Roam
Simon Park Preserve, a diminutive new patch of dedicated open space, has recently opened adjacent to San Diego Country Estates near Ramona. The preserve, which is maintained for wildlife habitat and light recreation by the …
The desolate ridge of Coyote Mountain rises like the dark, furrowed flank of an elephant over the sand-drowned Borrego and Clark Valleys in the north part of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Scattered amid slabs of …
Will the Leonids roar this year like its namesake constellation (Leo, the Lion), or will we stifle a yawn as we struggle to keep our eyes open looking upward into the sky during the wee …
This five-mile walk, in the low-lying, desolate, dry Carrizo Badlands of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, takes you to fossil shell "reefs" so dense with fossils that fossilized shells and shell fragments outweigh the sandy matrix …
Indianhead, a 3990-foot promontory crowning the north wall of Borrego Palm Canyon, juts dramatically from the desert floor near Borrego Springs and the Anza-Borrego visitor center. There are several climbing routes to Indianhead's summit but …
The beautiful but sometimes hard-to-follow Fry Creek Trail circles the head of a densely wooded drainage on Palomar Mountain, reminding anyone on it (at least at this time of year) that vivid autumn colors really …
With midday temperatures declining into the 80s this month and next, the vast spaces of the Anza-Borrego Desert are again becoming attractive places to explore. For the following hike up Palo Verde Canyon in the …
Joining the long-time joggers, walkers, and bikers on our county's recreational pathways are increasing numbers of recreational skaters, especially those using fast, sleek, in-line skates. Certain paved footpaths, bike paths and sidewalks, plus a few …
Coming soon to a vandalized scenic overlook or trailside destination: public art of ambiguous intent and questionable legality. Art scaled to the exact dimensions of missing historical plaques and interpretive markers. Art with a cynical, …
North County's rural character hangs by a thread outside the rapidly urbanizing communities of Escondido and San Marcos. What better way is there to recapture the feel of that fast-disappearing atmosphere than on a bicycle? …
Like crepuscular creatures emerging at dawn and dusk to seek their prey, photographers are drawn to Anza-Borrego's Font's Point vista early and late in the day, seeking warm, low-angle light. Font's Point overlooks a shockingly …
How's this for a challenging climb of Palomar Mountain from bottom to top? Start at Oak Grove, along the east base of the mountain, and climb steadily up 7 miles of foot trail and fire …
As daytime high temperatures in the desert sink from the 100s into the 90s during September, it becomes rationally conceivable to plan an overnight trip into Anza-Borrego's intriguing badlands. In fact, if you arrive in …
Potrero Regional Park hides in a spacious, live-oak-covered corner of Potrero Valley, near the forgotten south-county hamlet of Potrero -- east of the Tecate turnoff and west of Campo. The twisting but scenic drive to …
Late-summer hiking in East County's Cuyamaca Mountains is rewarding, as long as you avoid the heat of midday and early afternoon. Lately, intense afternoon thunderstorms have dropped considerable moisture here as well as farther east, …
While late-afternoon traffic snarls and tempers flare on North County's Interstate 5 and at the "merge," just inland lies an oasis of tranquillity: San Dieguito Park. Not to be confused with the huge San Dieguito …