Moon Northern California

This full-color guide includes vibrant photos and easy-to-use maps to help with trip planning.

Northern California residents Elizabeth Linhart Veneman and Christopher Arns cover the best that Northern California has to offer, from day hikes in awe-inspiring Yosemite Valley to rest and relaxation at the spas and vineyards of Wine Country. To help travelers plan their trip, Veneman and Arns also offer a number of unique itinerary ideas, such as as "Best Day Trips," "Best Road Trips," and "Best Outdoor Adventures." With expert advice on finding the tastiest food in the Bay Area, exploring the charming Monterey and Carmel, and getting to Gold Country ghost towns, Moon Northern California gives travelers the tools they need to create a more personal and memorable experience.

Elizabeth Linhart Veneman has always viewed growing up in Northern California as both a blessing and curse. There is so much to see, do, and experience all within a short drivefrom broad sequoias in the Sierras to ancient lava beds north of Mount Shasta, from creaky Gold Rush towns to the pampering Wine Countrythat she began to wonder why anyone would ever leave.

Elizabeth was eventually lured out of the Golden State to Alaska’s far north, where she traveled the Inside Passage, baked bread under the midnight sun in Denali National Park, and chronicled the state’s burgeoning sustainable agriculture forAlaska Magazine. These adventures culminated in penning the travel guide InsightGuides: Alaska.

But Elizabeth knew her California roots were too deep to stay away for long. Raised in Carmel, where her great-great grandmother opened the first restaurant (a soup kitchen with dirt floors!) at the turn of the 20th century, she would always call California home. So she returned and devoted herself to writing about the state she loves most. Her work has included the travel guidesSmartGuide: San Francisco and InsightGuides: San Francisco, as well as reporting on food and sustainable agriculture for local publications.

Elizabeth is still enchanted by Northern California’s wondrous melding of natural splendor with cultural charm. She currently lives with her family in San Francisco’s Richmond district.


Raised in the Gold Country, Christopher Arns has deep roots in Northern California. During his youth, Christopher attended a bohemian private school near Auburn where he learned to knit, perform Shakespeare, and look forward to field trips at the American River.

Christopher eventually moved to San Luis Obispo and enrolled at Cal Poly, where he became the sports editor for the daily college newspaper. After graduating, he spent several years as a sports reporter on California’s central coast and in southern Oregon, logging late hours at high school football games and wrestling meets. He eventually took a break from writing to travel around Europe and North Africa, venturing through war-torn cities in the Balkans and discovering long-lost relatives in Romania. Convinced he needed a real job after months of traveling, Christopher returned from Europe and began working at Apple. For several years he provided customer support for iPhones and iPads, but eventually felt the siren call of the keyboard and happily returned to writing.

Now a full-time freelance writer, Christopher lives in Sacramento just a few blocks from the American River. He enjoys riding his beach cruiser through Sacramento’s leafy neighborhoods and fly-fishing in the Sierra Nevada. He recently completed a master’s degree in international relations from Sacramento State and is currently writing a travel memoir about exploring his family roots in Cyprus.