According to a new list published by Yelp, 17 of the 50 most photographed landmarks in the United States and Canada are located in California.
From the Bay Area all the way down to San Diego, the list includes monuments, parks, bridges, notorious buildings and even a home with a spooky history! And while the “usual suspects” such as the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Golden Gate Park made the list, some of the other top sites may surprise you.
“Whether you’re a nature enthusiast, an urban explorer or a history buff this list has got something for every type of adventurer to enjoy,” Yelp says on its website. “Every landmark on this list has at least 700 photos on their Yelp page and the top 10 spots have more than 5,000 photos each.”
Yelp says it compiled the list by identifying businesses in the landmark category and then ranking each site by the frequency in which users submitted photos of the landmark.
Below we have compiled a list of the 17 Golden State landmarks included in order of their place on Yelp’s ranking:
1. Balboa Park (San Diego)
Balboa Park botanical building and pond in San Diego, California USA (Adobe Stock)
3. Alcatraz Island (San Francisco)
Alcatraz Island is seen in San Francisco, Wednesday, June 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
4. Hearst Castle (San Simeon)
SAN SIMEON, CA – SEPTEMBER 08: Atmosphere at the Best Buddies Challenge: Neptune Pool Party at Hearst Castle on September 8, 2012 in San Simeon, California. (Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images For Best Buddies And Zenith)
5. Golden Gate Bridge/Park (San Francisco)
San Francisco, UNITED STATES: The Golden Gate Bridge is pictured 20 December 2006 in San Francisco, California. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)
8. Anaheim Packing District (Anaheim)
Anaheim Packing District (Credit: Visit Anaheim)
10. Palace of Fine Arts (San Francisco)
SAN FRANCISCO – MAY 08: Birds swim near the Palace of Fine Arts rotunda on May 8, 2009 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
13. Mission San Juan Capistrano (San Juan Capistrano)
Speakers hidden behind the statue call to swallows at the mission in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., Thursday, April 26, 2012. For most of its 230-year history, the Mission at San Juan Capistrano has been known for the cliff swallows that flock to the crumbling bell tower each spring to nest. In recent decades, however, what used to be swarms of swallows at the original Spanish mission have dwindled. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
16. Winchester Mystery House (San Jose)
FILE – This May 5, 2017, file photo, shows an exterior view of the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, Calif. The site is featured in “Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places.” (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
20. Hollywood Walk of Fame (Hollywood)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 25: People maintain social distancing while standing in line to enter a Trader Joe’s, along the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as the coronavirus pandemic continues on March 25, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
22. Cabrillo National Monument (San Diego)
San Diego, California – USA – December 04, 2016: Cabrillo National Monument California (Adobe Stock)
27. Coit Tower (San Francisco)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 09: Coit Tower is lit up blue on April 09, 2020 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
30. Twin Peaks (San Francisco)
View on the road to Twin Peaks, San Francisco (Adobe Stock)
36. Old Town San Diego Historic Park (San Diego)
Room in Whaley House Museum, Old Town of San Diego (Adobe Stock)
39. Oakland Bay Bridge (Oakland)
The Bay Bridge is pictured on July 30, 2020 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images)
40. California State Capitol Museum (Sacramento)
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 30: Cory Williams rides past the California State Capitol during a training ride before the Into The Lion’s Den criterium race on October 30, 2021 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
43. San Francisco City Hall (San Francisco)
City Hall in San Francisco, Calif. on Friday, June 7, 2019. (Paul Chinn/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
44. Mission Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara)
SANTA BARBARA, CA – JULY 09: The Spanish mission stands under a blue sky on July 9, 2014 in Santa Barbara, California. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
