We took advantage of the negative one foot tide today, driving 15 minutes to the Cerezo Bluff tide pools in Carlsbad. The tide pools are always incredible, but when you find an organism that is a little more scarce, it is even more fun. Today we found two sea hares. The California brown sea hare …
Lake Calavera Preserve is the largest of Carlsbad’s thirteen nature preserves. It includes intersecting walking/biking trails, boardwalks, a few small streams, a man-made reservoir and the remnants of an ancient volcano. The 22 million year old volcano plug (Mount Calavera) is one of only three volcano plugs in Southern California. A volcano plug is formed …
Our trip to the Living Desert Zoo today was more about exploring the nature trails than observing zoo animals (although we did partake a little). As zoo members we don’t have to cram it all in in one day, so we spent most of it in an untouched area of the Colorado Desert (a small …
Mountain Center is an unincorporated community in central Riverside County, along our shortcut to Palm Desert from Oceanside. At 4,500 feet elevation, the area averages 29 inches of snow per year, and they welcomed a few of these inches last night. We got to drive through the area on our way to the Living Desert …
Buena Vista Lagoon became California’s first ecological reserve in 1969. It is one of my favorite, secluded places to go for a walk in Oceanside. The Buena Vista Audubon trail is just a quarter of a mile long, but it is a loop and with a toddler in charge, going one direction and then the …
The San Luis Rey River begins near Palomar Mountain in Eastern San Diego and ends fifty five miles west in the city of Oceanside. The river drains a watershed of 360,000 acres, the largest watershed within San Diego county. Up until two years ago the mouth of the river was cut off from flowing to …
Palm Canyon is a two acre network of trails within 1,200 acre Balboa Park, west of Spreckels Organ Pavilion. There are fifty eight species of palms, many of which were planted by Kate Sessions (also known as the “Mother of Balboa Park”), well before San Diego would be chosen to host the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. …
The dam that creates the reservoir called Dixon Lake was built in 1971, as part of the California State Water Project (whose original purpose was to supply water for Southern California). Dixon Lake is stocked with several species of fish, but is most famous for its giant, world class largemouth bass. There are fisherman trails …
North Coast Village Beach is just an eight minute walk from our house, and tends to be less crowded than our neighboring beaches. It has been our beach of choice, regardless of the time of day or day of the week, but it gets even better at low tide, when you can watch the gulls …
The Oceanside Pier has been an Oceanside landmark for 133 years. The pier and its pier-goers have changed drastically over the years, and the pier continues to adjust to the times. It is currently closed from 10:00pm to 4am. I have found that the best time to walk the pier is at 5:00am, when the …
There is something special about the Price of Peace Abbey in Oceanside. You cannot deny the overwhelming sense of serenity as soon as you are on Abbey grounds, winding up the long driveway off Benet Road. The Benedictine monks’ tranquility emanates in all directions. Although the Prayer Walk, with its canyon and ocean views, is …
In 2005, then-California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed Calico to be California’s Silver Rush Ghost Town. At the height of its silver production in the mid-1880s, Calico (named for its Calico colored peak) had 500 mines and had drawn nationals from China, the Netherlands, Greece, France, Ireland and England. The small town had everything one could …
Duck Creek Village in southwest Utah is a Hallmark movie-esque woodsy mountain town that makes for a great home base when exploring Bryce Canyon National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Mammoth Caves, Zion National Park, and much more than we had time to visit on this trip such as Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Escalante …
The Canyon Overlook Trail is located on the less trafficked east side of Zion National Park, right before the drive through the 1.1 mile, 1930s Zion-Mt. Carmel Tunnel. The trail is just one mile out and back, but has a super rewarding view of the canyon, and plenty of other gorgeous views along the way. …
The Virgin River Trail is a scenic 32 mile hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding trail located just a ten miles from Duck Creek Village. On our way to Strawberry Point (a failed attempt because of the amount of snow and slippy-slidey-palm-sweaty-road conditions) we saw a Virgin River Trail sign and so decided to partake …