutout against Stanford in the first college football bowl game ever played. Originally known as the Tournament East-West Football Game, name the annual bowl game which occurs each year on New Year’s Day at Tournament Park in Pasadena, California.
Answer: Rose Bowl
- What name is shared by the capital of Costa Rica and the most populous city in Northern California?
Answer: San Jose
- What “M” Aquarium, focused on the marine habitats of the Bay located its namesake California town, is home to exhibits on the “Mission The Deep” and kelp forests?
Answer: Monterey Bay Aquarium
- What western state has the largest solar PV capacity in the United States, with over 2.5x as much capacity as the second-place state?
Answer: California
- What drink boasts on their website that they've been "riding the wave of fruit punch fun" for more than 80 years? Despite its name, the drink was first concocted in California.
Answer: Hawaiian Punch
- Anthony Veasna So's posthumous story collection Afterparties highlights the experiences of first- and second-generation Khmer immigrants from what country, living in Stockton, California?
Answer: Cambodia
- In 2017, Canadian actor Thomas Middleditch signed on as the spokesperson for Verizon Wireless ads. He is most famous, however, for his televised appearance as Richard Hendricks on what tech-y HBO series named after the California location in which it is set?
Answer: Silicon Valley
- What serial killer was never caught after a string of California murders in the 20th century? This killer self-identified with a "cross circle" symbol.
Answer: Zodiac Killer
- Honoring LGBTQ victims of the Holocaust, Pink Triangle Park sits across from Harvey Milk Plaza, another memorial to an LGBTQ icon, in what American city?
Answer: San Francisco
- When measured by total acres impacted, the largest of what California natural disaster occurred in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties in December 2017?
Answer: Wildfire
- Officially named "People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson" but more commonly known as "The O. J. Simpson murder case," this famous 1995 court case occurred in what California county?
Answer: Los Angeles
- Named for a brand of toys, what chain of theme parks has locations in Billund, Denmark; Carlsbad, California; and Dubai, UAE, among others?
Answer: Legoland
- Though its CEO has described fintech company Chime as a "transaction-based, process-based business model", in May 2021, California regulators ruled that the company had to stop referring to itself as what?
Answer: A Bank
- What observatory, located on Mount Hollywood in its namesake park, offers views of the Los Angeles basin, and is advertised as “California’s Gateway To The Cosmos?”
Answer: Griffith Observatory
- According to the lyrics of "Sweet Home Chicago," "don't you wanna go home from the land of" what U.S. state that contains one of the two cities more populous than Chicago?
Answer: California
- The "Real Housewives" reality TV franchise documents the lives of affluent housewives and began with the "Real Housewives" of what California county?
Answer: Orange County
- Sacramento hosts Eppie's Great Race, a triathlon that swaps out swimming with a ride in what palindromic water craft?
Answer: Kayak
- What is the name of the brand of architectural paint and exterior wood care products whose name is a homophone with a type of very large mammal? This brand was first created in the 1940s, is based in California, and is sold exclusively by the Home Depot.
Answer: Behr
- What California structure designed in 1917 has an official color of "international orange?"
Answer: Golden Gate Bridge
- What two word phrase is the name for the most deadly conflagration in California state history?
Answer: Camp Fire
- Yosemite National Park and Lake Tahoe are attractions in what California-Nevada-straddlin' mountain range with a Spanish name meaning "snowy mountains"?
Answer: Sierra Nevada
- Oakland, California features a neighborhood named after what author of "The Call of the Wild," who often frequented the area?
Answer: Jack London
- Three US states collectively account for over half of all domestic refining capacity. California and Texas are two of these states. What is the third?
Answer: Louisiana
- In May 2021 in Oakland, California, Epic Games fought an antitrust lawsuit against what giant tech company over its removal of the Fortnite app from its App Store?
Answer: Apple
- Founded in 1986, Front Street in Sacramento is home to a California Museum, formerly bearing the name Towe, that displays what items? Karl Benz is one of the people linked to the history of its invention.
Answer: Automobile
- Californium, chemical number 98, gets its name because it was first synthesized at what UC campus in the East Bay region?
Answer: Berkeley
- Which politician who later became president was the last California governor to permanently live in Sacramento? (Hint: He was elected governor in 1967 after pivoting from his acting career).
Answer: Ronald Reagan
- What forest area north of San Francisco is officially a National Monument named for a famous Scottish-American naturalist and conservation advocate?
Answer: Muir Woods
- Known as one of the California city’s original “Seven Hills”, what famous San Francisco neighborhood is home to landmarks including Huntington Park, the Cable Car Museum, and the historic Fairmont Hotel?
Answer: Nob Hill
- In March 2020, Mayor London Breed issued an emergency stay-at-home order, known as "shelter in place," to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in what West Coast city?
Answer: San Francisco
- What gym chain was founded in 1984 in Irvine, California, by Louis Welch and others? It has branches across the US and Canada, although, based on its name, you might assume it is solely located in the hometown of the WNBA Sparks.
Answer: LA Fitness
- In Sacramento, CA, the official reception area for the California government is a renovated mansion formerly owned by what successful 19th century merchant and namesake of a university in nearby Palo Alto?
Answer: Leland Stanford
- At what 2018 California music festival did Beyonce briefly reunite Destiny's Child?
Answer: Coachella
- What database management company, debuting in 1996, gets its name from being a developmental successor to the Ingres database from the University of California, Berkeley?
Answer: Postgres
- If you head directly south from San Diego, what border town resort will be the first city you hit in Mexico?
