All "Overnight Escapes" Stories in Southern CA

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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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  Baldy Base Camp

  The grand stone house known as Harwood Lodge, set at 6,000 feet amid the pine-forested splendor of the San Gabriel Mountains, is just a short walk from Mount Baldy Trail, the quintessential SoCal mountain trek. It's also close to trails for more leisurely walks.

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  Hunt for the Hot Springs!

  Wanna find hidden hot springs? Hunt for them! Tucked alongside a creek in the Madhesi Valley an hour from Burney Falls and 5 miles from the nearest town of Big Bend (population 102

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  Carson Calling

  Along the banks of the East Fork Carson River, brushing the California–Nevada border, sits a series of hot spring pools surrounded by high desert. The springs have for years been a

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  San Gabriels Sojourn

  To overnight at Sturtevant Camp is to relive Southern California’s “Great Hiking Era”—the 1880s to late 1930s—when millions flocked to the San Gabriel Mountains to hike, fish, and

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  At Home on the PCT

  Cienaga Creek Ranch rests at 8,250 feet in the San Bernardino Mountains. Nice. But even better: The ranch is smack dab on the Pacific Crest Trail, 8 miles southeast of Big Bear! Th

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  Gulls Getaway

  The Anacapa wildlife spectacle begins almost as soon as you pull away from Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard. First up are playful common dolphins, and if you’re lucky, humpback and migrating gray whales. As you approach, you’ll see (and hear) noisy California sea lions and harbor seals.

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  Fancy Camp

  Wanna go rugged on the coast, minus the whole pitching your own tent and sleeping on the ground bit? Mendocino Grove is spot-on for upgrading your roughing-it experience, with beautifully appointed tent-cabins set across the bluffs overlooking Mendocino Bay.

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  Soaking Up History

  When you slide into the soothing water of Keough’s Hot Springs, you’re bathing in a piece of Owens Valley history. Although this rustic resort south of Bishop has changed hands a f

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  Peaceful Pistes

  Downhill not your cup of cocoa? Go Nordic! Mammoth’s stunning Lakes Basin has 19-plus miles of groomed cross-country ski and snowshoe trails where you won’t find crowds or expensiv

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  A Rose in the Pines

  A crackling fire, a bottle of wine, a bubbling Jacuzzi tub with a waterfall … now the big question: Marvin Gaye tunes or not? In the morning (ahem) it's breakfast in bed and a leis

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  BONUS: Redwoods on the House!

  In celebration of turning 100 this year, Save the Redwoods League is hosting a celebration week and also giving away complimentary day-use admission to more than 100 redwood parks

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  Starry Sky Snowshoe & Bonfire

  Snowshoeing at night is a surreal and magical experience. Headlamps weaving through a forest wonderland and snowshoes kicking up the soft powdery snow underfoot. Your destination?

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  Light at the End of the Road

  Looking for the light at the end of the road? How about a light station?! Dramatically perched at the tip of a headland and surrounded by 30 acres of open space, Point Cabrillo Lig

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  Sea-nic Stay & Stroll

  Charmed. That’s about the best word to describe the way you’ll feel when you stay at Mendocino’s Sea Rock Inn. Its location couldn’t be better: just outside the village and overloo

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  Cabin on the Coast

  So you’d like to camp on the wild Mendocino coast … except for—you know—that whole pitching a tent and sleeping on the ground thing? A-OK! Actually, it’s KOA! Yes, Manchester Beach

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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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  Clearly Castaic

  Dip out of the heat and into the water at Castaic Lake, aquatic heart of the Santa Clarita Valley. It’s hard to beat it for a cool day trip or a getaway weekend campout—a reservoir

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  Ojai’s Wet Side

  Just a few miles west of the serene, artsy community of Ojai is the very different world of Lake Casitas—fabled among bass fishers, and delightful for anyone who enjoys playing on

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