Arch Rock Joshua Tree is one of the most popular and photogenic easy hikes in Joshua Tree National Park — a 1.4-mile lollipop loop leading to a dramatic 30-foot natural granite arch that frames desert sky and boulder formations in a way that makes for extraordinary photographs. The arch rock Read more…
Plaskett Creek Campground is one of the most underrated camping destinations on the entire Big Sur coast — a spacious grassy campground in Los Padres National Forest just steps from Sand Dollar Beach, the largest sandy beach in the Big Sur area. While Kirk Creek gets most of the attention Read more…
The belly of the dragon is one of the most unique and easy hikes in Southern Utah — a man-made drainage tunnel beneath Highway 89 whose sandstone walls have been carved by decades of flash floods into a ribcage-like passage that genuinely looks like the inside of a dragon. It’s Read more…
June Lake Loop camping is one of the most scenic and undervisited camping experiences in the entire Eastern Sierra. The 16-mile loop off Highway 395 strings together four stunning mountain lakes — June Lake, Gull Lake, Silver Lake, and Grant Lake — all backed by 11,000 and 12,000-foot Sierra Nevada Read more…
The best campgrounds in Northern California cover more diverse terrain than almost any other region in the country — ancient redwood forests, volcanic landscapes, dramatic Pacific coastline, alpine lake shores, and desert-adjacent high desert all within a few hours of each other. Finding the best campgrounds in Northern California depends Read more…
The best time to visit Redwood National Park depends entirely on what kind of experience you’re after — and the honest answer is that every season offers something genuinely worth seeing. The towering coastal redwoods, some over 2,000 years old, look extraordinary in every light and every weather condition. But Read more…
The Yosemite firefall is one of the most breathtaking natural phenomena in California — a 10-minute window each February when the setting sun hits Horsetail Fall on El Capitan at just the right angle, turning the waterfall into what looks like a stream of molten lava flowing down a 3,000-foot Read more…
Alabama Hills Lone Pine California is one of the most otherworldly landscapes in the entire state — a sprawling field of rounded orange boulders and eroded rock formations set against the jagged snow-capped peaks of the Sierra Nevada, with Mount Whitney as a dramatic backdrop. Located just 15 minutes from Read more…
Carpinteria state beach camping is one of the best beachfront camping experiences in all of Southern California. Located just 12 miles south of Santa Barbara, this mile-long stretch of white sand offers true drive-up camping steps from the Pacific — a rare combination in California that makes it one of Read more…
Big sur camping no reservations is possible — but you need to know exactly where to go and when to show up. The most popular campgrounds on Highway 1 book up 6 months in advance and parking on the roadside overnight will get you a $250 ticket. But there are Read more…