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What looks like ruddy wasteland as you whiz past on the freeway turns out to be a magical network of rivulets and trails meandering across a thriving salt marsh. Pathways…

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An unexpected bevy of oases are hidden under tree canopies and behind hedges in the small but wondrous Big Rock Preserve. While the paths are pristine and carefully delineated, you…

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Seas of orange poppies and deep blue lupines give way to corridors of yellow mustard flowers every spring in this famous wildflower terrain. Bloom time generally spans from March through…

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This sweet adventure includes a native plant demonstration garden, education center, native plant nursery, gift shop, and Wildflower Trail. Bring a picnic to enjoy in your choice of canopied terrace,…

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From Hueneme Wharf Plaza, the newly-repaired Lighthouse Promenade threads between the beach and the port to a hidden architectural treasure presiding over the port entrance: the Port Hueneme Lighthouse. Art…

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Poised atop a seaside cliff, this place would be marvelous even without the bocci court, ping pong tables, grape trellises, nice playground, clean toilets, and dog washing kiosk (not kidding).…

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Our crew spanned from 8 years old to over 80 and everyone made it, safe and enchanted, to the falls. Under a mile long, the well worn out-and-back trail flanks…

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You’ll feel as if you’ve wandered into a landscape painting. A really pricey one. This kind of magic just doesn’t usually show up in real life. The trail flows generally…

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The ghosts of Hollywood’s by-gone cowboys play here all day long, I think. You can practically hear shwa-pings hitting the boulders as you shimmy between them and duck into caves.…

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Surprises linger around every corner of this hidden garden. One third of it is formal and manicured, often featuring a bride; another third is a park-scaped barranca with picnic areas…

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Braille signage and a guide cable running the full length of the level, half-mile Oak Canyon Whole Access trail help those with impaired vision find their way – and the…

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Secret passages tunnel through a stately neighborhood along a towering, aromatic row of eucalyptus trees, between blooming hedgerows and through a sandy canyon. It takes a little investigating to link…

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Racing scoops of pelicans and tucking into gangly tree hideaways along the grooved paths above the Pacific was already a lovely adventure …. and then we found the labyrinth! Bigger…

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America’s Teaching Zoo is the happy ending to each of its inhabitant’s unsettling story; when living in the wild becomes unsurvivable, a cage doesn’t seem so bad. “Happy,” the crocodile…

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The shrubby, duney, jungled wild space between Emma Wood State Park, Ventura River’s estuary, the freeway, and the ocean is etched with footpaths. There are two jumping off points from…

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This secret seaside garden will sweep you off your feet. One enchanted, tucked away space begets the next – with several pretty seating areas along the way. It’s the marvelous…

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This shaded half-mile footpath dives into Chumash history and heritage, anchored by the Chumash Indian Museum and leading to a replica of a Chumash village. The village burned in the…

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Shrouded in history and surfers’ lore, Haskell’s Beach is partially named after the surfer who used to hold the key back when you needed one. Hel’apunitse, which is the Chumash…

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A secret passage in plain sight whisks you to this venerated seaside meadow. From the small parking lot, a footpath squeezes between the hedgerows, across Montecito Creek, past estate gardens…

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A beguiling marriage of the natural and the unnatural, of hummingbird baths and peacock paths and sculpted caves under waterfalls – this secret garden rewards eager feet and keen eyes.…

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Trails explore prairies in all directions from the parking lot – but the centerpiece here is entirely “Western Town,” which 2018’s Woolsey fire reduced to the picturesque white church featured…

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A vibrant oasis of Oxnard’s agricultural heritage, Oxnard Historic Farm park is brimming with community heirlooms, including three buildings that have held their ground as acres and acres of farmland…

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The speakeasy of gardens! Over the hills and not so faraway there rests a paradise of exotic botanicals, grand views, tunneling colonnades, a zen garden, art exhibits, sculpture, and wildlife.…

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For key-carrying residents, the High Tower is a 1920s elevator from a bank of garages to the meta level of meandering pathways leading to quirky stoops and gateways. For the…

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Venice’s real magic doesn’t happen on the Pacific, if you ask us, but 2 blocks from it at a different waterscape. The Venice Canal Historic District is what remains of an…

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See those things sticking up over there on the beach between the cobblestones and the mini jungle to the south of the pier? You should definitely take a closer look!…

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We will forever call this “the cave beach,” which is an utter injustice to the tide pools, overlooks, life guard station and crab coves. You could spend the whole day…

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This horseshoe-shaped trail through wildflowers around a canyon ridge gives you constant views of the Pacific over Summerland’s rooftops. You can turn the horseshoe into a loop through verdant neighborhoods…

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A congregation of wonderlands connected by stone steps and zigging pathways is tucked into one of Montecito’s verdant canyons. There are rose-lined lawns, colonades draped in vines, a picnic meadow…

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Ambling in perpetual shade through passageways of bent and gnarled oak trees, this flat lollipop trail generally follows San Ysidro Creek, crossing it twice over charming stone bridges. Nasturtiums and…

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Tucked away between Venice beach and Marina Del Ray harbor, Ballona Lagoon is one of the last tidal wetlands in southern California, with high and low tides twice daily. A…

