All Stories from "Southern CA"

All "Hikes" Stories in Southern CA

Picnic at Pumpkin Rock
“‘This is Halloween, this is Halloween,’ pumpkins scream in the dead of night,” intones a chorus of disembodied voices in Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, whose protago
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Face It: You're Lost!
You smell the kettle corn, you hear the farm animals, you feel the Halloween spirit … but let’s face it: You’re lost! Actually, you’re in Temecula’s Big Horse Corn Maze and Harvest
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Behold the Superslabs
Bored with the scenery between LA and Vegas along I-15? You must have missed Mormon Rocks. Wedged smack on the San Andreas Fault in Cajon Pass, these massive, tilted slabs of sands
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Psychedelic Lava
You’d be hard-pressed to find a volcanic landscape in California as memorable and psychedelic as Fossil Falls. This chasm of water-sculpted lava rock in the Coso Mountain Range nor
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Planet of the Pinnacles
The Trona Pinnacles have costarred as backdrop in sci-fi epics like Planet of the Apes and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, but seeing these tufa towers in person is far more jaw-d
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San Pedro Outside the Box
How much does San Pedro appreciate art? Well, in this historic waterfront community, even the utility boxes are works of public art! Discover 10 of these decorated traffic signal power prisms (by 10 different local artists) on a 5.5-mile walk that also includes maritime history and culture.
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Thailand? Armenia? Yes!
Talk about a melting pot! Try this delicious medley composed of Thai Town, Little Armenia, and Barnsdall Art Park—all three and more on a tasty 2.75-mile East Hollywood walking loop.
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Where the Murals Are
Is the Arts District the best spot to see art in LA? Duh! We’re talking the brand-new Institute of Contemporary Art, edgy murals, murals in progress, and surprises around every cor
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Just Dune It
Miles of epic sand dunes seem like something you're more likely to find in the desert than on Northern California's lush redwood coast. Surprise! One of the most spectacular expanses of sand-scape you’ll ever see is in Humboldt County, just minutes by car from Old Town Eureka.
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Big Tree Bonanza
Roosevelt elk, canyons draped in ferns and dripping with small waterfalls, oh … and the tallest trees on the entire planet! Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park has all the fixings for world-class hiking.
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I Do!
Even if you’re not getting married anytime soon, you’ve gotta visit Wedding Rock, the most dramatic spot in Patrick’s Point State Park. It’s called Wedding Rock because the park’s
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Screaming Mandatory!
Feeling the wind whoosh past you as you soar above Corona’s Skull Canyon, 200 feet in the air while zipping along a matrix of steel cables, is one of the most exhilarating of all s
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If Jack Sparrow Had a Lagoon
Nothing goes together better than bird-watching and buried treasure, right? Never connected the two? Consider 610-acre Batiquitos Lagoon in Carlsbad—perhaps the most bird-friendly
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Whole Lotta Ballona!
It’s a thrill to see a pterodactyl patrolling a prehistoric pond, even if you know it’s really “just” a great blue heron stalking the Ballona Freshwater Marsh. Less camouflaged are
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River, Meet Ocean
The city of Ventura is officially known as Buenaventura, meaning “good fortune.” That applies to one of the least-known but most abundant estuaries in the region, where the Ventura
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Swim Hole, Say No More!
People flock to Kirkwood’s Silver Lake, a quiet beauty set against the backdrop of the Sierras. But few know about the easy 2-mile out-and-back (round-trip) hike that follows one o
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Tall Drink of Waterfall
Tucked between Echo Summit and Lover’s Leap on US 50 there's an impressive display of water barreling down a mountain. Hello, Horsetail Falls! The commanding 800-foot-tall waterfal
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Meet Margaret!
You have an adventurous side and enjoy lakeside solitude, but you don’t want to be too far from your comfort zone. Time to meet Margaret! Tucked just north of Kirkwood and just off
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Emerald in the Woods
Green Valley Lake, nestled at 7,000 feet in the San Bernardino Mountains right between Big Bear Lake and Lake Arrowhead, has all the watery charm of those popular bodies of water, just on a smaller scale, and decidedly without crowds—or motorized boats. It's also got camping, including first-come, first-served options.
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Malibu Creek State Park
Yes, Angelenos, you can escape city lights and view the Perseid meteor shower at Malibu Creek State Park Campground—so close to the big city, but it feels like it’s a galaxy away.
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