Answer: Tijuana
- What is the name of the type of Yucca “tree” that’s native to the American southwest and lends its name to a California National Park East of Los Angeles and Palm Springs?
Answer: Joshua
- What global alternative investment manager corporation, founded in 1997 with headquarters in Los Angeles, California, shares its name with the Greek god of war?
Answer: Ares Management Corporation
- Nike collaborates with what company on shoes such as the Huarache and the ______ x Nike Air Penny 2? It is a 1980 “S” Southern California fashion house founded in the early 1980s, known for their skateboard and hip-hop clothing.
Answer: Stussy
- Cakebread Cellars is a Napa Valley wine tasting location, situated in what “R” California city that shares its name with the first name of former US president Hayes?
Answer: Rutherford, California
- The so-called California Food Revolution helped drive the popularity of artisan products, like fancy cheese and imported ingredients. One supermarket chain, run by a family of Italian foodies, really helped bring gourmet food and drink to the forefront. Today, there’s just one grocery location left—you can visit it on Folsom Blvd. What’s the name of the store (and the siblings who ran it for more than 70 years)?
Answer: Corti Brothers Grocery
- "Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge," in which visitors can "fly" the Millennium Falcon, is an area of what Anaheim, California theme park that first opened in 1955?
Answer: Disneyland
- In 2017, Apple installed a 17-megawatt rooftop solar array in the center of its 175-acre Apple Park campus in what California city?
Answer: Cupertino
- Founded in 2012 and launched two years later, what is the name of the San Mateo, California-based data company that was named because of the shared love for winter sports that both founders have?
Answer: Snowflake
- Accel, a venture capital firm specializing in startups at early levels of development, has offices in Palo Alto and what other California city, home of the NFL’s 49ers team?
Answer: San Francisco
- At 6,640 miles, which U.S state has the largest coastline ahead of Florida and California?
Answer: Alaska
- What is the four-letter title of Jordan Peele's latest movie, which was released on July 22, 2022 and follows eerie happenings at a California ranch?
Answer: Nope
- Starting with an hour-long special in January 2018, what reality television series airing on TLC stars dermatologist and internet celebrity Dr. Sandra Lee? In each episode, she treats patients with unusual cases of facial and skin disorders at her California clinic. The show is named after her nickname.
Answer: Dr. Pimple Popper
- What Howard University alumna and former California attorney general and senator was sworn in as the new President of the Senate on January 20, 2021?
Answer: Kamala Harris
- What is the titular city in "Tales of the City," a classic work of queer literature published in 1978 by American author Armistead Maupin?
Answer: San Francisco
- What kind of tree primarily made up the California forest land used for the Endor scenes in "Return of the Jedi?"
Answer: Redwood
- From April 1860 to October 1861, Sacramento's B.F. Hastings building served as the western terminus of what historic service, whose eastern end began at St. Joseph, Missouri?
Answer: Pony Express
- Featuring in Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the scenes of the forest moon of Endor were shot in ànd around a national park in which US state?
Answer: California
- What current mayor of San Francisco, president of the SF Board of Supervisors from 2015 to 2018, was elected mayor in 2018? She is the first African-American woman and the second woman to be SF mayor, and her name kind of sounds like a type of dog from England.
Answer: London Breed
- Two dudes with Midwest connections founded Farmers Insurance Group in what non-Midwest U.S. state that leads the world in almond production?
Answer: California
- Mount Whitney is the finish line for a race that starts 135 miles earlier at Badwater, the scorching basin of what national park?
Answer: Death Valley
- Lindt expanded their chocolate empire in the 1990s with the acquisition of what California-based chocolate company founded by and named after an Italian immigrant?
Answer: Ghirardelli
- L.A.'s famous Hollywood sign once contained what four additional letters, reflecting its original use as a promotion for a real estate development?
Answer: LAND
- What state did Brad move from when he moved to Texas?
Answer: California
- What northern California city's name spells a poetic form when written backwards?
Answer: Ukiah
- Sequoioideae is the scientific name of what coniferous trees found in Northern California? The color in its name is reminiscent of a wheelbarrow from a poem by William Carlos Williams.
Answer: redwood
- What popular two-word Rum cocktail takes its name from the Tahitian word for “good” or “excellent”, but was actually invented in Oakland, California in 1944?
Answer: Mai Tai
- At just under 3500m long, the San Diego-Coronado Bridge connects these two Californian townships. First opened in 1969 after two years of construction, which national icon was the first person to cross the bridge? We're looking for first and last names.
Answer: Ronald Reagan
- What daughter of former Alaskan governor Sarah Palin starred in her own namesake Lifetime reality television series subtitled “Life’s A Tripp” in 2012 about moving to “The Last Frontier” state after temporarily living in California?
Answer: Bristol Palin
- A place where, according to the lyrics, wine hasn't been served since 1969, the Hotel California is the titular location of a hit 1976 song by what rock band?
Answer: The Eagles
- Managed by the California Institute of Technology, JPL is a federally funded research and development center in Pasadena. What does JPL stand for?
Answer: Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Before she broke your heart in “Steel Magnolias,” mothered Forest Gump, or married to Mrs. Doubtfire, which actress starred in a 1965 TV show about a California teen named Gidget?
Answer: Sally Field
- What Christian college overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, California, frequently appears on lists of the world's most beautiful college campuses?
Answer: Pepperdine University
- Since the Falcon 1's debut launch in 2008, the family of Falcon rockets have been developed and operated by what California-based company?