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A dressing room for landscapes, Ojai’s Demonstration Garden sends you along stepping stones and narrow pathways to audition an intriguing spectrum of plants and learn about garden tending. Nestled between…

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Just across from the Children’s Beach, this sweet little garden tucks neatly into the little triangle beside the Visitor Center entrance. Signage and boxes at the start describe the flora…

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Reverence for nature is inevitable when you take in the view at Meher Mount, which is exactly as Meher Baba intended. Affectionately called “Baba,” he was an important spiritual leader…

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A fire road forges the main path through Harmon Canyon, alongside and across the creek to a lookout, ostensibly 3.5 miles in – and up. But we got happily distracted…

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This sweet little garden wedge is brimming with curiosities and pollinators. It’s a designated urban bee lab for UC Berkeley and includes a certified wildlife habitat area. On a Saturday…

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The green rolling meadows, bright wildflowers and winding sandy pathways against a dramatic mountain ridge backdrop had me imagining I’d rambled straight into the Pyrenees – until I glimpsed inimitable…

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From the road, the horse trail skirts a vineyard and then plunges down to follow and cross the dry creek, diving under oak canopies and sidling along classic white split…

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Mr. Gillette’s glamorous, elaborate Spanish Colonial Revival style villa in its sea of sprawling lawns floats like a green island in the rolling caramel-colored, oak-dotted Calabasas hills. From the Visitor Center,…

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Draped with endless strands of loops and switchbacks connected by steep, sculptural stone stairways, the hillside garden reveals exquisite plant life and a breathtaking view at every bend. From the…

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If Ventura’s Marina Park were an amusement park, this would be its adventure ride. Past the big lawn, beach, sand dunes, playground and marooned “pirate ship,” the first part of…

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Don’t let the chain link fence keep you from exploring this wonderland; the gate off of Angler Court is unlocked daily between 9am and 5pm. Sandy pathways loop around the…

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Bordering the charming Conejo Community Park, the Botanic Garden’s colorful blossoms burst from 15 specialty gardens spread across the hillside. Footpaths meander through Australian, Mediterranean, Desert, Rare Fruit and Butterfly…

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This peculiar little knoll opposite the Conejo Valley Botanic Gardens boasts a panoramic view from the bench on its bald summit that extends from the Santa Monica Mountains, across the…

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Broad and level, this sandy road clings to the hillside’s contours, providing every possible vantage point of the verdant, peaceful Ojai valley. Park at either end and back track, leap-frogging…

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On their iconic hilltop, “two trees” watch over Ventura, the inspiration for the many logos and business names meant to reinforce their hometown identities. In 1898, the original hilltop grove…

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….or, “The Train Beach,” as this family pilgrimage site shall always be known to us. With trains, seals, and bathing poolets, this is a great family adventure destination – but…

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A cross has stood in the spot on the hill overlooking Ventura since the late 1700s, roughly since Junipero Serro founded the San Buenaventura Mission. Surrounded by a beautifully maintained…

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Wedged amidst Ventura’s foothills, Arroyo Verde Park is the launch pad for trails of various lengths and climbs, though a lovely view with fragrant, pretty flora is guaranteed. Trails start…

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The trail leading through Goleta’s Ellwood Mesa and Bluffs to the beach is bustling with adventure. It dives from the edge of a neighborhood into a Eucalyptus forest, from which…

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These two adjacent famed Monarch butterfly habitats reached via the Ellwood Bluffs trail attract butterflies November through February. A decade ago, tens of thousands of butterflies would spend the winter…

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From the same parking lot, you can hover high above the ocean with the paragliders where trains whiz past, or you can crouch close to a sea anemone and watch…

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This mini adventure along the boardwalk through the dunes at Surfer’s Point feels like an elongated viewing platform. Of course, the ocean looks beautiful from the bike path, too –…

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The water seems always to be turquoise, the horizon gently curved and shimmering with a lazy haze, a hint of Eucalyptus in the air stoked by the warm breeze, and…

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Stairs and pathways spider about along so many contingencies you’d need a highly methodical system and lots of spare time to track them all down – or a big band…

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Floating on the Santa Barbara Riviera, this enchanting antique estate and garden provide an unparalleled panorama of Santa Barbara and the Channel Islands. From the parking lot, paths and stone…

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There’s stiff competition on either side of Micheltorena Street for kids’ attention. On one side, the Alice Keck Garden has a pond full of turtles with an island and a…

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Rocky, oaky nooks abound in the wonderful trail scramble at the back of the park along Mission Creek and behind the picnic sites and playground. Minimal in acreage, but with…

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Tucked between the beach, the railroad tracks and the Santa Barbara Zoo, the Andree Clark Bird Refuge is an understated hideaway for birds and wildlife. With three observation platforms jutting…

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From the shaded, green belly of a canyon, the Wiman Canyon Trail quickly shoots up to meet the dry, baked pathways of the Old Pueblo Trail that run behind the…

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Serenity hovers in this flat basin among the brush and Eucalyptus trees, surrounded by a picturesque mountainscape. At its heart, a bridge and benches are lovely spots to peer at…

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Stone sculpture studios meld one into the next along this otherworldly mini footpath, open to the public Wednesday-Sunday, 10am-5pm. Classical alabaster nudes, rustic Buddhas, monolithic towers, exquisite pebbly jellyfish and…

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