California is often seen by outsiders as a state with large cities and heavy urbanization, with focus on the bustling Bay Area (San Francisco) and Southern California (Los Angeles). Nature wise, of course CA is also known for its mountains and beaches thanks to its huge coastline. Then there’s the Central Valley, which is kinda dead because of how rural it is, and Fresno as it’s largest city is pretty meh. Nature wise, it probably was kind of boring too this same region used to be mostly grassland.
Today less than 1% of its native grasslands remain. I’m fairly certain the photo of this post is a grassland area in Parlier, sandwiched between a residential development in the very left and roads on very right. It may not stick for long once developers decide they know what to do with that area. But grasslands can actually be quite beautiful, with the Carrizo Plain National Monument taking the spotlight.