It’s road trip season and California Road Trips 2012 encourages visitors to hit the road and explore the Golden State, with this year’s focus on fun for the entire family.

The newly released guide maps out special two- to three-day driving getaways as well as more detailed routes for longer vacations throughout California’s 12 diverse regions.

“California is home to many iconic destinations – many of which are best viewed from the road. Visitors who travel our highways and biways can experience the incredible diversity of the state from its spectacular coastline to the higher ground of the Sierra and everything in between,” said Caroline Beteta, president and CEO of Visit California. “California Road Trips 2012 reinforces the best of the California with a focus on our incredible attractions that every member of the family will enjoy.”

This year, the theme of the guide, produced by Visit California and Sunset Publishing, is “Family Fun,” a focus that has special resonance in California, with its abundance of attractions from historical sites, educational museums and hands-on experiences to to incomparable theme parks to outdoor adventures. Each itinerarys presents a range of activities for all kinds of travelers, inviting people to stop, explore, learn and have fun.

Inside California Road Trips 2012, readers will find inside scoops on things to see and do and the abundance of activities they’ll find throughout the state of California. As part of the guide’s “Strike it Rich” trip, drivers can fuel up for a trip back through time into California’s Gold Country. In “Welcome to Adventureland,” visitors discover wild beaches, serene tidepools and a surprise safari along California’s North Coast. They can also head for the “Great Wild North” to sample sampling outdoor adventures in the mountains, lakes and secret swimming holes of California’s Shasta Cascade. This is shaping up to be California’s best summer ever as 2012 is huge year for theme parks and attractions with new rides and attractions opening from north to south, including Cars Land at Disney California Adventure Park, the new Transformers: The Ride at Universal Studios Hollywood and SeaWorld’s first thrill ride – Manta!

This year’s issue of Road Trips will see one million distribution, with 600,000 guides being distributed in the June 2012 issue of Sunset magazine; the remaining 400,000 will be distributed through domestic and international direct fulfillment and trade shows. Road Trips 2012 will also be available for free in digital format on visitcalifornia.com and on Visit California’s iPad app, available in the Apple App Store.