Answer: SpaceX
- Although the movie "Legally Blonde" is based on Harvard's Law School, the author of the book (source material for the movie) was based on Amanda Brown's experience at what other law school? Hint: the answer is in the same state as UCLA where much of the movie was filmed.
Answer: Stanford
- What governor of California, also a former Lieutenant Governor and former mayor of San Francisco, has become the target of a recall campaign in the state, to punish him for his COVID-19 policy, and to allow for Republicans to gain control?
Answer: Gavin Newsom
- What "B" berry was grown by and named after a California horticulturist who crossed the European raspberry, European blackberry, American dewberry, and loganberry?
Answer: Boysenberry
- At 195 Broadway St in 1915, the first transcontinental telephone call was placed from New York to San Francisco by what man?
Answer: Alexander Graham Bell
- What 1995 coming-of-age comedy set in California is loosely based on Jane Austin's 1815 novel Emma?
Answer: Clueless
- What is the nautical name of the San Francisco brewery that was founded in 1896 in the Portero Hill neighborhood, is one of the last remaining breweries to produce "California common beer," and was purchased by Japanese brewer Sapporo in 2017?
Answer: Anchor Brewing Company
- Both filmed and set in Sacramento, a 2017 coming-of-age film earned five Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Director. What is this two-word film that is not about a former U.S. First Lady?
Answer: Lady Bird
- "Hits From the Bong" is a song from the 1993 album "Black Sunday" by what California hip-hop group whose members include B-Real and DJ Muggs?
Answer: Cypress Hill
- For 30 years, the main conference organized by TED was hosted in Long Beach, California. However, since 2014, the conference has been hosted in what Canadian city?
Answer: Vancouver
- With a name that rhymes with "node," not "nod," what Los Angeles contemporary art museum is located just down the street from Walt Disney Concert Hall?
Answer: The Broad
- On "Star Trek: TNG," Picard's Holodeck adventures as private eye Dixon Hill take place on the hilly streets of what city where Sam Spade gumshoed?
Answer: San Francisco
- Route 66 terminates at the pier in what California beach town?
Answer: Santa Monica
- As the crow flies (rather than driving directions), there is only one state capital outside of California (so, not Sacramento) that is within 500 miles of San Francisco. What is this CAPITAL? We are looking for the city, not the state.
Answer: Carson City
- "Let me serenade the streets of L.A / From Oakland to Sac-town, the Bay Area and back down." That's some questionable geography from the lyrics of what classic 2Pac hit?
Answer: California Love
- After the Port of Los Angeles, the busiest shipping port in the United States is in what West Coast city where the RMS Queen Mary retired and Snoop Dogg grew up?
Answer: Long Beach
- What Republican Minority Leader in the US House of Representatives has become a public face of opposition to the January 6th commission and other Democratic goals? This representative of Bakersfield, California shares a last name with a Communist hunting senator of the 1950s.
Answer: Kevin McCarthy
- Sightglass, Saint Frank, and Philz are all acclaimed coffee shops in what West Coast city?
Answer: San Francisco
- What famous Los Angeles museum, created as part of an endowment from its namesake oil baron benefactor, has gardens and views of the city, along with a large art collection?
Answer: The Getty
- A Discovery Kingdom, a 135-acre animal theme park in Vallejo, CA, located between San Francisco and Sacramento, is owned by what theme park company with a more famous California theme park in Southern California’s Valencia?
Answer: Six Flags Discovery Kingdom
- In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to legalise same-sex marriage, but it took four years until a second state followed suit - which non-New England state was it?
Answer: California
- Which state is in the name of a framing method where a corner is made in a house with some extra space so that insulation can be added? (Hint: They’re sometimes called three stud corners)
Answer: California
- Maybe to dodge the hefty corporate taxes of Prop C, in 2022 PayPal ditched their corporate offices housed in what major West Coast U.S. city?
Answer: San Francisco
- What is the name of the "J" oil that is made from a shrub native to southern Arizona, southern California, and northwestern Mexico and is purportedly helpful for preventing hair breakage and treating dandruff?
Answer: Jojoba oil
- What NBC comedy created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock featuring Ted Danson as a prominent California city's leader has an episode entitled "The Sac" and revolves around a visit to the state's halls of policymaking?
Answer: Mr. Mayor
- Which 2008 CBS crime drama starred Simon Baker as a “mind reader” working with the California Bureau of Investigation to avenge a serial killer (“Red John”) who murdered his family?
Answer: The Mentalist
- In addition to San Diego, California and Orlando, Florida, there is a SeaWorld located in what Texas city? It is a city easier to remember for some.
Answer: San Antonio
- Featuring chocolate chips and macadamia nuts, what Pepperidge Farm cookie variety shares its name with a city in Marin County?
Answer: Sausalito
- Torpedo, Hazy Little Thing, Pale Ale, and Hoptimum are all beers brewed by the seventh-largest brewer in the U.S. that was founded in Chico, California in 1979. What is the name of this geographic-sounding brewery?
Answer: Sierra Nevada
- Intel might dip into making their products in Ohio if Congress passes a semiconductor funding bill with what five-letter acronym that was also the name of an early '80s California motorcycle cop show?
Answer: CHIPS
- The U.S.'s leading state in solar energy typically generates more than 30% of the nation's total each month. What state is this?
Answer: California
- What small city with a population of ~12,000 residents lies in the corridor between Berkeley and Oakland in California's East Bay?
Answer: Emeryville
- The third-largest mortgage lender in the U.S. in 2019 was a bank that was founded in California in the 1850s. What company is this?
