Out & About
Sunrises are as spectacular as they come when viewed on clear, late fall or winter mornings from the Old Stagecoach Road -- now a hiking trail rising into the foothills outside Chatsworth in the San …
Fogel names San Diegan John J. Montgomery as the first American to fly a glider. “He was the first American to fly, period, here in San Diego, in 1883. But he isn’t famous because he was secretive about it.”
The area called Mountain Palm Springs in southern Anza-Borrego Desert State Park cannot lay claim to the largest palm oases in our local desert, but it does feature some of the most charming ones. The …
Big Sycamore and Serrano Canyons in Point Mugu State Park are a study in contrasts. As its name suggests, shallow and wide Big Sycamore Canyon harbors stately California sycamores, set at spacious intervals. Serrano Canyon …
The Sunset Trail facilitates easy access by foot to the entire west rim of the high Laguna Mountain plateau. Like analogous routes to the east -- Sunrise Highway and the sunrise-facing Pacific Crest Trail -- …
A formerly popular location for filming old West movies and sci-fi extravaganzas, the distinctive Vasquez Rocks outside Los Angeles may be familiar from episodes of Bonanza, Star Trek, and countless old movies. The tilted sandstone …
As temperatures cool in the desert east of San Diego, campers and hikers are again fanning out over the spacious 1000 square miles of territory in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. If it's solitude you're looking …
Wait for a late fall or winter storm to clear the air, then try this viewful trek to Sierra Peak, a rounded promontory anchoring the north end of the Santa Ana Mountains in Orange and …
Every 29 or 30 days -- weather permitting -- the natural rhythms of the sun and moon, plus the glassy exteriors of San Diego's tallest buildings, deliver a visual feast to those who are in …
The languid pace of life on Santa Catalina Island reflects its aloofness from the increasingly frantic business of living on the Southern California mainland. A weekend visit there is truly relaxing, whether you choose to …
For the purposes of camping, picnicking, and day-hiking in a superb mountain setting, William Heise County Park near Julian is surely the crown jewel of the San Diego County Parks system. About one-tenth of the …
Telescope Peak, the highest peak on the Panamint Range overlooking Death Valley from the west, was christened in the late 18th Century by an explorer who thought the view from the top was so far-reaching …
Dark thunderclouds moved into Borrego Valley on the afternoon of August 29, terrorizing residents of Borrego Springs with 70 mph gusts of wind and a downpour of one and one-half inches of rain in less …
Frozen on stone for centuries, the larger-than-life cave paintings of humans and animals in Baja's Sierra de San Francisco hover over the thousand or more awe-struck visitors who come to see them in a typical …
Just below one of San Diego County's few campgrounds dull enough to be insipid lies one of the more agreeably wild stretches of beach to be found in Southern California. Coastward of the 300 tent …
Eight thousand feet above the monotonous, flat grid of San Gabriel Valley streets, Mount Islip pokes its head above the sticky, warm marine layer and basks in cooler, drier, pine-scented air. The view from the …