Stories | Roam-O-Rama
Devil Canyon
Published Nov. 4, 2009
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 described here, which lies at the northwest corner of the San ...
Sombrero Peak
Published Oct. 28, 2009
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 and gorges, sun-baked valleys, and shimmering badlands. Conversely, the peak itself ...
Black Canyon Bike Ride
Published Oct. 21, 2009
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 tangling with snarling traffic on major roads. Black Canyon Road is ...
Bedford Peak Published Oct. 14, 2009
The no-nonsense climb (2200 feet of elevation gain) to Bedford Peak, one of the principal summits along the Santa Ana Mountains’ “Main Divide,” is both ... More Post a comment
Mine Canyon Published Oct. 7, 2009
Tranquil Mine Canyon and its several tributaries slash deep into the Pinyon Mountains of central Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Day after day, year after year, ... More Post a comment
Piuma Overlook Published Sept. 30, 2009
The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area encompasses a broad range of parks and publicly owned open space areas, ranging from 10,000-acre-plus state parks to ... More Comment (1)
Indian Flats Bike Ride Published Sept. 16, 2009
With summer’s heat subsiding throughout San Diego’s backcountry region, now’s the time to think about fat-tire-biking adventures on the back roads of the Cleveland National ... More Post a comment
Charmlee Wilderness Park Published Sept. 9, 2009
Charmlee Wilderness Park (a.k.a. Charmlee Natural Area), 590 acres of meadow, oak woodland, sage scrub, and chaparral, was first opened to the public in 1981 ... More Post a comment
Cowles Mountain to Pyles Peak Published Sept. 2, 2009
Pyles Peak is just one bump in a series of several distinct high points stretching between Cowles Mountain and Fortuna Mountain in East County’s Mission ... More Post a comment
South Fork Trail Published Aug. 26, 2009
The easygoing descent of the South Fork Trail doesn’t take much effort. You simply put one foot in front of the other and let gravity ... More Post a comment
Hook Up to Hike Published Aug. 19, 2009
You’re new in San Diego — or maybe just new to walking and hiking — and you want to hit the local trails with other ... More Comment (1)
Harry Griffen Park Published Aug. 12, 2009
Harry Griffen Park, quietly tucked away in the Grossmont Summit area where La Mesa and El Cajon adjoin, has for years remained one of East ... More Post a comment
Inspiration Point Published Aug. 5, 2009
Long gone are the days when tourists traveled to Inspiration Point — high above Pasadena in the San Gabriel Mountains — by way of the ... More Post a comment
Point Loma Bike Ride Published July 22, 2009
The Point Loma peninsula has a split personality. In the north, block upon block of houses spread over the peninsula’s broad spine. Military land and ... More Post a comment
Crest Canyon Open Space Published July 15, 2009
Crest Canyon, an open-space park within the city limits of San Diego, helps separate the woodsy City of Del Mar from the bustling sprawl of ... More Post a comment
Barnett Ranch & Luelf Pond Published July 8, 2009
In the past couple of years, San Diego County has opened two new flora- and fauna-rich open-space preserves just south of Ramona. Both are key ... More Post a comment
Whitney Canyon Published July 1, 2009
Few areas along Interstate 5 in California are as desolate and as traffic-dense as the stretch immediately north of the San Fernando Valley, where a ... More Post a comment
The Ponds at Daley Ranch Published June 24, 2009
The “ponds tour,” suitable for hikers, runners, and mountain bikers, serves as a fine introduction to the City of Escondido’s Daley Ranch — a sprawling, ... More Post a comment
Down the East Fork Published June 17, 2009
Born from snow-fed rivulets, the many tributaries of the East Fork San Gabriel River gather together to form one of the liveliest streams in the ... More Comment (1)
Dyar Spring/Juaquapin Loop Published June 3, 2009
If water is an element essential to your hiking pleasure, then this hike in the Cuyamacas may be for you. Along Juaquapin Creek, you can ... More Comment (1)
El Prieto Canyon Published May 27, 2009
The quiet, shady interior of El Prieto Canyon seems impossibly remote given its stone’s-throw proximity to the edge of an Altadena subdivision. Majestic live oaks ... More Post a comment
Del Dios Highlands Published May 20, 2009
The 454-acre Del Dios Highlands County Preserve, recently unveiled just outside the North County community of Del Dios, now provides a direct connection between Del ... More Post a comment
Arroyo Trabuco Published May 13, 2009
Decades-old O’Neill Regional Park near Rancho Santa Margarita has a newer “appendage” — a six-mile piece of the Arroyo Trabuco, a shallow, gradually descending canyon ... More Comment (1)
Culp Valley and Pena Spring Published May 6, 2009
While most of the Anza-Borrego Desert swelters, the temperature hovers as much as 10 degrees Fahrenheit cooler at the “high desert” locale of Culp Valley, ... More Post a comment
Cobal Canyon Loop Published April 29, 2009
Adjoining the vast spaces of Angeles National Forest, Claremont Hills Wilderness Park spreads over foothills spilling down toward the college town of Claremont. The Cobal ... More Post a comment
Secret Canyon Trail Published April 22, 2009
The ambitiously constructed Secret Canyon Trail, circuitously nosing its way down the canyon walls of Pine Valley Creek for 14 miles, traverses nearly the entire ... More Post a comment
San Juan Trail Published April 8, 2009
With gentle grades most of the way, the San Juan Trail is tailor-made for a leisurely saunter from the Main Divide of the Santa Ana ... More Post a comment
