Stories | Roam-O-Rama
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 two brief periods of time per year. The type of skiing ...
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 spread of flat, nondescript suburbs. Rising no higher than 1500 ...
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 highlight of the hike is the mine itself. During World ...
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
Lasky Mesa Published Oct. 8, 2008
In 2003, a big parcel of land on the west rim of the San Fernando Valley — the private Ahmanson Ranch — was reborn as ... More Post a comment
Carrizo Gorge Overlook Published Oct. 1, 2008
Few travelers on Interstate 8 in eastern San Diego County fail to be impressed by the enormous stacks of rounded boulders thrusting skyward over the ... More Post a comment
Oat Mountain Published Sept. 24, 2008
A rambling patch of newly acquired open space that goes by the long-winded name of Michael D. Antonovich Regional Park at Joughin Ranch spreads over ... More Post a comment
Big Laguna Trail Published Sept. 17, 2008
The six-mile-long Big Laguna Trail, high in the Laguna Mountains, wends its scenic way over gently rolling hills and grassy dales, never dipping below 5400 ... More Post a comment
Corral Canyon Published Sept. 10, 2008
Diminutive Corral Canyon Park is one of the newer parcels of open space to be added to the archipelago of public lands known as the ... More Post a comment
Camp Pendleton Bike Traverse Published Sept. 3, 2008
Surf, sand, and picturesque bluffs. Salty breezes and the ever-present licorice scent of wild fennel. The rhythmic bumping of your bike tires over the pavement ... More Post a comment
Upper Solstice Canyon Published Aug. 27, 2008
A splendid sense of isolation pervades the upper reaches of Solstice Canyon — thanks to the preservation of thousands of acres of land that have ... More Post a comment
Banker's Hill Stroll Published Aug. 20, 2008
With two steep ravines spanned by quaint footbridges, scores of well-kept, historically significant homes, and mature landscaping, Banker’s Hill is a monument to the elegance ... More Comment (1)
Rustic Canyon Published Aug. 13, 2008
Rustic Canyon, now almost fully reverted to wilderness condition after nature’s one-two punches of fire and flood, was quite lively in the past. Pop-philosopher Will ... More Post a comment
La Jolla to Soledad Park Published Aug. 6, 2008
For a unique look at La Jolla — from the edge of the village’s commercial center to 811 feet of elevation — try this obscure ... More Post a comment
San Diego Bay Bike Ride Published July 30, 2008
Here’s a bicycle ride that’s practically a land-based equivalent of the harbor cruise covering north San Diego Bay. Over an out-and-back stretch of 16 miles, ... More Post a comment
Pico Canyon Published July 23, 2008
Pico Canyon cuts deeply into the rugged Santa Susana Mountains, a few miles south of the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park. The canyon is ... More Post a comment
Torrey Pines Extension Published July 16, 2008
Familiar to most people around Del Mar but unknown to many outsiders, the Torrey Pines State Reserve Extension conceals itself amid the coastal bluffs inland ... More Comment (1)
Big Pines Nature Trail Published July 9, 2008
On the eastern extremity of the San Gabriel Mountains, seemingly far from L.A.’s smoggy blanket of air, lies the Big Pines Recreation Area, designated as ... More Comment (1)
De Luz Bike Ride Published July 2, 2008
The sinuously curving rural roads on the far (north) side of Fallbrook offer a significant challenge to bicycle riders. Thirty or 40 years ago, the ... More Comment (1)
Mission Valley Walk Published June 25, 2008
Bounded by some 32 freeway lanes carrying a half million vehicles a day, and smack dab in San Diego County’s busiest commercial zone, the San ... More Comment (1)
Marshall Canyon Published June 18, 2008
The multiuse trails of Marshall Canyon Regional Park (for hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians) thread through Marshall and Live Oak canyons in the foothills of ... More Post a comment
Lake Wohlford Published June 11, 2008
Serene Lake Wohlford lies near the headwaters of Escondido Creek, its mirroring surface reflecting the shaggy-with-chaparral, boulder-studded hillsides that confine it. As early as 1895, ... More Post a comment
Backbone Trail Published June 4, 2008
The easternmost Backbone Trail, part of a “hikers highway in the making” through the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, skims across spacious Topanga State ... More Post a comment
Scott's Cabin to Boucher Hill Published May 28, 2008
