San Diego Reader

Stories | Roam-O-Rama

Smoke Tree Canyon

Smoke Tree Canyon

Stark and barren, yet glorious in their nakedness, Anza-Borrego’s skeletal mountain ranges conceal more than they reveal to casual passersby. If you want to know them better, you must leave the security of the automotive cocoon ...

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Sycamore Canyon/Puente Hills

Sycamore Canyon/Puente Hills

The name “Sycamore Canyon” in California geography plays a rather redundant role. How many canyons have specimens of native sycamore, and how many of those were named (either in English or in Spanish) after that tree? ...

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Vital Link Trail

Vital Link Trail

The practically straight-up Vital Link Trail connects popular Wildwood Canyon Park in the Verdugo foothills with the Verdugo Mountains crestline. Almost every step on the trail yields a higher vantage for the panoramic view of the ...

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Flat Cat Canyon

Flat Cat Canyon

Flat Cat Canyon is the curious name given to a rugged gorge southwest of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park visitor center and not far outside ... More Post a comment

Mount Zion Loop

Mount Zion Loop

On the Mount Zion loop hike, you get to discover plenty of wild territory tucked back into the steeply rising “Front Range” of the San ... More Post a comment

Rockhouse Canyon and Valley

Rockhouse Canyon and Valley

Straddling the San Diego–Riverside county line, Rockhouse Canyon and the broad, sloping alluvial basin drained by it — informally known as Rockhouse Valley — constitute ... More Post a comment

Las Virgenes Canyon

Las Virgenes Canyon

Upper Las Virgenes Canyon, near Calabasas at the edge of the San Fernando Valley, is one of those places where you can make the sight ... More Post a comment

Sunrise, Sunset

Sunrise, Sunset

Sunrise, SunsetAn observer’s guide to the best sunrises and sunsets around San Diego. Winter is an often-ideal time for watching the sun rise or set ... More Post a comment

Harper Canyon

Harper Canyon

A long and leisurely ramble up the sinuous course of Harper Canyon in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park leads hikers to Harper Flat, a four-square-mile valley ... More Post a comment

Punta Mesa Loop

Punta Mesa Loop

Clear, late-autumn skies and cool temperatures inland beckon you to visit southwest Riverside County’s premier ecological showplace: Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve. The leisurely half-day ... More Comment (1)

Dos Picos Park

Dos Picos Park

Serene Dos Picos County Park, outside Ramona, nestles into East County’s sweet-smelling chaparral hillsides like a dewdrop caught in the hollow of a leaf. The ... More Post a comment

Devil Canyon

Devil Canyon

Southern California abounds with duplicate place names such as Devil Canyon, Devil’s Canyon, Devil’s Peak, Devil’s Punchbowl, and the like. In the particular Devil Canyon ... More Post a comment

Sombrero Peak

Sombrero Peak

Sombrero Peak rises head and shoulders above the southern precincts of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, its summit overlooking a hundred-square-mile expanse of rock-strewn mountains ... More Post a comment

Black Canyon Bike Ride

Black Canyon Bike Ride

Several back roads, some paved and some unpaved, strike off in various directions from Ramona, each offering splendid bicycle touring that doesn’t have to include ... More Post a comment

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