Best of 2000: Best Hike To An Oasis

Oasis Spring
Mount Laguna

"Oasis" is both the name of, and an apt description of, of an idyllic spot high in the Laguna Mountains overlooking the broad, glaring expanse of the Anza-Borrego desert. It's a restful place, bathed in warm breezes from below and graced with spring water gushing out of the ground and rushing out of sight down a steep canyon to the desert sands. A lone bigleaf maple tree stands here, displaced from its natural range to the north. Several bay laurel trees, uncommon in San Diego County but more at home in wetter areas up north, grow nearby. The short, unmarked trail to Oasis Spring originates on Sunrise Highway at mile 26.7, but you'll have to find parking off the pavement in one or another roadside turnout nearby. Call Cleveland National Forest, (619) 445-6235, for more information.