Palomar Mountain has dodged a couple of bullets in recent years. Wildfires in 2003 and 2007 have threatened to seriously damage San Diego County’s foremost ... More Post a comment
Dixon Lake Published May 21, 2008
Perched several hundred feet up on a rocky slope north of Escondido, Dixon Lake stores drinking water and serves as a recreational resource as well. ... More Post a comment
Aliso and Wood Canyons Published May 14, 2008
Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park consists of over 4200 acres of shallow canyons, sandstone rock formations, narrow strips of oak and riparian woodland, and ... More Comment (1)
Kwaaymii Trail Published May 7, 2008
The Laguna Mountain range, just east (and squarely in the “rain shadow”) of the nearby Cuyamaca Mountains, snags just enough moisture from passing Pacific storms ... More Post a comment
Roberts Ranch Published April 30, 2008
Thanks to the crusading efforts of Descanso cabinetmaker Duncan McFetridge (affectionately known by some as the “Robin Hood of Cleveland Forest”), certain privately owned lands ... More Post a comment
Trabuco Canyon Loop Published April 23, 2008
Significant hiking feats can be accomplished in the “wilds” of Orange County, especially in the upper elevations of the Santa Ana Mountains, which define the ... More Post a comment
Los Peñasquitos Canyon Published April 16, 2008
Crickets sing and bullfrogs groan. A hawk alights upon a sycamore limb, then launches with outstretched wings to catch a puff of sea breeze moving ... More Post a comment
Hoegees Loop Published April 9, 2008
The cabin community in Big Santa Anita Canyon and along neighboring Winter Creek has been called “a rustic Xanadu, where groceries come by burro.” On ... More Post a comment
Barker Valley Published April 2, 2008
Barker Valley perches squarely in one of the more remote corners of the Palomar mountain range, right alongside an upper branch of the San Luis ... More Post a comment
Holy Jim Falls Published March 26, 2008
Sometimes the intimacy of a small, hidden waterfall is more aesthetically rewarding than the thunder of a famous one. Such is the case with Holy ... More Post a comment
Black Canyon Published March 19, 2008
In Black Canyon, water amply illustrates its mindless yet artistic ability to sculpt stone. Every once in a great while, a gush of sediment-laden storm ... More Post a comment
Mount Lee Published March 12, 2008
At 1680 feet above sea level, the summit of Mount Lee perches high above the Los Angeles Basin on the western edge of spacious Griffith ... More Post a comment
North Slope Black Mountain Published March 5, 2008
After many years of awkward accessibility, or no access at all, the north slope of Black Mountain once again welcomes hikers (and their four-legged companions). ... More Post a comment
Down the Arroyo Seco Published Feb. 27, 2008
The Spanish colonists who christened Arroyo Seco (“dry creek”) evidently observed only its lower end — a hot, boulder-strewn wash emptying into the Los Angeles ... More Post a comment
San Felipe Hills Published Feb. 20, 2008
The 2600-mile Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), which was intended to hit as many high points as possible along its mountainous route between the Mexican and ... More Post a comment
Nicholas Flat Published Feb. 13, 2008
Nicholas Flat harbors a small oasis of live oaks and an old cattle pond backed by picturesque sandstone outcrops. During the winter and late spring, ... More Post a comment
Woodson Mountain Published Feb. 6, 2008
The boulder-frosted summit of Woodson Mountain (aka Mount Woodson) has many routes of approach, though none this particular winter/spring season is as interesting as the ... More Comment (1)
San Juan Hill Published Jan. 30, 2008
The grassy hillsides of Chino Hills State Park, which covers 13,000 acres in eastern Orange County and western Riverside and San Bernardino counties, are turning ... More Post a comment
Pond at Agua Caliente Published Jan. 23, 2008
Remotely situated at San Diego County’s far east side and surrounded by Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Agua Caliente Regional Park draws winter visitors to its ... More Post a comment
Caballero Canyon Published Jan. 16, 2008
Marvin Braude Mulholland Gateway Park is the wordy title of a strip of public land squeezed between Tarzana, at the south edge of the San ... More Post a comment
Three Sisters Falls Published Jan. 9, 2008
The triple set of waterfalls dubbed the “Three Sisters” is an amazing San Diego County feature not many have seen. In full flood, these cascades ... More Comment (1)
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