thumbnail

State Quiz - California

Can you guess these facts about the U.S. state of California?
Quiz by Quizmaster
Rate:
Last updated: August 30, 2020
You have not attempted this quiz yet.
First submittedSeptember 5, 2019
Times taken57,246
Average score75.0%
Rating4.65
4:00
Enter answer here
0
 / 20 guessed
The quiz is paused. You have remaining.
Scoring
You scored / = %
This beats or equals % of test takers also scored 100%
The average score is
Your high score is
Your fastest time is
Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
Hint
Answer
Capital city
Sacramento
Most populous city
Los Angeles
Year of the California gold rush
1849
Animal depicted on California's flag
Bear
Where Apple, Google, and Facebook
have their headquarters
Silicon Valley
California's most-visited National Park
Yosemite
Lowest and hottest place in the U.S.
Death Valley
Tallest mountain in the U.S.
outside of Alaska
Mt. Whitney
Desert in southeast California
Mojave Desert
Zip code of Beverly Hills
90210
World's heaviest tree species
Giant Sequoia
Hint
Answer
State nickname
The Golden State
Large lake on the Nevada border
Lake Tahoe
Actors who became governor
Ronald Reagan
Arnold
Schwarzenegger
Countries that formerly owned
California
Spain
Mexico
What Napa Valley is famous for
Wine
Fault line that runs along most of
California's coast
San Andreas
If you were to sail due west from
California, which country would
you be most likely to land in?
Japan
78 Comments
+6
Level 89
Sep 5, 2019
Darn.. it wouldn't take "sequoyah", which is how I've seen it spelled on occasion.
+12
Level 65
Nov 18, 2019
Just remember all 5 vowels w/4 of them in a row.
+12
Level 75
Jan 8, 2020
Sequoyah was a famous Cherokee who created a written syllabary for the tribe.
+3
Level 76
Sep 5, 2019
Also accept "vineyards" for Napa?
+3
Level ∞
Sep 5, 2019
Okay
+3
Level 88
Sep 7, 2019
How about "viticulture"? ;)
+55
Level 94
Oct 25, 2019
if you come up with viticulture before wine, you need to stop the viticulture a while and pour yourself a glass.
+22
Level 88
Sep 5, 2019
Is there a reason I should know the zip code for Beverly Hills? Is it in a song or something?
+22
Level 82
Sep 5, 2019
An angsty teen television show from the 90s.
+2
Level 61
Jan 7, 2020
You knew!
+1
Level 54
Oct 13, 2024
yes a song by travis scott
+11
Level 88
Sep 5, 2019
90211 and 90212 are also Beverly Hills zip codes for regular postal service, and 90209 and 90213 zip codes for B.H. PO Boxes.
+1
Level 18
May 4, 2025
yes but the "famous" one is 90210
+4
Level 81
Sep 7, 2019
Only missed Mt Whitney and should have gotten that one, too. Easier than most of these state quizzes.
+4
Level 64
Dec 28, 2019
Yes, you should have. Shame!
+10
Level 81
Jan 7, 2020
this time I got it but I tried Space Mountain and Magic Mountain first.
+8
Level 73
Sep 9, 2019
The Sonoran Desert should also be an acceptable answer as it is the most southeastern desert in the state.
+3
Level 86
Feb 27, 2025
Yes, Sonoran is a correct answer to the question. I'd say, the best answer given that is more southerly than the Mojave.
+11
Level 71
Sep 14, 2019
Schwarzenegger is almost as hard to spell as Benjamin Bumblethatch.
+10
Level 91
Sep 20, 2019
I thought it was Benadryl Lumberjack.
+3
Level 84
Feb 4, 2021
It's Eggs Cucumber.
+7
Level 71
Mar 22, 2020
Jetpunk accepts "Ahnold", which is much easier to spell.
+2
Level 60
Sep 13, 2022
Boonadook Coomberbootch.
+5
Level 50
Nov 5, 2019
Thanks for accepting ahnold for california governor, i know how to spell Schwarzenegger, but typing his last name is time consuming and I'm not going to live forever.
+5
Level 75
Jan 8, 2020
Wish I'd known that. It took me six tries before I finally made an accepted spelling.
+10
Level 45
Dec 4, 2019
why isn't "redwood" accepted? i thought they were also sequoias
+12
Level 64
Dec 28, 2019
No, they are different trees. Both are very tall. The wood is red. Sequoias are inland like those in the Sierra Nevadas or Yosemite, while the redwoods are coastal

