For those not from the state, trying to actually picture the size can be difficult. Since California’s shape is so odd, and the geography so diverse, it can be difficult to wrap your head around its size. The state encompasses a space of 155,959 square miles, with an 840-mile coastline.
If you are trying to think of the state’s size by driving distance, you can think of the north-south range taking about ten hours to traverse.
If you were to try and drive from the coastline east, you would only need roughly half that time to breach the state border.