Answer: Wells Fargo
- Airing from 1986 to 1994, what Steven Bochco legal drama had a title that appeared on a California license plate at the beginning of its opening credits?
Answer: LA Law
- Originally named Loma Alta, a Bay Area outlook erected in 1849 provided the current name to what promontory that's home to flocks of wild parrots?
Answer: Telegraph Hill
- 1970s California killer Edmund Kemper features prominently in the first season of what Netflix psychological crime series?
Answer: Mindhunter
- San Francisco's shoreline used to be further inland. The Embarcadero and part of the Financial District were built on the remains of what, buried during the Gold Rush?
Answer: Shipwrecks
- Upton Sinclair's 20th-century novel "Oil!" served as inspiration and a springboard for the screenplay of what Oscar-winning 2007 film following the life of a California oil man?
Answer: There Will Be Blood
- Think of the word that means "a small, pond-like body of water that is often connected to a larger body of water." Now translate that word into Spanish and use the diminutive form. What American beer brand do you have?
Answer: Lagunitas
- In 2016, the St. Louis Rams relocated to Los Angeles. However, St. Louis was not always the home of this NFL franchise. In what city was the team based immediately before they moved to St. Louis in 1995?
Answer: Los Angeles
- The California ______ is the official state bird of the country's most populous state. What word should replace the blank?
Answer: Quail
- Linking Sacramento and West Sacramento is what 738-foot-long landmark with the same name as a far more famous structure in London, England?
Answer: Tower Bridge
- The Mission is a neighborhood in San Francisco. It is also a popular type of what food item? This item's variety is known for its addition of extra rice along with a steamed outer layer.
Answer: Burrito
- What directionally-named former Los Angeles Lakers player is the silhouetted player in the NBA logo?
Answer: Jerry West
- Which Netflix reality TV show follows the explosive lives of the glamorous real estate agents working at The Oppenheim Group in California? We're looking for a TWO-word answer here.
Answer: Selling Sunset
- As of July 29=018, the city of Carr in California is making national headlines because of what type of destructive event?
Answer: Wildfire
- As of 2010, what US state had the largest population of Costa Rican citizens living within the state?
Answer: California
- Based on the 2016 government-reported figures, name one of the four US states in which the per capita energy consumption was below 200 million BTUs.
Answer: Rhode Island or California or New York or Hawaii
- The original inspiration of yacht rock is often attributed to the music of what American band that formed in Hawthorne, California in 1961 and was led in part by Brian Wilson?
Answer: the Beach Boys
- Ironically, a mattress size that's wider and shorter than a king is named for what state that's much longer than it is wide?
Answer: California
- Heineken has (in past, non-Covid years) been a large sponsor of Outside Lands and Coachella, both of which are music festivals held in what U.S. state?
Answer: California
- Crater Lake, Yellowstone, and California's Long Valley are all examples of what geological feature, which forms after a collapse of land following a volcanic eruption?
Answer: Caldera
- What hard-to-Google band, which was founded in Sacramento, California by lead singer Nic Offer, is also known as "Chk Chk Chk"?
Answer: !!!
- “The Twilight Zone Tower Of Terror” ride at Disneyland’s California Adventure was replaced in 2017 with “______: Mission Breakout”. Fill in the four word blank, also a popular franchise in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Answer: Guardians Of The Galaxy
- ______ Day is an international law firm based in Cleveland, Ohio with an office in San Diego, California. Fill in the blank, also the last name of the Monkee who sang lead on “Daydream Believer” in 1967.
Answer: Jones
- In 1846, future president Zachary Taylor won a battle in the Mexican-American War campaign at what battle site, about 8 miles away from modern Brownsville, Texas? A city with the same name would be the site of Stanford University in California.
Answer: Palo Alto
- What is the capital of Costa Rica, with a rich night life, that shares its name with the largest city in the northern region of California, USA?
Answer: San Jose
- The real-life Torrance High School in Southern California played the fictional Sunnydale High on what TV series of the late 1990s and early 2000s?
Answer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- A Marvel themed land within Disney’s California Adventure, as well as corresponding areas in Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong, launched in 2021 as Avengers ______. Fill in the blank, something you usually find at a college.
Answer: Campus
- Liability insurance is offered by what California based Insurance Group, owned by the Zurich Insurance Group? They have recently run a series of commercials in which JK Simmons presents exhibits of unusual insurance cases.
Answer: Farmers Insurance
- What magical space of 25,000 acres in Lake Buena Vista and Bay Lake, Florida, is split into six distinct parks and 27 hotels? It was founded in 1971 as an expansion of a California location.
Answer: Walt Disney World
- Although they're separated by nearly 3,000 miles, Caltech, the famous university in Pasadena, enjoys a lively, prank-filled rivalry with what equally prestigious New England school?
Answer: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- A statue and monument in San Diego commemorates what Iberian explorer, the first European to explore the California coast? This man with a “C” name was born in Spain and made his voyage in the 16th century.
Answer: Juan Cabrillo
- What hyphenated kitchenware and home-furnishings company with a California county in its name was named one of the top ten companies for remote jobs in 2021 by Forbes Magazine?
Answer: Williams-Sonoma
- Set to take the field as part of the NWSL in Spring 2022, Angel City FC will be sponsored by Heineken USA with 10% of sponsorship funds supporting the LGBTQIA+ community in what guessable American city?
Answer: Los Angeles
- From the 2006 album "Stadium Arcadium," the song "Dani California" comes from what "spicy" American rock band?
