Where to Watch a Winter Sunset

Sunsets are like campfires—sometimes it’s good to just sit around and watch them. Here are three short hikes to sunset spots that’ll warm your spirit during the winter season.

Week: 02.09.2017
Regions: Northern CA

Sun Tam

Watching a sunset on Mount Tam in Marin County

If you’ve ever driven Mount Tam’s West Ridgecrest Boulevard, then you know how dramatic it is, with its sweeping coastal scenery, edged by rolling headlands and hulking cliffs, with sea stacks rising from the Pacific, thrashed or bathed by moody waves. So it’s no surprise that so
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Romancing the Redwoods

Humboldt Redwoods Adventure for Valentines Day

Humboldt redwoods
This Valentine’s Day, instead of a dozen red roses, give your better half the gift of thousands of redwoods. Just a few hours from the Bay Area, magical Humboldt County is home to the tallest ancient redwoods on earth. Before hitting the myriad trails that wind through these gian
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Sunset Gone Wilder

Bluff hike at Wilder Ranch State Park in Santa Cruz

So you’re sort of snobby about your sunsets? You like a brilliant technicolor all across the sky as the sun sets on the horizon? Great! Go Wilder! Wilder Ranch State Park’s Old Cove Landing Trail is an easy 3-mile (round-trip) coastal hike in Santa Cruz. And a hike here at sunset
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Sunset in a Pinch

Hiking to a sunset view in Claremont Canyon in the East Bay

Sometimes you’ve only got minutes to get to a high point in time for sunset. So keep it simple on a short hike that delivers a sunset punch within twenty minutes. The East Bay’s Claremont Canyon has a 1.5-mile out-and-back hike with an aerie perch for watching the sun lower and s
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Trending Stories NorCal

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  1. All right, Almaden!

    Take a trip through time on this 5-mile loop in Almaden Quicksilver County Park. Explore the ruins of an old cinnabar mine and enjoy the first hints of wildflower season.

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  2. Up and Umunhum

    Early risers can experience one of the Bay Area’s best morning glory hikes on this 7.4-mile out-and-back up beautiful Mount Umunhum. In early spring if you arrive at the parking area right before sunrise, you’ll get a beautiful eastern view of the sun coming up between Bald Mountain and the nearby Santa Cruz Mountains. On days when fog settles into the valley, the colorful view is nothing short of magical.

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    It Takes a Hidden Villa

    Adorable farm animals and peaceful hiking trails: Visit Hidden Villa in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, hike to South Bay vistas and see animal cuteness.

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  4. Woman hiker is climbing up the ladder in the Steep Ravine section of the Dipsea Loop Trail on Mount Tam

    Misty on Mount Tam

    Mount Tam’s 3.9-mile round-trip Steep Ravine and Dipsea Trail Loop weathers the wets and wilds with some confidence, sheltered in parts by redwoods, and wowing with a waterfall.

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  1. Woman hiking the South Kaibab Trail in the Grand Canyon

    Truly Grand Day Hike

    One of the best spring day hikes in the Grand Canyon? See layer upon layer of the park’s grandeur—including the river—on this 3-mile (one-way) journey to Skeleton Point via the South Kaibab Trail.

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  2. A woman stands amid an array of yellow and purple flowers at Descanso Gardens in Los Angeles

    Petal Paradise

    Tulips, lilacs, and daffodils—flower power is in full bloom at Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge. Sprawling across 150 acres surrounded by mountains, the gardens are putting on their best show right now.

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  3. Peace Labyrinth

    Hidden in LA’s historic West Adams district, the Peace Awareness Labyrinth & Gardens is a welcome respite from the norms of urban noise.

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  4. Hikers sitting on a large rock slab next to Three Sisters Falls in Cleveland National Forest Southern California near Julian

    Three Sisters

    Good things come in threes at this hike to a lovely trio-tiered waterfall in Cleveland National Forest. The 4.25-mile out-and-back hike rambles among rolling hills, with rocky mountain views as switchbacks take you down to a lush canyon and the falls.

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