Out & About
Want to relive 18th-century Venice? If you visit Venice along with thousands of other tourists during Carnival, you’ll experience one of the world’s irresistible attractions. Walkways are filled with crowds of mask-wearing characters headed to …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 physically demanding and scenically rewarding. The latter is especially true …
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, the parched ravines and boulder-splintered hillsides lie open to the …
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 tiny parcels situated to protect unusual natural habitat, or to …
Shoulder to shoulder, hour after hour, you stand amongst thousands, waiting. Weeklong celebrations are at their medieval historic peak. The horses approach the starting line: a deafening roar from the crowd. The honor belongs to …
Hay-On-Wye, a small village in Wales, is an unlikely bibliophile’s paradise. Nestled along the river Wye just across the Welsh border from Herefordshire, England, Hay-On-Wye boasts nearly 40 secondhand bookstores. There are no Borders or …
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 Forest. One great option is a looping ride of 25 …
Known for its year-round festivals, Lake Charles is located in the heart of Cajun Country, a few miles north of the Gulf of Mexico. Amidst swamps, rivers, bayous and marshes, Lake Charles boasts a number …
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 as a unit of the Los Angeles County park system. …
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 Trails Regional Park. Collectively, the high points make up a …
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 do the rest. The well-graded trail descends (or ascends if …
San Diego has Little Italy. Los Angeles has “Little Mexico,” Olvera Street, located in El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument on the site of L.A.’s original birthplace. Colorful celebrations and fiestas happen here year-round. …
You’re new in San Diego — or maybe just new to walking and hiking — and you want to hit the local trails with other individuals. How do you get plugged into the hiking community …