SoCal Winter Classics

You won't find a body of water here, but you will find big waves … of sand! Bring snacks and a beverage to enjoy at one of the world's premier picnic spots—the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes—just 2 miles east of Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley National Park. Park on the side of Highway

Some of the best holiday light displays don’t involve close encounters with plastic glowing snowmen. Instead you can catch the LA skyline at sunset from a quiet vantage atop the Whoop de Doos Trail in Brentwood. The 1.2-mile (one-way) journey up the Kenter Fire Road is a moderate

If you have only a short time to enjoy a snowy Big Bear hike, conquer the steep slopes of the Castle Rock Trail. After parking in the small pull-out lot, cross the highway (carefully!) and find the trailhead to this easygoing 2.5-mile out-and-back trek. The path begins along a pe

Bend just might be the West’s best mountain town: Flanked by the glistening Cascade Mountains and with the famously flowing Deschutes River running right through downtown, this central Oregon charmer is remarkably walkable and surrounded by winter activities galore. From the clas

If the only holiday bling you think you'll see in Venice is the shiny muscles of bodybuilders on the boardwalk, you're only partly right! Tucked away from this hustle, bustle, and muscle, the waterways of LA's Venice Canals are a tranquil alternative. The bridges that arch over t

Secluded at 1,500 feet in the Santa Monica Mountains, Tuna Canyon Park in Malibu is quiet even on a weekend afternoon. And that's great if you like your hikes quiet. Get to the heart of Tuna and discover a 1,255-acre mountainous preserve of Pacific-hugging panoramas and hiking tr

Legendary California author John Steinbeck once noted "it is advisable to look from the tide pool to the stars and then back to the tide pool again." And there might be no place better to take this advice than at Crystal Cove State Park beach, where seemingly endless sand meets p