Sequoias are poor lumber trees, but redwoods are excellent for felling and building things.

+6
Level 73
Jan 7, 2020
Giant sequoias actually are a species of redwood. But they are different and much larger than the coastal redwoods that are usually associated with the word.
+3
Level 85
Sep 9, 2022
I do believe that redwoods are the tallest species of tree, but sequoias are the largest trees by absolute mass and girth which is what I believe they are looking for.
+4
Level 67
Jan 7, 2020
Put 1850 for the gold rush and Andrew for the fault. So close, and yet so far :-(
+7
Level 71
Jan 7, 2020
"In a cavern, in a canyon, excavaaaating for a mine,

Lived a miner, 49er, and his daughter, Clementine."

The song wouldn't work if the year was 50! Also I think there's some kind of major sports team named after it?

+6
Level 66
Jan 16, 2021
never knew those were references to the goldrush!
+2
Level 75
Sep 10, 2022
As the poem tells us:

The miners came in '49,

The whores in '51,

And when they got together,

They produced the native son.

I'm the great-great-grandson of a sea captain who came around the Horn to San Francisco in 1849. I'm happy to tell you, however, that he was accompanied by his son (my great-grandfather), who was his second mate. And that he died two years later without fathering any other children.

Likewise my great-grandfather did not sire any bastards, at least not in the strict legal sense of that word.

+6
Level 86
Jan 8, 2020
Accepts "Ahnold" for CA governor question! LOL!!!! Awesome!!!
+6
Level 74
Jan 16, 2021
I tried "Arnie" before accepting I had to type Schwarzenegger... Why "Ahnold"?
+4
Level 79
Jan 16, 2021
It's an impression of him saying his own name in his Austrian accent.
+2
Level 46
Mar 29, 2020
I might be being nitpicky but for countries that controlled California, I believe California itself was a independent republic prior to being annexed by the US. Albeit pretty briefly.
+8
Level ∞
Aug 30, 2020
It wasn't. The so-called "Bear Republic" was a group of a couple hundred people that controlled less than 5% of the area of California for a period of less than a month.
+2
Level 63
Feb 28, 2025
Yup. From Wikipedia: "In June 1846, thirty-three American immigrants in Alta California who had entered without official permission rebelled against the Mexican department's government."
+1
Level 62
Sep 9, 2022
You're probably thinking of Texas.
+6
Level 66
Jan 16, 2021
Russia also controlled parts of California for a while.
+3
Level 58
Jan 17, 2021
All the way down to Fort Ross. Also there is the Russian River, so named for that country.
+1
Level 67
Jul 17, 2023
There was even Russian influence in Kashaya, a native language of Sonoma county.
+3
Level 69
Jan 16, 2021
The tallest mountain in the world is the inactive volcano in Hawaii- Mauna Kea, which is a bit taller than Everest. Can you change the hint on that question to the highest?
+3
Level 59
Sep 9, 2022
Nobody counts Mauna Kea because it is only the tallest considering underwater height, and that doesn't count. Mountains should be measured from sea level to the peak.
+2
Level 51
Jan 16, 2021
Yay! After this we should do my subdivision quizzes! (Let a guy hope, okay?)
+2
Level 51
Jan 16, 2021
Maybe if I made them better...
+3
Level 74
Jan 16, 2021
Then individual people's houses quizzes...
+2
Level 51
Jan 16, 2021
People quizzes?
+2
Level 51
Jan 16, 2021
Ok, I just want the full world subdivisions quizzes to happen!
+2
Level 60
Jan 16, 2021
Another new thing to do all the quizzes for, finally in real time! Also, the state I can get every single answer right, no doubt about it.

