All Stories from Southern CA

• 

  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
• 

  Holy Chute, We’re in Malibu!

  You’ve surfed Malibu, SUP’d Malibu, and lounged on its sand. Ready for the next wave? Then it’s time to paraglide down from the coastal hills, soar over the mansions, ride thrillin

  View
• 

  What’s Up, Dockweiler?

  Ever wondered why birds prefer the air to the ground? Once you’ve piloted a hang glider from a sandy coastal bluff at the Dockweiler Hang Gliding Center in El Segundo, you’ll know

  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
• 

  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

  View
• 

  Little Corona’s Crown Jewels

  Everything is just a bit different at Little Corona, a secluded cove ideal for snorkeling just south of its glamorous neighbor, Corona Del Mar Beach (aka Big Corona). No glitz, no

  View
• 

  Send in the Eels!

  What can you see in the water at Shaw’s Cove in Laguna Beach? For starters, eel grass, rock formations, urchins, anemones, and many types of fish—including the California state fis

  View
• 

  Leopard Sharknado

  If your brain starts playing the Jaws theme the second you hear the word “shark,” relax. Snorkeling with leopard sharks at La Jolla Shores is a little more like Finding Nemo. Sort

  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