All "Hikes" Stories in Southern CA

• 

  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

  View
• 

  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

  View
• 

  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

  View
• 

  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

  View
• 

  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.

  View
• 

  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.

  View
• 

  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

  View
• 

  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.

  View
• 

  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.

  View
• 

  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

  View
• 

  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

  View
• 

  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

  View
• 

  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

  View
• 

  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

  View
• 

  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

  View
• 

  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

  View
• 

  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

  View
• 

  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.

  View
• 

  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.

  View
• 

  Secret's Out

  The turquoise waters and pristine beauty of Secret Cove on the east shore of Lake Tahoe are like an ode to Tahoe’s iconic spirit. And while this lovely spot near Incline Village is

  View