L.A.'s quintessential urban trail -- the trail to Mount Hollywood -- takes you to the point of highest elevation in Griffith Park, the sprawling patch of open space on the easternmost end of the Hollywood …
May 13, 2004
United States
Hike to Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park for a comprehensive view of the L.A. metropolis.
Hills like rumpled bedsheets
From the shore of the Pacific Ocean, just west of Santa Monica, the fluted slopes of the Santa Monica Mountains rise like rumpled bedsheets after a night of tossing and turning. From a vantage point …
April 29, 2004
Sage Ranch in the Simi Hills near Los Angeles shows its brightest shade of green this month and next.
The 635-acre Sage Ranch lies west of the San Fernando Valley in the scrub-covered Simi Hills. The ranch owes its name not to the predominant sage vegetation growing there, but rather to the former owner …
March 4, 2004
Discover Laurel Spring, a lofty mini-oasis in Orange County's Santa Ana Mountains.
Laurel Spring, a mini-oasis tucked into an upper crease of the Santa Ana Mountains, lies just three air miles away from the expanding edge of Orange County's outer suburbs. Groundwater coming to the surface here …
February 12, 2004
Explore the site of California's first gold rush: L.A. County's Placerita Canyon.
One of California's historic hot spots, Placerita Canyon Park hosted the state's first gold rush (1842), farming, oil exploration, and movie-making. You can contemplate these historical details as you visit the park's superb nature center …
January 8, 2004
Best Route To Palm Springs (Avoiding Holiday Traffic)
Route 79 through Temecula There is a better, faster, and prettier way to get to the desert, if you don't mind a few gut-wrenching turns, steep downgrades, and the occasional Sunday driver on a two-lane …
December 30, 2003
Scan the Pacific Ocean from Seaview Park in Orange County's Laguna Niguel.
Southern Orange County is richly endowed with regional and open-space parks, which helps to atone for the immense area of valley and hillside now brutally overrun with suburban development. These open spaces allow residents and …
December 18, 2003
Survey Orange County's landscape from the Ocean View Point in O'Neill Regional Park.
During the 55-year existence of O'Neill Regional Park in Orange County, the park's area has grown from 278 acres to more than 3000 acres. During this same span of time, a spreading tide of suburban …
December 4, 2003
Climb Inspiration Point for a view of Will Rogers State Historic Park and much of the L.A. metropolis.
Drive up a short mile from the speedway known as Sunset Boulevard in West Los Angeles toward Will Rogers State Historic Park, and you'll instantly leave the rat race behind. This secluded spot on the …
April 24, 2003
Shrunk
Del Mar psychiatrist Gerald E. Nelson, author of several books about bipolar disorder and an ex-faculty member at UCSD, has finally had his license lifted in his home state of Minnesota, reports the Saint Paul …
March 27, 2003
Stages of corruption
Former Old Globe managing director Doug Evans, who stirred controversy here when he touted popular drama over the traditional Shakespearean fare expected by local audiences, is causing consternation in his hometown of Hartford, Connecticut. Under …
March 27, 2003
Hike or bike oak-shaded El Moro Canyon in Orange County's Crystal Cove State Park.
Crystal Cove State Park preserves one of the last large, undisturbed parcels of open space along the Orange County coast. Besides containing a three-mile stretch of bluffs and ocean front, the park reaches back into …
March 27, 2003
Bluey, greeny, purpley lobsters
Hey Matt: I'm from Maine, and every good Mainer knows live lobsters are a bluey, greeny, purplish color. Why do lobsters turn red when you boil them? -- Mystified Mainer, the net The red pigment …
March 20, 2003
Don't worry, be happy.
Matthew Alice: Someone told me that the song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" actually was written by some Indian guru. Is this true? -- Rita, San Diego The mindless ditty, the musical equivalent of a happy-face …
November 7, 2002
Gun Universe
On October 21, during the hysteria of the D.C. sniper attacks, the Washington Times reported that California Attorney General Bill Lockyer had hushed up a report by state ballistics experts that accurate ballistic fingerprinting is …
November 7, 2002