Answer: Red Hot Chili Peppers
- The 2003 California gubernatorial recall election resulted in the replacement of Gray Davis with what star of "The Terminator" and "Total Recall?"
Answer: Arnold Schwarzenegger
- "Californication" is a 1999 song about the deterioration of society from what band with an eight-pointed asterisk in its logo?
Answer: Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Serving five terms from 1973 to 1993, Tom Bradley was the first Black mayor of what second-most-populous American city?
Answer: Los Angeles
- Reflecting the brief existence of an unrecognized breakaway state in the 1840s, what word appears after "California" on the state's official flag?
Answer: Republic
- Since 2019, the naming rights for the Oakland Athletics home coliseum belong to what California-based cloud-based communications company?
Answer: RingCentral
- What Kentucky aquarium, located in its city across the Levee from Cincinnati, shares its name with cities in California and Rhode Island, as well as a brand of cigarettes?
Answer: Newport Aquarium
- "California Gurls" is a questionably-spelled song title from what 2010 Katy Perry album, whose title track is also a number-one hit?
Answer: Teenage Dream
- The 1983 Francine Pascal novel "Double Love" introduced America to twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield, who attended what fictional southern California school?
Answer: Sweet Valley
- Located about 15 miles west of Sacramento, what University of California campus has the top-ranked veterinary medicine program in America, according to US News?
Answer: Davis
- "California Isn't Big Enough" according to the title of a 2010 song by what artist who would do anything for love?
Answer: Meat Loaf
- Named for the flora of the Mojave desert, what U.S. National Park located in southern California shares its name with a U2 album and a Dolph Lundgren movie?
Answer: Joshua Tree
- An attraction in Hollywood Land in Disney’s California Adventure, as well as most other international Disney parks, where you can learn how to draw Disney characters and watch related cartoons, is Animation ______. Fill in the one word blank, also an “A” word for Plato’s school for skeptical philosophy in Ancient Greece.
Answer: Animation Academy
- Hollywood's Brown Derby restaurant is said to be the birthplace of what classic salad that includes blue cheese, diced chicken, bacon bits, avocado, tomatoes, and lettuce?
Answer: Cobb
- A famous 1865 short story by Mark Twain is called "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of ___ County." What word -- Spanish for "skulls" and the namesake of a real California county -- goes in the blank?
Answer: Calaveras
- An open space preserve in San Diego, CA, home to Cowles Mountain, is ______ Trails Regional Park. Fill in the one word “M” blank, a term used for Junipero Serra’s California churches used to promote Christianity in the frontier.
Answer: Mission Trails Regional Park
- The official state seal of California features an image of what Roman goddess of wisdom and war, whose Greek equivalent is Athena?
Answer: Minerva
- What “M” Headlands are a hilly peninsula at the southern end of their namesake California county? The Headlands are part of the Golden Gate Recreation Area.
Answer: Marin Headlands
- The inside of a typical California roll typically contains crab (or imitation crab), cucumber, and what soft third ingredient?
Answer: Avocado
- What “L” national park in Northern California is home to a variety of volcanic material and artifacts, such the bubbling mud pots of Bumpass Hell?
Answer: Lassen Volcanic National Park
- Dublin, California is the headquarters of what discount department store chain, whose slogan is “Dress For Less?”
Answer: Ross Dress For Less
- The epic Super Bowl LVI halftime show on February 13, 2022 included what rap "doctor" performing the 1999 hit "California Love?"
Answer: Dr. Dre
- What actor and activist who played Mr. Sulu on "Star Trek" came out as gay in 2005 as a reaction to then-California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto of marriage equality legislation?
Answer: George Takei
- The Forestiere Underground Gardens are a spectacular series of subterranean structures built over a period of 40 years from 1906 to 1946 in what California city?
Answer: Fresno
- What region in California between the Sierra Nevada and Coast ranges, including Bakersfield, Fresno, Stockton, Modesto, and Sacramento, produces 8% of American crop value on just 1% of American farmland and provides over half of the fruit, vegetables, and nuts produced in America?
Answer: Central Valley
- In 1852, writer J.D. Bothwick described attending a ______’s ball, a men’s only dance in California. Fill in the one word “M” blank, a person who extracts ore from the Earth.
Answer: Miner's Ball
- La Opinion, the largest Spanish-language newspaper in the United States, is produced in what largest city in California?
Answer: Los Angeles
- No, not California: an LCAT license certifies a social worker as a therapist in what expressive "C.A." field?
Answer: Creative Arts
- In 1993, an E.coli outbreak infected more than 700 people and killed four children in California, Idaho, Washington, and Nevada after they ate “so good it’s scary!” Monster Burgers from which chain restaurant?
Answer: Jack in the Box
- California has the most solar installations solar installation of any US state with over a million, but which northern state has the least with fewer than fifty?
Answer: North Dakota
- Each year, which 17-day end-of-the-summer event is held at Cal Expo and features musical performances, a carnival, sports competitions, agriculture showcases, and plenty of food?
Answer: California State Fair
- As of 2022 in America, five states have robust internet privacy laws that aim to protect users’ data. California, Colorado, Utah, and Virginia are the first four. Which East Coast state is the fifth?
Answer: Connecticut
- The mascot of the University of California San Diego is a "King" who shares a name with--and looks suspiciously like--what father figure from Disney's The Little Mermaid?
Answer: King Triton
- If you visit the California State Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento during the wintertime, you can take a train ride inspired by which 2004 computer-animated adventure starring Tom Hanks?
