High Peaks Trail, Pinnacles National Park, March 2022 So jagged, sharp, and forbidding are the towering spires of central California’s Pinnacles National Park that there is no road able to bisect it, leaving visitors to drive up to the base of the breccia wonderland—and then hike the rest. The High Peaks area, easily the centerpiece …
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Panorama Trail, Andrew Molera State Park, March 2022 Traversing a scrubby escarpment above the Pacific Ocean, the Ridge – Panorama – Bluffs Trail is a pleasant 8-mile jaunt in the Big Sur area and one of the best hikes in Andrew Molera State Park. Don’t be fooled by the gads of visitors at the parking …
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Pfeiffer Falls, Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, March 2022 More than 12 years after suffering significant damage in the 2008 Basin Complex Fire, the Pfeiffer Falls Trail in California’s Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park reopened for the first time in June 2021. The new and improved route—with its fresh boardwalks, staircases, and bridges—is an impressive …
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Point Lobos Loop, Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, March 2022 On area maps, at least in comparison to the much larger Monterey Peninsula to the north, Point Lobos appears as little more than a minor jut – a triangular peninsula between Carmel Bay and the rest of the central California coast to the south. But …
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Fortynine Palms Oasis Trail, Joshua Tree National Park, January 2022 Why settle for Twentynine Palms when you can see Fortynine? While the exact count is likely no longer quite right, Fortynine Palms Oasis is one of five desert fan palm oases in California’s Joshua Tree National Park. Here, secluded in a rugged canyon just south …
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Rattlesnake Canyon, Joshua Tree National Park, January 2022 Rattlesnake Canyon in southern California’s Joshua Tree National Park is a rough-and-tumble, off-trail route that is well-known and advertised in Joshua Tree guidebooks—although perhaps it should not be. Despite its short length—the entirety of Rattlesnake Canyon upstream from the trailhead is less than two miles—the canyon floor …
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Cholla Cactus Garden Nature Trail, Joshua Tree National Park, January 2022 Situated in the transition zone between the Mojave and Colorado Deserts, the Cholla Cactus Garden in southern California’s Joshua Tree National Park boasts one of the area’s most impressive stands of teddy bear cholla, a species of cactus known for its attractive look that …
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Cerro Este Overlook, Sunol Regional Wilderness, December 2021 Spanning 6,859 acres of the northern Diablo Range, Sunol Regional Wilderness is a hiker’s paradise close to home in the East Bay, wedged between the massif of Mission Peak (2,517’) to the west and Ohlone Wilderness and Rose Peak (3,817’) to the east. This terrific loop hike …
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Mendocino Headlands Trail, Mendocino Headlands State Park, November 2021 In contrast with the friendlier beach terrain of central and southern California, the Pacific Coast north of the Bay Area has a more raw, rugged character—the cliffs are taller, the waves stronger, and the weather often considerably more menacing. But if you catch the coastal bluffs …
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Scorpion Canyon Loop Trail, Channel Islands National Park, September 2021 Scorpion Canyon is a usually dry drainage that cuts through the northeastern section of Santa Cruz Island, the largest island in California’s Channel Islands National Park. This moderate-to-strenuous hike follows the lower reaches of the canyon before rising steeply to a landscape of high chapparal …
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Live and Let Hike 