All Stories from Southern CA

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  Coming Up Roses

  Looking to spice up your hiking life? Give your partner a rose—Mount Rose! The 10-mile out-and-back peak hike goes up to one of the grandest views in all of Lake Tahoe. Get ready f

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  Brew Bike

  The Reno Brew Bike is a glory of human ingenuity in light of the city’s burgeoning craft brew scene: 6 to 10 people sit across from each other in a human-powered trolley, pedaling

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  Sunny Side Down

  Sunny Jim Cave is anything but sunny. It’s what you want in a cave—cool and dark—and it has a literary connection. It’s also the only sea cave in La Jolla that can be accessed by land.

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  ¡El Matador, Olé!

  Take a walk on the Malibu coast’s wild side! El Matador State Beach is a rugged stretch of sand where 150-foot cliffs have been beaten and worn away by the turquoise waves to creat

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  A Pirate’s Cave for Me

  The sea caves of Dana Point may not hold any gold or gems (that we know of), but Pirate’s Cave is a treasure in and of itself. This 1.2-mile (round-trip) out-and-back trail along a

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  Pools of Gold

  Montaña de Oro: The name means mountain of gold, but the real treasures here lie underwater. Luckily you don’t have to venture into the ocean to see all the cool creatures. Plenty

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  Abalone Sandwich

  The difference between tide pools and an aquarium? Adventure! You have to work a bit for the tide pools at Abalone Cove in Rancho Palos Verdes, but they’re well worth the effort. T

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  Laguna Low Down

  Looking for the best tide pools in Orange County? Grab your water shoes and a tide chart, and head to Crescent Bay in Laguna Beach! The mix of shallow and deep pools provides a per

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  This Is Paradise

  Granite mountain-scape, superb sunset views, crystal lakes, and shoreline campsites … the trip to Paradise Lake in Tahoe National Forest lives up to its idyllic name.

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  El Capitán, My Capitán

  The best part about camping at El Capitán State Beach? It just might be sunset. The campground, perched on a forested bluff above the beach, gives you the best seats in the house for watching the sun settle down into the Santa Barbara Channel.

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  Dune It on the Beach!

  Here’s where camping on the beach means … camping on the beach! Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area is famous for its broad, flat beach, rolling sand dunes that seem to st

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  Down Doheny Way

  For the best beach camping in SoCal, come down Doheny way, where everybody’s gone surfin’, surfin’ USA! Doheny State Beach, that is, situated on 62 acres of coastline in Dana Point

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  Jenks for the Memories

  Name your passion! Whether it’s kayaking, fishing, hiking, barbecuing, or relaxing in a hammock beneath tall ponderosa pines—Jenks Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains is the place for a perfect lakeside summer day.

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  Hidden Lake in the Dunes

  It sounds preposterous: a lake in the dunes? That’s exactly why Oso Flaco Lake, in the Oceano Dunes south of Pismo Beach, is so cool. The 75-acre freshwater lake is surrounded by m

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  Heavenly Devil's Hole

  Recipe for the perfect swimming hole: cool pool in a mountain stream, remote mountain setting, great approach hike. Just add a few friends and a sunny summer day, then hike, stir,

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  No Rapids in This Whitewater

  Here’s a little desert hideaway that’s a surprisingly cool escape, even when the weather’s hot! Whitewater Preserve in Sand to Snow National Monument is an oasis in a rugged stretc

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  Cool Pool in the ’Bu

  Best place to cool off on a hot LA day? Our vote goes to Rock Pool in Malibu Creek State Park. A completely natural swimming hole reached via a short and easy trail (2.4 miles roun

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  Swim-through Caverns

  A mug of stout beer on a hot summer day isn’t the only thing that’s cold, dark, and refreshing! There’s also the swim-through caverns of Natural Bridges in Calaveras County (aka Go

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  Malibu Rooftop View

  Mesa Peak isn’t your standard summit ascent. For one thing, the peak is 147 feet lower in elevation than the trailhead. But this is not just some downhill stroll. It’s a great up-a

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  Waterfall Jackpot!

  We know where you're guaranteed to hit the jackpot in Reno. Hunter Creek Falls. It's a favorite of Reno locals, accessible year round, and especially good in the summer months when

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