Roam
Summer's hellishly hot siege of the Anza-Borrego Desert is nearly over, and Agua Caliente Regional Park (adjoining Anza-Borrego) is back open for business. For the next couple of weeks the demand for Agua Caliente's campsites …
Sharply terminated by the Los Angeles River and Interstate 5, Beacon Hill stands as the last eastward gasp of a 50-mile-long mountain range -- the Santa Monica Mountains. Back in the early 20th century, the …
At 513 feet in elevation, Cerro de la Calavera (translated "Skull Hill" and also known as Mount Calavera) rises modestly above lesser hills and valleys of Oceanside, Vista, and Carlsbad. Picturesque Calavera Lake lies at …
San Diego's picturesque "canyons" -- the narrow ravines slashing into the city's elevated plateaus ("mesas") that overlook the bay and the ocean -- number in the dozens. The so-called mesas are actually marine terraces, the …
Known by some as the Convict Road, Shoemaker Canyon Road really should be called the "Road to Nowhere." The dead-end road was the first phase of a projected 23-year effort to build a 2-lane highway …
Off-season (a.k.a. "summer") camping in the Anza-Borrego Desert isn't as outlandish as it may seem -- particularly if you confine your visit to the darker two-thirds of a 24-hour day. On just about any August …
Starting from Seaview Park in the city of Laguna Niguel, a brief walk on a popular trail will take you past several interpretive panels annotating the common species of coastal vegetation found throughout coastal Southern …
Raspy throated wild oats and foxtails chafe in the summer breeze. Hawks and ravens glide overhead, the sound of rushing air faintly audible in their feathers. A sleek coyote trots smugly along, its ears directed …
Indians called it "Mountain of Moonlit Rocks," an appropriate name for a landmark visible, even at night, over great distances. Early white settlers dubbed it "Cobbleback Peak," a name utterly descriptive of its rugged, boulder-strewn …
Franklin Canyon Ranch, a patch of open space north of Beverly Hills, belongs to a sprawling assemblage of interconnected parklands called the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Without the benefit of administrative protection, much …
The "back way" up Mount Laguna via the obscure Kitchen Creek Road offers bicyclists a challenge to their strength and endurance, and little chance of serious interference by passing automobiles. The gravity-assisted return, down along …
This mini-tour of the Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Preserve, the jewel of southwestern Riverside County's remaining natural landscape, introduces you to a variety of hiking experiences -- in sun and in shade. The inclusion of …
On the scrub-covered slopes overlooking eastern Chula Vista's Rice Canyon, hardy coast chollas raise their asymmetric arms in what seems a gesture of defiance against the surrounding phalanxes of cookie-cutter, pseudo-Spanish-style homes. The yellow-centered, magenta …
Cooper Canyon Falls roars with the melting snows of each spring season, then settles down to a quiet whisper by summer. This year's near-normal but unusually late rainfall and snowfall in the San Gabriel Mountains …
Combining beach, lagoon, crest, and canyon, this looping hike touches upon every natural landscape the community of greater Del Mar (the west-of-Interstate-5 part, anyway) has to offer. On a typical early-summer day, with a tepid …
Topped by craggy blocks of white conglomerate rock, Castle Peak affords what is probably the most expansive view of San Fernando Valley's west side. From the top, a sea of ground-hugging subdivisions is seen lapping …