Ladder Canyon Trail Painted Canyon Mecca Hills

Everyone Outdoors for Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! Southern California has a bounty of beautiful outdoors to explore, from easy urban walks exploring architecture, to hiking up and down canyon ladders. Here are some great ways to adventure over the holiday.

Week: 11.28.2019
Regions: Southern CA

Jive on the Hive

Hiking to Bee Rock in Griffith Park

Griffith Park is home to more than one awesome rock venue. Sure, the Greek Theatre stages legendary rock concerts, but Bee Rock provides beautiful wide vistas and some fun rock scrambling—and this ticket is free! Park at the iconic merry-go-round and take the Fern Canyon Trail, i
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Chutes and Ladders

Hiking Ladder Canyon Trail Through Painted Canyon in the Mecca Hills

Just when you think you can’t go any farther in Painted Canyon, you remember why this route is called the Ladder Canyon Trail. Whew! There it is: a perfectly placed ladder that gets you up and over the would-be dead-end and into the next thrilling phase of your canyon hike. Ladde
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UNESCO, You Know!

Los Angeles Urban Architecture Walk

Two hikers wandering in Barnsdall Art Park
Two people taking a docent led tour of the outer grounds of Hollyhock House a Frank Lloyd Wright creation in Los Angeles
It's hard to be #1 when you live in LA. But Hollyhock House achieved that status as the first LA landmark designated a World Heritage Site. See it on an urban tour of LA’s architecture and public art scene, including a Frank Lloyd Wright–themed walk through Barnsdall Art Park.
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Solitary Solstice

Solstice Canyon Hike in Malibu

Malibu's Solstice Canyon often teems with visitors, and for good reason: its leafy ravine leads to a year-round waterfall and the captivating ruins of a home lost to a 1982 wildfire. See the sights but lose the crowds on a 3.2-mile out-and-back hike. Five hundred feet above the c
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Alabama Backdrop

Hiking among rare formations at Alabama Hills in Owens Valley California

Despite being named for a Confederate warship, the CSS Alabama, there’s nothing Southern about the Alabama Hills. This range of rocky hills between the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada and the town of Lone Pine in the Owens Valley is Californian to the core, embodying a mythic
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Trending Stories NorCal

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  1. Napa Valley Paddle kayaker and paddle boarder on the Napa Valley river

    Napa's Wild Side

    It’s wine country’s Amazon. The gentle Napa River is an ecological—and recreational—delight. And Napa Valley Paddle sets you up for maximum enjoyment of this experience.

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  2. Been There, Dome That

    Surrounded by granite domes, craggy peaks, and miles of hiking trails, the High Sierra landscape of Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park is famous for good reason. For a truly grand view, take a short hike to bold—and bald (except for snow at times)—Lembert Dome.

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  3. Wapama Wows

    Hetch Hetchy can be overlooked in Yosemite National Park because of its more remote location and limited facilities. But this is where you’ll also find one of the best day hikes in the park: Wapama Falls.

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  4. Hike Mount Tamalpais into Muir Woods

    Muir Woods Through the Backdoor

    A backdoor entrance into Muir Woods? Hike a tranquil trail that starts in Mount Tamalpais State Park and quietly leads into Muir Woods, letting you avoid the busyness of the main parking area.

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Trending Stories SoCal

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  1. Inn-spiration Point!

    For more than a century, people have been hiking or mountain biking to West Point Inn for good reason. Perched at 1,785 feet on the southern slope of Mount Tamalpais, the historic inn has sweeping views from the Marin Headlands to the San Francisco skyline.

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  2. A Thousand Steps to Paradise

    A picture is worth a thousand words, but is a gorgeous beach in Laguna worth a thousand steps? The answer is yes, though the question is moot, because it’s only 223 steep steps down to the 400-yard stretch of sand known as 1000 Steps Beach.

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  3. Sponsored

    Take the Exit to the Best of the San Francisco Peninsula

    The San Francisco Peninsula is proof that some of Northern California’s greatest surprises are hiding just off Highway 101. All you have to do is take the exit.

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  4. Hike to the Sierra Buttes Fire Lookout in the Lakes Basin

    Lookout for This View!

    Sierra Buttes Lookout, at a lofty 8,591 feet, is a memory maker for its pucker-worthy stairway to the tower’s balcony. It's a 5-mile (round-trip) hike to reach it. And the reward? Epic!

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