Answer: The Polar Express
- The "Emerald Triangle," composed of California's Humboldt, Trinity, and Mendocino counties, gets its name from the fact that it is the United States' leading producer of what plant?
Answer: Cannabis
- Which VC firm based in Menlo Park shares a name with a familiar California tree and has invested in companies like DoorDash, Zoom, Apple, and 23andMe?
Answer: Sequoia Capital
- San Diego's California Building, now the Museum of Us, was used for some exterior shots of what palatial estate owned by Charles Foster Kane in the film Citizen Kane?
Answer: Xanadu
- In which Sacramento park will you find the International World Peace Rose Garden?
Answer: Capitol Park
- 2002, 2004, 2015, 2017, 2021: What was the last name of Southern Californians Mike, Carol, Marcia, Jan, Cindy, Greg, Peter, and Bobby who “somehow formed a family” on ABC from 1969 - 1974?
Answer: Brady
- Sacramento mixed martial artist Christian "The Hungarian Nightmare" Wellisch fought for the crown in KOTC, a California-based MMA league that stands for "WHAT of the Cage"?
Answer: King
- "Pan Solo" is a California business's life-sized portrait of Han Solo in carbonite, made from what food?
Answer: Bread
- What reality show, running from 2006-2009, followed the lives of California high schoolers, and created stars in Lauren Conrad and Kristin Cavallari? The subtitle of the show, named after a two-word city, was “The Real Orange County.”
Answer: Laguna Beach
- As of 2020, the United States has 62 protected areas known as national parks operated by the National Park Service. California is the state with the most of these parks (nine), but what state has the second-most (eight), including Katmai and Lake Clark?
Answer: Alaska
- What Austrian-born composer, known as the "father of modern music" for his pioneering use of twelve-tone technique, emigrated in 1933 to Boston and then to Los Angeles to escape Nazi persecution?
Answer: Arnold Schoenberg
- Who is the only baseball team to win multiple World Series in the 1980s? In 1981, this team surprisingly trounced the New York Yankees, while a later Series saw one of the most famous pinch hit home runs of all time?
Answer: Los Angeles Dodgers
- What 2014 Liane Moriarty novel is set in Australia, although its HBO TV adaptation moved the setting to Monterey, California?
Answer: Big Little Lies
- In 1912, The Martin Company co-founder Glenn Martin broke an open-water flight distance record aviating from Newport Beach to what sheep-covered California island that makes a mean salad dressing?
Answer: Catalina
- North of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and drained by the Sacramento River, the Sacramento Valley contains parts of ten California Counties. Unsurprisingly, Sacramento is the most populous city in the region by a wide margin. With more than 170,000 residents, what is the "mammalian" second-most populous city in the region?
Answer: Elk Grove
- Alfred Hitchcock used gulls captured at a San Francisco garbage dump to film what 1963 movie, set in the coastal town of Bodega Bay, California?
Answer: The Birds
- "Smart" contact lenses developed at the University of California-Davis are being promoted as an innovative way to predict and detect what second-leading cause of blindness?
Answer: Glaucoma
- The oldest extant college in California was founded in 1851 and is today named after a world-famous body of water. What is the name of this school located in Stockton, CA?
Answer: University of the Pacific
- What Sacramento mayor, elected in 2016, was previously President pro Tempore of the California Senate, and was majority leader of the California State Senate from 2008 to 2014?
Answer: Darrell Steinberg
- What politically outspoken Hollywood legend spent two years in the 1980's as mayor of posh Carmel-by-the-Sea, California?
Answer: Clint Eastwood
- A popular public market in Napa, California has what “O” name? It shares that one word name with a 1943 William Wellman western “Incident” starring Henry Fonda, about a posse chasing cattle thieves.
Answer: Oxbow
- AMD is an American semiconductor company based in Santa Clara that has been an industry-leader for developing computer processors. The company is a primary competitor to both Intel and Nvidia. What does AMD stand for?
Answer: Advanced Micro Devices
- Which Republican Californian congressman resigned in 2020 and was sentenced to 11 months in prison for using campaign funds on five extramarital affairs including with lobbyists and his staff?
Answer: Duncan Hunter
- Born in Bulgaria before attending Thomas Jefferson High School in Virginia and Stanford University in California, Vlad Tenev founded defunct trading company Celeris and then software company Chronos Research before eventually founding what still-functioning company in 2013?
Answer: Robinhood
- What California city was the state's capital before the government seat was moved to Sacramento in 1869?
Answer: San Francisco
- Brew Free or Die is one of the year-round IPAs offered by a California brewery named for which constitutional amendment?
Answer: 21st
- The California town of Castroville produces four-fifths of the U.S. supply of what veggie, which, among other uses, gives its flavor to the liqueur Cynar?
Answer: Artichokes
- San Diego produces over 60% of the California's output of what crop, the most of any place in the United States?
Answer: Avocado
- Santa Clara University and The University of the Pacific, both founded in the same year, are considered to be the two oldest colleges in the state of California. In which decade were they founded?
Answer: 1850s (1851)
- "Myanmar," "Koreatown, Los Angeles," and "Colombia" are the names of the first three episodes, respectively, of what Anthony Bourdain-hosted food travelogue show?
Answer: Parts Unknown
- What state recently passed California for having the second most earthquakes per year, allegedly due to fracking?
Answer: Oklahoma
- The first McDonald's restaurant was opened in what state? We're talking about the very first McDonald's, not the first franchise location.
Answer: California
- In the Rock Band series of video games, there were two versions of the game released to honor a specific band. One, naturally, was The Beatles. The other was what California pop punk trio?
