Riverside County – Travel guide at Wikivoyage (2024)

Riverside County is a county in Southern California which extends east into the California Desert.

• 1 Joshua Tree National Park
• 1 Eagle Mountain. A ghost town, which has been the set for several films, including Tenet.

It is served by the Palm Springs International Airport (PSP^IATA), by Air Canada, Alaska, Allegiant, American, Contour Airlines, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Sun Country, United, and WestJet.

• 1 Orange County - While Disneyland is obviously the attraction that brings the most visitors to Orange County, there is more to this county than just the House of Mouse. The county's Beach Cities offer vast sand expanses great for sunbathing, swimming, surfing and even whale watching, particularly in the spring and fall when grey whales migrate along the coast. Festivals such as Laguna Beach's Pageant of the Masters (July & August) or the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa (mid-July to mid-August) draw hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. And Knott's Berry Farm was an actual berry farm before adding roller coasters and other rides, and since 1973 has featured a popular October transformation into "Knott's Scary Farm" when the entire 160 acres (65 hectares) park is re-themed into a haunted house style attraction.
• 2 Los Angeles County - While many places claim to have "something for everyone", Riverside County's northwestern neighbor actually does. There are movie studios to tour in Hollywood and its surrounding cities, shopping at luxury boutiques in Beverly Hills, the Ice Age fossils of the La Brea Tar Pits, the incredible museums of Exposition Park (including the Space Shuttle Endeavour), hiking and camping opportunities in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, some of the world's most impressive roller coasters at Magic Mountain, the famous beaches of Malibu, Santa Monica or Venice, and a million other options; just budget extra time to get to all of these places as you brave the infamous traffic with the county's ten million residents.
• 3 San Bernardino County - Riverside County's northern neighbor, massive San Bernardino County covers 20,000mi (32,000km) of the California Desert, an area larger than nine of the US states. The Mojave National Preserve is a centerpiece of the region, spanning portions of the Mojave, Great Basin, and Sonoran deserts. Fans of Americana will enjoy cruising historic Route 66, which bisects the county across its southern half and includes the ghost town of Amboy. The western side of the county spans both the outskirts of Los Angeles and the San Bernardino mountains, including popular destinations such as Big Bear and Lake Arrowhead.
• 4 Western Arizona
• 5 Imperial County - Located to the south of Riverside County in the state's southeast corner, this primarily agricultural county features extreme summer temperatures and below sea-level elevations. The Salton Sea dominates the region, and this massive alkaline lake is worth visiting for the ghost towns, wildlife refuge, and oddball characters that now populate its shores.
• 6 San Diego County - San Diego County borders Riverside County to the southwest. The city of San Diego sprawls across the county's southwestern portion, with attractions that include the museums and famed zoo of lush Balboa Park, the upscale seaside community of La Jolla with its scenic coves and marine life, and the historic district of Old Town which is home to California's oldest Spanish mission. In contrast to its populous western side, the county's eastern half is a mountainous desert that attracts campers, hikers and OHV aficionados. The Anza-Borrego Desert State Park dominates this side of the county; after wet winters America's second-largest state park attracts hordes of visitors in the spring to admire the acres of desert wildflowers that carpet the normally barren ground.