California

Park at the lot in the China Camp State Park. Hop onto the Bay View trail to gain to begin the loop trail. Switchbacks take you up to a long and easy path passing through shaded and open areas. Enjoy the grasslands speckled with oak trees and coyote brush. You can see the San Rafael bay and bridg...

This loop begins at the Tall Trees Trailhead.  To access this parking area, you must have a permit that you can obtain from the Kuchel ranger station.  The gate is locked.  When you get the permit, the ranger will also give you the combination to the gate.  Once you drive through, close the gate ...

This is a great stop when passing through the Anza Borrego Desert. The drive is very scenic, and passes through Sunrise Highway. Once you turn off the road, it's a very short drive up the hill where you will find a large spot to leave your car. There is a service gate that you can't drive through...

Take the road to Kit Carson Lodge. When the road turns to dirt, take this one-lane dirt road as far as you can go. The road terminates into a round parking area, however, as of the writing of this post, there was a large tree blocking the road about 250 ft before the end.The Trailhead is clearly ...

Cabrillo National Monument is named after Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the first European explorer to reach America's Wet Coast. There are many knowledgable rangers in the park who are eager to share interesting historical facts.  Activities in the park include hiking: the Bayside Trail offers 2 mile...

This hike starts at Alpine Meadows Base Camp and finishes on Alpine Meadows Road. The end point is less than a half mile from the base, and an easy walk up a slight hill. Park at base camp and head on the trail to the far right of all of the lifts. Proceed up the trail for half a mile (this is th...

Mt. Tallac may be one of the Lake Tahoe Basin's most famous peaks to hike because of its fantastic views of Lake Tahoe, but my personal favorite view in Tahoe is from the top of Freel Peak or Jobs Sister. Freel Peak is the tallest peak in the Lake Tahoe Basin at 10,881 feet.From the top of Freel...

Getting There Starting in Yosemite Valley, head to the Snow Creek trailhead just past Muir Meadows. Start the hike early in the morning, since it gets pretty hot in the summer and the last part of the hike is in the sun. The Trail You'll hike more than 140 switchbacks to reach the top of Ba...

To get to Santa Cruz Island you will need to book a ferry with Island Packers. On their website, you can only book roundtrip tickets in and out of the same location so for this trip you will need to call and book a ferry into Prisoner's Harbor and out of Scorpion Anchorage. You can call them at (...

This loop can start from several different locations, including Rodeo Beach and the Golden Gate Bridge parking lot. Starting from the GGB will add 2 more miles onto this run. I like to start at the Coastal Trailhead parking lot off of McCullough and Conzelman Roads (just a notch down from Hawk Hi...

The Subway Cave Lava Tube is located at Old Station in the Lassen National Forest. About 26 miles south of Burney, CA. If coming from the North, it is on Highway 89 (Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway) on your left right before Highway 44. If coming from Redding, about 60 miles away, you would enter th...

To get to the hike drive twenty miles west from the town of Bishop, California up Hwy 168 to South Lake. There are two parking lots  but make sure to get there early because later in the day it's harder to get a spot.  The trail starts from South Lake at an an elevation of 9,750 feet. Initially ...

This hike is perfect for any time of year, always staying cool because it is near the coast, and there are multiple creeks that flow year-round. Even on foggy days, the fog condenses on trees to make it seem like it is "raining." Be warned that this hike has a lot of elevation change and is stre...

One of the most prominent peaks in Joshua Tree National Park in Ryan Mountain. It's centrally located rising to a total of 5,456 feet above the valley floor. The trail to the peak is a moderate hike with a little over 1,000 feet elevation gain with panoramic views of Lost Horse Valley, Queen Vall...

The Little Lakes Valley located in the John Muir Wilderness provides easy access to spectacular views of High Sierra peaks as well as a long list of beautiful alpine lakes.The area is accessed via the Mono Pass Trail starting from Mosquito Flat/Little Lakes Trailhead.  From the trailhead at the e...

This area is such a great way to spend time exploring. It's a lot different than what it's surrounded by, making it a great change of pace in the Eastern Sierra.Just East of Lee Vining, California is Black Point, which sits on the North side of the massive Mono Lake...Which used to be an underwat...