California's spiritual sites range from 18th-century adobe missions that define the state's founding history to a UFO-inspired sound bath dome in the Mojave Desert. Old Mission Dolores in San Francisco is the oldest building in the city, completed in 1791 with adobe walls 4 feet thick. The Carmel Mission is the burial site of Father Junipero Serra, who founded the 21-mission chain from San Diego to Sonoma. The Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades has held a portion of Mahatma Gandhi's ashes since 1950.
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California Missions
California's 21-mission chain, established between 1769 and 1823, forms a 700-mile arc from San Diego to Sonoma. These four missions are the most historically significant and architecturally intact.
Old Mission Dolores (Mission San Francisco de Asis) Must-see
San Francisco County · San Francisco
Old Mission Dolores, formally Mission San Francisco de Asis, was founded on June 29, 1776 — 5 days before the Declaration of Independence — and is the oldest intact building in San Francisco. The adobe church, completed in 1791, has walls 4 feet thick and a ceiling painted in geometric patterns by Ohlone and Coast Miwok people using vegetable dyes. The adjacent basilica (1918) is a separate, larger structure used for active worship; the original church is the museum and is open for self-guided tours. The cemetery has graves dating to 1792, including the only Mexican governor of California. Admission is $7/adult; open daily 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The mission is at 16th and Dolores in the Mission District, accessible by BART (16th St Mission station, 2 blocks).
Carmel Mission (Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Rio Carmelo) Must-see
Monterey County · Carmel-by-the-Sea
The Carmel Mission was Father Junipero Serra's headquarters — he served here from 1771 until his death in 1784 and is buried beneath the sanctuary floor in front of the altar, a rare designation for an American grave. Serra was canonized by Pope Francis in Washington D.C. in 2015. The mission's Moorish tower and ochre-painted sandstone facade have been photographed for over a century; the interior museum has Serra's original vestments and the oldest library in California. Four courtyards with gardens surround the complex. Admission is $12/adult; open Monday–Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The mission is on Lasuen Drive in Carmel-by-the-Sea, 0.8 miles from Ocean Avenue.
Old Mission Santa Barbara Must-see
Santa Barbara County · Santa Barbara
Old Mission Santa Barbara, founded December 4, 1786 and known as the Queen of the Missions for its imposing twin-tower facade, is the only California mission that has had continuous Franciscan presence since its founding — never deconsecrated, never turned over to secular control. The current church (1820) replaced earlier structures damaged by an 1812 earthquake; the twin towers and Roman temple facade were unusual design choices inspired by a 6th-century architecture manual. The pink sandstone facade is the most recognizable mission exterior in the chain. The cemetery contains remains of some 4,000 Chumash people and Spanish settlers. Self-guided audio tours are $15/adult; the mission is at 2201 Laguna Street in the Santa Barbara Riviera, 1 mile above downtown on a hill with views of the Pacific.
Mission San Juan Capistrano Must-see
Orange County · San Juan Capistrano
Mission San Juan Capistrano holds California's oldest building still in use for its original purpose — the Serra Chapel, built in 1782, continues to hold daily Mass. The Great Stone Church, completed in 1806 and destroyed by an earthquake in 1812 killing 40 worshippers, stands as a dramatic ruin at the center of the complex. The mission is famous for cliff swallows returning annually from Goya, Argentina on or near March 19 (St. Joseph's Day) — the exact timing has shifted in recent decades but the colony still nests in the ruins. Admission is $15/adult; the audio tour is included. Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner stops at the San Juan Capistrano station, 1 block from the mission entrance on Camino Capistrano.
Shrines, Sanctuaries & Sacred Spaces
Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine (Yogananda) Must-see
Los Angeles County · Pacific Palisades
The Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine was established by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1950 on 10 acres surrounding a natural spring-fed lake in Pacific Palisades. The grounds contain a portion of Mahatma Gandhi's ashes in a gold-domed shrine — one of only four sites in the world designated to hold them. A windmill chapel built in 1887 has been converted to a meditation room; a houseboat on the lake serves as a gift shop for the fellowship. The 1.5-mile walking path around the lake passes through formal gardens and stops at five outdoor temples representing different world religions. Open Tuesday–Saturday 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Sunday 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Admission is free. The shrine is at 17190 Sunset Boulevard; street parking on Sunset Boulevard or PCH below.
Christ Cathedral (Former Crystal Cathedral) Must-see
Orange County · Garden Grove
Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove is a 2.7-acre glass structure with 10,661 panes of tempered silver glass — designed by Philip Johnson and Richard Burgee and completed in 1980 as the Crystal Cathedral for televangelist Robert Schuller. The Diocese of Orange purchased the building in 2012 for $57.5 million after the Crystal Cathedral Ministries filed for bankruptcy; it reopened as a Catholic cathedral in 2019 following a $77 million renovation. The renovation added the Tower of Hope (14 stories, 186 feet) and new artworks by internationally commissioned Catholic artists. Guided tours available Tuesday–Saturday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for $15/adult; the cathedral itself is open for free self-guided visits. The cathedral is at 13280 Chapman Avenue, Garden Grove, 30 miles south of Los Angeles.
Integratron (Spiritual Resonance Dome, Mojave Desert) Must-see
San Bernardino County · Landers
The Integratron is a 38-foot non-metallic dome built between 1954 and 1978 by aeronautical engineer George Van Tassel, who claimed the design came from Venusian extraterrestrials after a contact experience in 1953. Van Tassel intended it as a time machine and rejuvenation chamber aligned to a geomagnetic vortex and the Great Pyramid at Giza. Sound baths now use the dome's acoustic properties — quartz crystal singing bowls played inside create resonance visible to the ear as standing waves. Sessions run $35/person for group sound baths Thursday through Sunday; reservations at integratron.com. Private 3-hour dome rentals cost $600. The Integratron is at 2477 Belfield Boulevard in Landers, 30 miles north of Joshua Tree and 50 miles northeast of Palm Springs.
City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (Buddhist Monastery) Worth the detour
Mendocino County · Talmage
The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Talmage, near Ukiah, is a working Buddhist monastery on 488 acres with approximately 400 resident monastics — the largest Buddhist monastery in the Western hemisphere. The main hall contains 10,000 gilded Buddha statues in glass cases along the walls; a separate hall houses a 1,000-armed Guan Yin. The grounds include a Buddhist library, formal gardens, university, and K-12 school. Visitors are welcome daily 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (except during morning ceremonies, ending around 9:30 a.m.); admission is free. The vegetarian restaurant is open to the public for lunch. Talmage is 2 miles east of Ukiah on East Road; the monastery is 112 miles north of San Francisco via US-101.
Planning Notes
Plan your visit: Old Mission Dolores is in San Francisco's Mission District and easy to combine with a city stay — see our San Francisco guide. Mission San Juan Capistrano and Christ Cathedral are both in Orange County within 30 miles of Los Angeles; the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine is in Pacific Palisades, 20 minutes from West LA. See our Los Angeles guide for the Southern California cluster. The Integratron and Carmel Mission require separate destination planning — Landers is most practical as an extension of a Joshua Tree trip, and Carmel-by-the-Sea is a natural stop on the Big Sur coastal drive.
