Four Points Bulletin

Travels north, east, south, and west of our Oceanside home base.

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 …

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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 …

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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. …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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