Roam
If outdoor exercise is part of your New Year's resolution, perhaps it's time to pull your ten-speed or mountain bike out of cold storage in the garage and head for the rambling byways of Rancho …
From below, 3273-foot Sitton Peak looks unimposing -- a bump atop the rambling Santa Ana Mountains, just north of the San Diego County line. On the summit, though, the feeling is decidedly "top of the …
Horsethief Canyon offers one of the quickest escapes into a designated wilderness area available to urban San Diegans. The canyon is a major entryway into the 13,000-acre Pine Creek Wilderness, south of Descanso and Pine …
Barely ten minutes' drive from the northern San Fernando Valley and the sprawling suburb of Santa Clarita, Placerita Canyon Natural Area nestles comfortably at the foot of one of the more verdant slopes of the …
Oriflamme Canyon's gurgling waters are borne to the open air high on the east slope of the Laguna Mountains. For five miles they trickle over polished granite and schist bedrock, tumble over small waterfalls, and …
So crazy is the juxtaposition of rock formations at Anza-Borrego's Split Mountain that it makes your head spin. You can't help being amazed at the appearance of orderly sedimentary rock layers in one spot, curved …
Like the armored bow of an ice-breaker, flat-topped Point Dume juts into the Pacific Ocean about 20 miles west of Santa Monica. East of the point itself, an unbroken cliff wall shelters a secluded beach …
Laguna Coast Wilderness Park is a spacious Orange County preserve covering several thousand acres of natural landscape adjacent to Laguna Beach. Emerald Canyon, one of its finer natural features, carves its way down a three-mile …
Agua Tibia Wilderness Near Temecula "Chaparral" is the name given to the assemblage of tough, drought-resistant, deep-rooted, intricately branched shrubs that cling to coastal and foothill slopes throughout Central and Southern California. As with much …
New suburban arterial streets in south Carlsbad and north Encinitas -- nearly every one striped with bicycle lanes -- invite you to take a spin on two skinny wheels. The looping route described here covers …
Serenely insular amid the spreading suburbs of Los Angeles, Chino Hills State Park spreads across some 13,000 acres of three counties: Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino. Fifty million dollars of public funds were expended in …
Standing apart from nearby peaks, Viejas Mountain can be seen from many parts of metropolitan San Diego as a dusky, obtusely triangular feature along the eastern horizon. A faint, partially overgrown trail up the west …
Sunrises are as spectacular as they come when viewed on clear, late fall or winter mornings from the Old Stagecoach Road -- now a hiking trail rising into the foothills outside Chatsworth in the San …
The area called Mountain Palm Springs in southern Anza-Borrego Desert State Park cannot lay claim to the largest palm oases in our local desert, but it does feature some of the most charming ones. The …
Big Sycamore and Serrano Canyons in Point Mugu State Park are a study in contrasts. As its name suggests, shallow and wide Big Sycamore Canyon harbors stately California sycamores, set at spacious intervals. Serrano Canyon …
The Sunset Trail facilitates easy access by foot to the entire west rim of the high Laguna Mountain plateau. Like analogous routes to the east -- Sunrise Highway and the sunrise-facing Pacific Crest Trail -- …