Santiago Peak is Orange County's point of highest elevation, offering probably the best urban/mountain/ocean view in all of Southern California. Under good atmospheric conditions, you can trace the coastline from Point Loma to Point Dume, …
Blue Sky Ecological Reserve, 700 acres of oak woodland and sage-covered hillsides purchased by the state for open space some 12 years ago, has become a bright star in Poway's constellation of city parks and …
Tucked away obscurely in two shady canyons behind the San Gabriel Valley community of Monrovia is one of the most beautiful parks in the Los Angeles area: Monrovia Canyon Park. Adding spice to the rich …
Lawson and Gaskill Peaks, near Alpine and Jamul, help define the serrated mountain skyline we San Diegans see on the sunrise side of our county. Atop either peak, on a clear winter or spring day, …
Did you know that the trail hike with the greatest elevation gain in all of America lies only a hundred miles from San Diego? The starting point is the west end of Ramon Road in …
Caught in the grip of faults and folds, the corrugated landscape of the Domelands exposes millions of years of geologic history. This is a good place to view marine fossils aplenty, but you can't collect …
East Mojave National Preserve, a vast, empty sprawl of desert sand, alkali flats, cinder cones, and skeletal mountains, lies wedged between Interstates 15 and 40 east of Barstow, south of Baker, and west of the …
Bicycle riding in the hills north of Oceanside is like touring the roof of North County -- at least on a clear day. Views stretch east to the Palomar Mountains, west to the ocean, and …
On the most transparent winter days, the view from Emerald Vista Point in Orange County's Crystal Cove State Park spans more than 200 miles of Southern California coastline. Far beyond Dana Point to the southeast, …
Throughout the San Diego area, thin strips of canyon open-space break the symmetry of the urban/suburban continuum. Sometimes these shreds of natural landscape survive by design. In other cases -- in older neighborhoods especially -- …
In 1990 the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (a state agency charged with acquiring land for parks in the Los Angeles area) entered negotiations with entertainer Bob Hope to purchase Rocky Peak Park -- a 4369-acre …
Sunset Mountain stands lofty and somewhat isolated from the main ridge of the Vallecito Mountains in the center of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. As seen from Borrego Springs and other far points to the west, …
Hike across Death Valley’s salt pan to the lowest spot in the Western Hemisphere. Death Valley’s salt pan was inundated by 2 feet of runoff from the surrounding mountains during the wet winter of 2005.
The highest and lowest tides of the year 2000 occur today, Thursday, January 20. Why today? There are three primary reasons. First, the moon has reached full phase. At this position (and at new moon, …
"Peak-baggers" by the thousands earn personal satisfaction by climbing notable high points throughout California. No such interest is directed toward the state's low points — except maybe the attention given to the lowest spot in …
Next Thursday evening, January 20, the full moon launches itself over the eastern horizon near the time of sunset, 5 p.m. By 6:30, however, a ghostly pallor starts spreading across the ascending moon. A denser …
"Roam-O-Rama" marches into the new millennium with a new focus: San Diego County and beyond. During the seven-year tenure of this column in the San Diego Reader, I've recommended nearly 300 outdoor activities and adventures …
Hard-to-reach Sheep Canyon, secreted in the remote middle reaches of Coyote Canyon in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, features some of the most rugged yet beautiful terrain in San Diego County. The canyon has two main …
Crystalline skies are here again, as Santa Ana winds swoop down intermittently from the northeast, as cold winds blow from the north, or as high pressure invades the county and lingers here for a day …
When late-autumn Santa Ana winds blow across San Diego County bringing 80- to 90-degree temperatures to the coast, people visiting the 5000- to 6000-foot elevations of the Laguna Mountains are surprised to find the temperatures …
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 …
Rural roads for pleasant summer morning or evening cycling still exist around Escondido. For a sample, try the following ten-mile, looping ride over the hills north of town. The route features an elevation gain of …
The desolate backcountry community of Campo, barely a stone's throw from the international border, has exactly two things of interest to San Diego daytrippers: the Old Stone Store and the Campo railroad depot. The former, …
Twin Peaks, a scruffy, boulder-studded promontory rising amid Poway's suburban streets, is less known for its own existence than for the street named after it: Twin Peaks Road. At the close of a warm summer …
Hike out to Foster Point in the Laguna Mountains for a great view of the desert floor from a mile-high elevation, and also for a chance to enjoy peace and solitude. Until fairly recently (due …
Sparsely visited Harry Griffin Park, tucked away in Grossmont Summit where La Mesa and El Cajon adjoin, has for years remained one of East County's well-kept secrets. As the largest park within La Mesa's city …
During the past five years, two new east-west highways have opened up for traffic in the Poway and Santee areas: the Tierrasanta-to-Santee leg of Highway 52 and Scripps Poway Parkway. Both roadways were designed to …
Serene Dos Picos County Park, outside Ramona, nestles into East County's sweet-smelling chaparral hillsides like a dewdrop caught in the hollow of a leaf. On a recent weekday visit there, I spotted only a few …
Eastbound in the right lane of Highway 52, the San Clemente Canyon Freeway, you can look down upon a long, slender, almost unbroken swath of natural vegetation: massive sycamores, stately live oaks, climbing vines, and …
Summer is finally arriving in upper-elevation San Diego County. At mile-high elevations you can still find lingering bursts of wildflower color amid the somber pines and bright-green black oaks. For a wide-ranging introduction to the …
Crest Canyon, an open-space park within the city limits of San Diego, helps insulate woodsy Del Mar from the upscale, bustling sprawl of Carmel Valley to the east. The canyon, rather like a shallow bowl …
North and east of Ramona lie several back roads offering splendid late-spring bicycle riding for those who care to venture off the car-clogged two-lane ribbon of Highway 78. Black Canyon Road is perhaps the best …
There are at least as many ways to climb Cowles Mountain, the highest elevation within San Diego's city limit, as there are digits on your hand. Perhaps the least popular but no less fun approach …
Big Spring, tucked in a tributary of Tubb Canyon on the west side of Borrego Valley, is one of the more reliable water producers in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. As such, it is an …
Silverwood. The name comes from the glittering effect of sunlight upon the dark-green leaves of the coast live oak. Scores of these trees, some of them two-century-old giants scarred by fire, shade the canyon floor …