Answer: Green Day
- The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego has "Flowers", a 1967 silkscreen ink piece by what artist?
Answer: Andy Warhol
- What 37th president, born in Yorba Linda, California, is the only president to have been born in California?
Answer: Richard Nixon
- In the Rock Band series of video games, there were two versions of the game released to honor a specific band. One, naturally, was The Beatles. The other was what California pop punk trio?
Answer: Green Day
- By number of square miles, what US state is the closest size in area to Montana's 147,000 square miles?
Answer: California
- The three largest operational solar thermal power stations in the US are Ivanpah Solar Power Facility, Solar Energy Generating Systems, and the Mojave Solar Project. Each of these is located in what state?
Answer: California
- Historically, San Diego was home to the Kumeyaay. Because the city was the first site visited and settled by Europeans on the United States's West Coast, the city has often been referred to as the "_____ of California." What word fills the blank?
Answer: Birthplace
- Meritage Homes is the sixth-largest public homebuilder in the United States, based on homes closed in 2020. Meritage offers a variety of homes that are designed with a focus on entry-level and first move-up buyers in how many states?
Answer: 9 (Arizona, California, Colorado, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee)
- About a couple who sleeps together but feels 10,000 miles apart, the song "California King Bed" appears on the 2010 album "Loud" by what one-named pop star?
Answer: Rihanna
- According to ______’s first law of geography, "everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant.” (Hint: He was an American-Swiss geographer and mapmaker who was a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara)
Answer: Tobler
- What California-set 1982 film was the highest grossing film of the 1980s at the U.S. box office?
Answer: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
- Established in 1980, the largest National Park in the U.S. is Wrangell-St. Elias in Alaska (over 8 million acres!). Numbers two, three, and four are also in Alaska. What is number five on this list? This park was established in 1994, contains over three million acres, and spans California and Nevada.
Answer: Death Valley
- Using 2016 stats, if Puerto Rico was a state, what would its rank be in population? (example: California is 1, Wyoming is 50). Answers accepted if within 5 of correct number.
Answer: 30
- Mount Eddy is the highest point in which mountains system in north-western California and south-western Oregon whose name derives from the Chinook word “tlamatl,” meaning a people native to this area?
Answer: Klamath
- Historic Route 66 begins in Illinois and ends in California, totaling 2,448 miles from end to end. However, in what state does the route pass through for a measly 13.2 miles?
Answer: Kansas
- There is an unincorporated community in New Jersey that took its name from a town in California and is popularity associated with the "Wizard" Thomas Edison. What is the name of this community?
Answer: Menlo Park
- San Juan Capistrano in Orange County, California is famous for the annual return of large groups of what birds from their migration to Argentina?
Answer: Swallows
- The Sacramento County seal is adorned with how many white stars as a nod to when California joined the Union?
Answer: 31
- A national historic site in Danville, California preserves the home of what author of A Long Day's Journey into Night and the only American Nobel Prize-winning playwright?
Answer: Eugene O'Neill
- The California coastal town of Mendocino was used as a stand-in for Cabot Cove, Maine, in what television show that ran for twelve seasons?
Answer: Murder, She Wrote
- Hosted in 1991, the first Lollapalooza was conceived as a farewell tour for what Los Angeles band led by Perry Farrell?
Answer: Jane's Addiction
- Within 5 years, when did California become the first U.S. state to legalize medical marijuana usage?
Answer: 1996 (1991-2001 accepted as correct)
- At one point, it was a proposed site for the California State Capitol, but that plan was abandoned in 1857. Fifteen years later, designer John Keating was hired to create a plan for the site. Today it occupies exactly one city block. What is it?
Answer: Cesar Chavez Park
- A massive 187-acre property with 13 sprawling structures, a vineyard, a tree house and a zip line in Santa Barbara, California named Deer Lodge was sold by auction in 2016. Unsurprisingly, the property had been owned by what inventor's family for more than 100 years?
Answer: John Deere
- A museum in Old Sacramento State Historic Park interprets the role of what “iron horse” in connecting California to the rest of the United States? Its American father is believed to be John Stevens, who demonstrated it in 1826.
Answer: railroad
- "All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray," begins "California Dreamin'," the classic 1966 song from what band with a "familial" name?
Answer: The Mamas and the Papas
- What horse won the Kentucky Derby in May 2021 under suspicious circumstances, and died suddenly after a workout six months later in Santa Anita, California?
Answer: Medina Spirit
- Named for the street he grew up on in Whittier, California, what American rock singer included the song "Kentucky Avenue" on his 1978 album "Blue Valentine?"
Answer: Tom Waits
- RoboCop, meet RoboDoc! In 1985, surgeons in California performed the first-ever robot-assisted surgery. Which organ did they use the robot to probe?
Answer: The brain
- Artificial intelligence in finance might seem like the future of banking, but it’s practically history! In 1987, Security Pacific Bank California started using AI to fight fraud on which kind of banking card?
Answer: Debit
- Apple’s PowerBook G3 Firewire was codenamed—and then ultimately nicknamed—after which wine-loving beach city in California?
Answer: Pismo
- The B.F. ______ Building in Old Sacramento was once home to the Pony Express and the first location of the Supreme Court of California. Today, it’s a Wells Fargo Museum.
Answer: Hastings
- The Computer Museum was a museum that opened in 1979 and operated in three different locations until 1999. It closed in 2000 and sent much of its collection across the country to the Computer History Museum in California. In what city would you have found the Computer Museum while it was open?
