Posted: 07/26/2009 01:37:09 AM PDT

GOLDEN, Colo. — Eric Peterson says California “just might be the greatest state for road trips.” And he’s written a new book to prove his point: “Ramble California: A Wanderer’s Guide to the Offbeat, Overlooked, and Outrageous.”

The book includes sections on Los Angeles and Southern California, on San Francisco, on Central California’s coastal areas and valley, on the High Sierra, on places in the California desert like Joshua Tree National Park, Death Valley and Palm Springs and, yes, the North Coast also has several mentions in the book.

Peterson writes about the Captain Courageous roadside memorial in Klamath, the Curly Redwood Lodge in Crescent City, the Willow Creek-China Flat Museum and other locales. He also spends several paragraphs on the infamous “Emerald Triangle,” focusing on Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties.

Listings highlight others quirky attractions, too, like the Bunny Museum in Pasadena, San Diego’s haunted Whaley House, and Barney’s Beanery in Hollywood, where chili has been the house special for decades. Some chapters are more travelogue than guidebook, like “A Beer Drinker in Wine Country,” and “Sand and Surf and a Fence into the Ocean,” about a six-day, 300-mile trip that included 50 miles by bike and time on a surfboard.

The $19 paperback, published by Colorado-based Speck Press, is part of a series of “Ramble” books by Peterson, which also includes guides to Colorado and to the U.S.

Separately, the California Travel and Tourism Commission has just released its free annual road trips guide. Copies of California Road Trips 2009 can be ordered from (877) 867-3748 or downloaded for free from http://www.visitcalifornia.com/visitorsguide. The booklet highlights places like Calico Ghost Town, Old Mission Santa Barbara, and the Sundial Bridge in Redding. The Web site also has a deals section at http://www.visitcalifornia.com/summerdeals mentioning hotel offers, gift cards and gas card credits, and options like the Southern California City-Pass, which bundles theme park tickets at a discount.