Eight Great…

Autumn Hikes in Southern California’s State Parks

By John McKinney        

Some hikers say autumn is the best of all seasons. The high country is crisp, but still inviting, and desert washes have cooled. Autumn colors oaks, dogwoods, willows and sycamores. Hit the trail to Mt. San Jacinto State Park, Mitchell Caverns Natural Reserve, Torrey Pines State Reserve, Point Mugu State Park and four more fall favorites.

Mitchell Caverns State Reserve

Where in Southern California can you explore stunning scenery, be assured it won’t rain, and know that the temperature for your hike will always be a comfortable 65 degrees?

Ranger-led walks (1.5 miles) through the dramatic limestone caves give close-up views of stalactites, stalagmites and cave spaghetti.

If it’s not too hot, step outside into the surrounding Providence Mountains State Recreation Area. Two-mile long Crystal Spring Trail leads into a canyon, where hikers often see bighorn sheep.

Mojave Desert, 80 miles east of Barstow; (760) 928-2586

Palomar Mountain State Park

Loop around park is 3.5 miles with 800-foot elevation gain.

This mile-high park offers a cool, green retreat. Tall trees and mountains meadows attract the hiker in search of a Sierra Nevada-like atmosphere. A mixed forest of cedar, silver fir, spruce and that colorful fall favorite the black oak invites a leisurely exploration.
Loop around the park (3.5 miles with an 800-foot elevation gain), savor the views from the summit of Boucher Hill then descend to shady Silver Crest Picnic Area.

San Diego County, about 40 miles east of Oceanside,   (760) 742-3462

Point Mugu State Park

Sycamore Canyon Trail (6.5 miles round trip with 200-foot elevation gain to Deer Camp) leads through a peaceful wooded canyon where a multitude of migratory monarch butterflies dwell, and past some magnificent sycamores. The sycamores that shade the canyon bearing their name are incomparable. Hawks and owls roost in the upper branches while the stout and crooked lower limbs of the sycamores are irresistible to young tree climbers.

During October and November, Sycamore Canyon offers the twin delights of falling autumn leaves and fluttering butterflies. (Ask park rangers where the monarchs cluster in large numbers.)

Off Coast Highway 1, 32 miles up-coast from Santa Monica, (818) 880-0350

Mt. San Jacinto State Park       

Enjoy the feeling of hiking in Switzerland while gazing down at the Sahara. Palm Springs Aerial Tramway whisks you to 8,516-foot Mountain Station at the edge of the wilderness. Enjoy a 4-mile family hike through the forest and meadows to Round Valley or trek (11 miles round trip with 2,300-foot gain) to San Jacinto Peak for the view John Muir pronounced “the most sublime spectacle to be found anywhere on this earth!”

Tram station about 12 miles from Palm Springs, (909) 659-2607

Torrey Pines State Reserve           

Walk among the Pinus torreyana, our nation’s rarest pines, that frame lovely coastal views. Parry Grove is my favorite of the many short trails (0.5 to 1-mile long) that meander among a treasure trove of shrubs and succulents. Descend the bluffs to Torrey Pines State Beach and walk along the shore (at low tide) north 3 miles to Del Mar or south 5 miles to Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Encinitas, north San Diego County, (858) 755-2063

Santa Monica Bay State Beaches          

Locals tend to get a bit blasé about the beauty in their backyard and often fail to take advantage of what is one of the world’s great beach walks. Long and quite wide state beaches—Redondo, Manhattan, Dockweiler and Santa Monica—are interspersed with municipal beaches and lagoons. Enjoy short romantic strolls or walk along land’s end 20 miles from Torrance to the Santa Monica Pier. Arrange a car shuttle or use the bus system to return to your start point.

Santa Monica and vicinity, (818) 880-0350

McGrath State Beach

This off-the-tourist track bit of coast is a haven for wildlife.     Follow a nature trail along the Santa Clara River, then hike two miles south over sand dunes and shore to McGrath Lake, which attracts more than two hundred species of birds. The ambitious can continue to Hollywood Beach, a locale that subbed for the Sahara in silent movies, then on to Channel Islands Harbor (12 miles round trip).

5 miles south of Ventura, (805) 654-4744, 654-4610

Carpinteria State Beach          

“Safest Beach in the World,” claim some Carpinteria boosters, who point to the surf that breaks far out and the lack of undertow. From the popular beachfront campground, wander down-coast to the Harbor Seal Preserve (2.5 miles round trip). Continue to the Carpinteria Bluffs (4.5 miles round trip) and explore more trails with great views of the Ventura-Santa Barbara coastline and the Santa Ynez Mountains.
Carpinteria, 12 miles south of Santa Barbara, (805) 684-2811

More information about California State Parks: www.parks.ca.gov

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