Edit: Had no idea the whole badge is available, time to get started. Should be much easier than countries, as an American myself.

+4
Level 80
Jan 16, 2021
I want to kicque myſelf for forgetting Ronald Reagan.
+1
Level 80
Feb 27, 2025
How did I forget Ronald Reagan again 😩😅
+2
Level 66
Jan 16, 2021
Tried Saint Andrew, Saint Andreas, Andreas, Andrew, St. Andrew. St. Andreas...Dangit.
+8
Level 91
Jan 16, 2021
On the west coast we have a lot of Spanish language heritage. Very few Saint places, a whole lotta San and Santa places.
+2
Level 66
Jan 16, 2021
yeah, I guess I got lost in translation. Even after traveling that very west coast a few years ago :)
+3
Level 67
Jan 16, 2021
why would i know the zip code of a small town?>
+4
Level 67
Jan 16, 2021
Beverly Hills 90210 was a popular teen TV show (read: soap opera) in the 90s.
+2
Level 54
Jan 16, 2021
133 had earned the badge
+2
Level 71
Jan 16, 2021
Question: Why is the image for the new "State Trivia" badge just Texas? Those Texans already act like they own America, now JetPunk wants to confirm it???
+2
Level 51
Jan 16, 2021
Texas rulez?
+1
Level 85
Sep 9, 2022
Don’t lie to yourself. You know we own the country.
+1
Level 75
Sep 10, 2022
Starting with the NFL, where the Cowboys have established a tradition of post-season success that . . . . I'll come in again.

That exemplifies Texas: big talk, modest results.

+1
Level 45
Apr 10, 2024
We do own it though.
+2
Level 43
Jan 16, 2021
It’s too much early for ask what’s is the new series? LOL!
+2
Level 51
Jan 16, 2021
World subdivision quizzes!!!!
+2
Level 78
Jan 17, 2021
Got 18/20 (which I guess is good). Though I'm probably not gonna get this good on any other state quiz.
+2
Level 64
Jan 19, 2021
Easy peasy. Of course, it helps being a life-long resident of CA of 30 years lol.
+1
Level 65
May 20, 2022
Hi everybody,

I'm currently doing every state quizzes, and as I am not American, I'm struggling on each one of them (usually 6-7 right answers, once or twice I even did only 1). But this one went quite well: 17/20.

So my question is : is this one way simpler than the other ones, or is it quite the same difficulty (meaning that California is well more known in my country than any other state) ?

+3
Level 83
Sep 9, 2022
I think California in general is very well-known and has been a center of media and culture for a while, so it's not surprising that it's easier than the others. I actually did better on this quiz than on my home state of Maryland's, and I think it's because of how much it's talked about in US culture
+1
Level 71
Jul 18, 2022
in the 90210, 90210, running through the alley
+2
Level 44
Feb 16, 2024
Great quiz but I feel that "giant redwood" and "sierra redwood" should be valid alternatives to giant sequoia as they are other names they are known by.

I live in CA but not near the redwoods and I feel I more often hear people near me call them giant redwoods.

+1
Level 42
Jun 7, 2024
Without even thinking, I typed in 1849. I am just out of 7th grade. I guess my social studies teacher managed to drill it into my head.
+1
Level 55
Feb 27, 2025
I remembered the 49 but I forgot the century haha l
+1
Level 44
Feb 27, 2025
i put 1848 and it accepted
+1
Level 34
Feb 27, 2025
Andreas should count
+1
Level 65
Feb 28, 2025
The Sonoran Desert should also be accepted.
+1
Level 24
Mar 3, 2025
thought lake havasu for a fat sec lol