If desert riding is your thing, look no further than Ocotillo Wells Vehicular Recreation Area which is adjacent to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. It offers 85,000 acres of varied terrain to explore on two or four wheels. Open camping is available throughout the park and no fees are collected for camping or day use. But ya gotta love dirt!!!
Links: CA Parks previous related post
This pic shows the ranger check-in station on Mt. San Jacinto, behind the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway terminal station, where long distance hikers headed to area trails register their trips before embarking. I just stopped by to chat with the ranger on duty, which is always fun and informative.
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Casa del Mar is one of three guest cottages at the Hearst Castle near San Simeon. It boasts 8 bedrooms in its 5,000+ sq. ft. of living space and has welcomed many VIP guests in the past including Hollywood actors and politicians like Winston Churchill, Charles Lindbergh, Howard Hughes, Joan Crawford, Cary Grant, Charlie Chaplin, and Gary Cooper, to name just a few.
Links: Casa Grande Neptune Pool
The third creek crossing on the Lower Coyote Canyon Trail in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (ABDSP) can be a bit disconcerting. One enters the water but cannot see the end of the crossing because the trail bends and is covered by trees and vines. The day we crossed the creek a few years ago there were about two feet of water to ford.
Links: The Adventure Portal
This pic looks back down the roadway leading up to the top of Palomar Mountain. Camping is available at Doane Valley and Cedar Grove campgrounds in Palomar Mountain State Park and at the Palomar Observatory campground. Some of the great hiking trails on the mountain boast views of the Pacific Ocean.
This pic shows the beautiful desert view looking north from the 17 Palms Oasis in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.
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If you hike the Desert View Trail that begins behind the upper Palm Springs Tramway terminal you will pass by this beautiful mountain meadow filled with singing birds.
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A beautiful place for primitive camping is Hawk Canyon in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. The sandstone cliffs are salmon colored and an unusual shade of green, and were once part of a ancient marine environment. Not far to the west is The Slot, an interesting slot canyon, and subject of an earlier post.
The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, the world’s largest rotating tram car, takes passengers two and a half miles up Chino Canyon to the wilderness area of Mt. San Jacinto State Park. You board the tram at 2,643 feet and disembark ten minutes later at 8,516 feet. At the top are two restaurants, observation decks, museum, a theater, gift shop and 50+ miles of hiking trails.
Links: PST Mt. San Jacinto SP
At Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve (located between La Jolla and Del Mar) you can hike up on top through maritime chaparral and coastal sage scrub, then head through other-worldly eroded terrain down to a beautiful beach. In this pic, the large rock just to the right of the cliff is known as “Flat Rock”.
Links: more info previous related post
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