Rattlesnake Canyon Published April 1, 2009
For the second year in a row, fire-following springtime wildflowers are popping up on the slopes of Poway’s Rattlesnake Canyon. A reconnaissance of the area ... More Post a comment
Valley Center Bike Ride Published March 25, 2009
Resting high above the city of Escondido, Valley Center is well on its way to becoming a rural suburb. As houses and country estates pop ... More Comments (2)
Sylvan Meadows Published March 18, 2009
The Santa Rosa Plateau’s Sylvan Meadows Multi-Use Area is open to all non-motorized means of travel — hiking, jogging, biking, and horseback riding — with ... More Post a comment
Lower Willows Published March 11, 2009
Soggy Lower Willows, along with its primary source of water — Santa Catarina Spring — together comprise Anza-Borrego’s richest riparian habitat. An easy-going hike through ... More Post a comment
Harbor Island Moon Walk Published March 4, 2009
Can Tuesdays ever be romantic? Next Tuesday (March 10) truly is, by virtue of the full moon rising nearly at the time of sunset. Start ... More Post a comment
Fish Creek Mountain-Bike Ride Published Feb. 25, 2009
Fish Creek Wash is the gateway to a fascinating labyrinth of rugged canyons, twisted arroyos, and mud hills covering the stark and desiccated Carrizo Badlands ... More Post a comment
Sycamore Canyon Falls Published Feb. 18, 2009
Big Sycamore Canyon in coastal Ventura County’s Point Mugu State Park is famous for its miles-long promenade of magnificent California sycamore trees. Higher up and ... More Post a comment
Black Canyon to Pamo Valley Published Feb. 11, 2009
The easy-going, mostly descending (450 feet of elevation gain/1200 feet of elevation loss), east-to-west, one-way walk or mountain-bike ride on the Santa Ysabel Truck Trail ... More Post a comment
Santiago Trail Published Feb. 4, 2009
Yesteryear, Old Camp was a popular rendezvous point for hunting parties using the historic Joplin Trail between the flatlands of Orange County’s Trabuco Canyon and ... More Post a comment
Pinyon Mountain Published Jan. 28, 2009
The late-winter midday sun gently simmers the lowest elevations of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, yet it more coolly illuminates the 4000-foot plateau of Pinyon Mountain ... More Comment (1)
Hummingbird Trail Published Jan. 21, 2009
The viewful Hummingbird Trail starts at the extreme northeast corner of Simi Valley (both the valley and the city of same name) and deviously ascends ... More Post a comment
Bayside Trail Published Jan. 14, 2009
The Bayside Trail, sweeping downward from the old lighthouse at Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma, offers an incomparable view of the city of San ... More Post a comment
Skywriting in the Clouds Published Jan. 7, 2009
The winter season in San Diego County is accompanied by fairly frequent instances of unusual optical effects in the sky. Many are associated with high ... More Post a comment
Cuyamaca Ski Routes Published Dec. 30, 2008
Skiing in San Diego County’s mountains? Fact or fiction? The answer in any given winter season varies, but it is typically “fact” for one or ... More Post a comment
Hellman Wilderness Park Published Dec. 23, 2008
The rambling Puente Hills, overlooking the San Gabriel Valley to the north and Orange County to the south, interrupt what would otherwise be a continuous ... More Comment (1)
Calcite Mine Published Dec. 17, 2008
Millennia of geological weathering and erosion have cut and polished the landscape into the striking forms you’ll discover while visiting Anza-Borrego’s Calcite Mine area. A ... More Comment (1)
Rocky Oaks Park Published Dec. 10, 2008
Diminutive Rocky Oaks Park is typical of the many small properties that have been purchased or earmarked for future acquisition by the National Park Service ... More Post a comment
Balboa Park Trails Published Dec. 3, 2008
Incremental improvements over the past couple of years in Balboa Park’s hidden corners are resulting in the park’s rebirth. Canyon slopes formerly choked with dense ... More Post a comment
Blue Angels Peak Published Nov. 25, 2008
Blue Angels Peak is the name of a prominent crag practically sitting on the border between California and Baja California, just east of the high-desert ... More Post a comment
Jones Peak Published Nov. 19, 2008
Jones Peak is nowhere near the loftiest of the many named summits you can climb in the sharply rising “front range” of the San Gabriel ... More Post a comment
Rim Trail Published Nov. 12, 2008
Worthwhile primarily for the view, which can be wide-ranging and spectacular on the clearest late fall or winter days, the Rim Trail in Mission Trails ... More Post a comment
Rivas Canyon Published Nov. 5, 2008
Temescal Canyon and Will Rogers State Historic Park in Pacific Palisades are just two of the many units of parkland and open space that make ... More Post a comment
Rainbow Canyon Published Oct. 29, 2008
Spectacular exposures of colorfully banded and folded metamorphic rock gave “Rainbow Canyon” its so-far unofficial title. The canyon’s colorful nature is enhanced even further during ... More Post a comment
Verdugo Peak Traverse Published Oct. 22, 2008
With a drop-off-and-pick-up transportation arrangement, you can enjoy a challenging hiking traverse across the north end of the Verdugo Mountains, ascending through La Tuna Canyon ... More Post a comment
Alpine-Dehesa Bike Ride Published Oct. 15, 2008
In the 1970s, the once tiny and now thoroughly suburbanized community of Alpine displayed a sign along its main highway boasting “Best Climate in the ... More Post a comment
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