About a month ago I went to Joshua Tree National Park with my brother and my cousins who live in Ridgecrest. We hiked the California Riding and Hiking Trail (weird name, I know) to Quail Mountain from the Juniper Flats staging area.

  Promoted from its national monument status in January of 2013, Pinnacles National Park (map / wiki) became the 59th and most recently added national park in the system.  

Channel Islands National Park (map / wiki) is the fourth national park I’ve had to access by ferry (the others being Dry Tortugas NP, Isle Royal NP, and Kenai Fjords NP). Anacapa Island, the nearest of the five islands within park boundaries, resides approximately 20 miles off the coast of Ventura California,

  During the late 1800’s unchecked logging began to pose a greater threat to the forests in the southern Sierras. In 1890 the federal government stepped in and established Sequoia National Park (map / wiki) to stem the spread of old growth sequoia logging. It became the second National Park in the system following Yellowstone.

Land of Great Extremes   If nothing else, Death Valley National Park sure has a catchy name. In 1849 gold rushers seeking a shortcut through the California desert dubbed the pass Death Valley, and the name stuck.   In 1913 Death Valley recorded the hottest air temperature ever at 135°F (56.9°C).   Badwater Basin is the lowest point Read More …

Editor’s Choice   I first visited Lassen Volcanic National Park (map / wiki) two years ago on a weeklong “pilot” road trip with my buddy Erik. He and I hiked half way up Lassen Peak, but because there was still a good amount of snow on the ground and we had to turn back. We drove Read More …