Southern California Hiking Trails to Explore
For hikes near the beach or ocean views in Los Angeles County, I recommend visiting Malibu and hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains. There's also hiking in Malibu Creek State Park but those particular trails won't get you close to the beach.
Hikes near Malibu are great in the winter months.
Pasadena has many hiking trails that climb the steep mountains and offer views of downtown Pasadena and Los Angeles. What I like about these trails is you can see the topography of the LA basin, including the Verdugo Hills that separate Pasadena and Glendale.
One trail leads to Mt. Lowe and offers a lot of history that I wrote about in a previous article Favorite Day Hikes in Pasadena.
Another trail is the area around Millard Canyon which allows hikers to choose between water falls down below or a fire road leading to higher elevations and eventually Mt. Wilson.
Drive north on Lake Avenue, turn left on Loma Alta and drive west past Fair Oaks Avenue to the blinking yellow light marking Chaney Trail and turn right. Be prepared for a steep drive.
Hikes in Pasadena are fun any time of the year.
In Idyllwild, about 2 hours east of Los Angeles, hiking is possible in the community most months out of the year. Snow and ice can stay on some of the trails in to mid-April or even later depending on the amount of snow fall.
There are several trails which are fairly flat while others such as Devil Gate offer more challenges to the experienced hiker.
Here is an article I wrote previously on Breathtaking Hikes in Idyllwild.
Snow can hit Idyllwild heavily in December. Certainly January through March will be more challenging to take some trails or else be prepared to wear snow gear.
Finally, I had a pleasant surprise when I walked up the Cougar Crest trail in Big Bear for the first time in August 2009. It's a trail that people in most conditions can take while those who want to run up it for a challenge can get their heart pumping.
I wrote about it in this article Hiking the Cougar Crest Trail.
There are several sites that are helpful Web sites for hiking in Southern California but one I strongly recommend is:
http://socal.hiking.info
Southern California's many miles of hiking trails are worth taking the time to explore.
Published by Don Simkovich
Works with small business owners to keep them healthy and run healthy businesses. Don interviews small business owners, writes about those who shape the culture around Los Angeles, and journals his hikes and... View profile
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2 Comments
Post a CommentSounds terrific :)
Ah... the joys of self-ambulation; may we have the ability for a long time to come, Don.