Answer: Boston
- Headquartered (somewhat ironically?) in Santa Clara, California, what is the name of the American cybersecurity company that serves 85 of the Fortune 100 and is the home to both the Unit 42 threat research team and the Ignite cybersecurity conference?
Answer: Palo Alto Networks
- What was the surname of the California-born poet who won the Pulitzer Prize four times and read at the inauguration of President Kennedy in 1961?
Answer: Frost
- What is the name of the group of seven selective schools in southeastern California considered a consortium because they collectively adjoin each other and are all located in the same town? The group of schools was founded by the president of Pomona in 1925.
Answer: Claremont Colleges
- What medical “d”evice company, founded in 1999 and headquartered in San Diego, California, manufactures blood glucose monitors for diabetes management?
Answer: Dexcom
- The Pobladores ("townspeople") is the name given to the 44 original settlers from Sonora, Mexico who established a new settlement that flourished decades later upon completion of the Santa Fe railroad line. By what name is this settlement known today?
Answer: Los Angeles
- On December 28, 2021, a California judge ruled that what CEO of Alphabet can be questioned by plaintiffs about unlawful tracking of Internet use by users browsing in Incognito Mode?
Answer: Sundar Pichai
- Previously the Attorney General of California and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Xavier Becerra currently serves as the secretary of what Cabinet-level department?
Answer: Health and Human Services
- Which 2006 ABC drama starred Sally Field as Nora Walker, the matriarch of a wealthy California family that included siblings played by an assortment of familiar names like Rachel Griffiths, Matthew Rhys, and Calista Flockhart?
Answer: Brothers & Sisters
- In 2019, Meritage opened the nation's first all-electric Zero Net Energy attached product community in what California city?
Answer: Irvine (City Square)
- What author earned his MD in California and practiced medicine for a decade before his breakout novel allowed him to pursue writing full time? The 2003 novel followed the story of a young Afghan boy Amir. We're looking for the name of the author, not the book.
Answer: Khaled Hosseini
- Released by author Susan Orlean in 2018, "The Library Book" is a nonfiction account of a catastrophic fire that occurred in April 1986 in the public library of what West Coast American city?
Answer: Los Angeles
- As of 2020, what is the third-largest city in California by population? We're using city limits here, not metro areas.
Answer: San Jose
- What fast food restaurant, whose original mascot was named Speedee, opened as a “Bar-B-Q” by brothers Dick and Maurice in San Bernardino, California in 1940?
Answer: McDonald’s
- Aside from being a tabloid publication, TMZ also stands for what area of Southern California where movies can be shot without having to pay union employees added "on location" payments?
Answer: Thirty Mile Zone
- What is the name of the oldest building in Disneyland that once served as the park's lumber mill? It now sits among the rest of Main Street's buildings as a tribute to Walt Disney's hometown of Marceline, Missouri.
Answer: The Opera House
- Showing 12 of the over 300 hours of footage that was filmed of the Californian upper-middle class family The Louds, what network aired the first American reality television series “An American Family” in 1973
Answer: PBS
- A recent study showed that the Coachella, Inter-California, and Buena Vista could conserve water while cooling cells if solar panels were put atop what kind of infrastructure?
Answer: Canals
- "The Year of Magical Thinking" and "Slouching Toward Bethlehem" are works by what Pulitzer-nominated, Sacramento-raised journalist?
Answer: Joan Didion
- The 20 most expensive residential properties sold in the United States in 2020 were in Florida, California, New York, and what Four Corners state?
Answer: Colorado
- Crescent City is both the name of a town on the extreme northern coast of California, and also one of the nicknames of what American city near the Gulf of Mexico?
Answer: New Orleans
- Which northern California river that starts in the Sierra Nevada and has a birdly name is a tributary of the Sacramento River?
Answer: Feather
- What “Z” software company, opened in 2005 in Sunnyvale, California and acquired by BETSOL in 2018, contributes to many open source projects? Its name is reminiscent of the first name of the young star of the “Mamma Mia” films, with a Z replacing the first letter.
Answer: Zmanda
- The daughter of portraitist Gilbert Stuart, Jane Stuart created a painting found in the California Senate chamber of what early U.S. president?
Answer: George Washington
- What’s the name of the macOS released on October 24, 2022, that brought features like Stage Manager and updates to Messages to Macs? (Hint: It’s a place in California, too)
Answer: Ventura
- The ninth-largest municipally-owned park in the U.S. is approximately 46% land and 54% water. This park is also the largest man-made aquatic park in the U.S. What is this San Diego park?
Answer: Mission Bay Park
- How many U.S. state capitals lie west of Los Angeles?
Answer: Six
- Built in 1992, the Wells Fargo Center is the tallest building in Sacramento, standing at a height of 430 feet. Standing only 26 feet shorter and built in 2008, what is the second-tallest building in California's capital?
Answer: US Bank Tower
- In 1963, 5,000 spectators welcomed the "Taipei Victory" into the Port of Sacramento. In part the crowd was present because it was the first time since 1934's "Harpoon" that a boat with WHAT specific capability had docked in the city?
Answer: Ocean-going
What makes California trivia so engaging?
From natural wonders to historical facts, there is something here for everyone.
California is a melting pot of cultures and traditions, making it the perfect place to challenge your knowledge.
So whether you’re a native Californian or just visiting for some sun, let's see how much you know about the Golden State with the 283 California trivia questions above.
Where can you find California trivia questions?
The internet is the perfect place to find a multitude of California trivia questions.
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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.