Page 38 - 2022-2023 Travel Guide to California

ROAD TRIPS
SAN CLEMENTE, Orange County, right; Pygmy
Grove in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, bottom.
and over narrow ridgetops in the San
Gabriel Mountains, above the smog, your
vistas range from the vast, chocolate-brown
Mojave Desert to Catalina Island. Also
known as State Highway 2, the 66-mile-long
Angeles Crest Scenic Byway was built almost
100 years ago to be “the most scenic and pic-
turesque mountain road in the state.” Access
it from the suburb of La Cañada Flintridge at
the western end of the San Gabriel Valley. As
you drive east on the narrow two-lane road,
keep an eye out for bears, mountain lions
and bighorn sheep. Another side trip brings
you to the Mount Wilson Observatory,
where astronomers found the first observa-
tional evidence for the Big Bang theory. If
you’ve brought along your fishing rod, try
your luck in Little Rock Creek near the Mt.
Waterman Ski Resort. Farther east, the road
crosses the 2,665-mile-long Pacific Crest
National Scenic Trail. From here you can
hike south to Mexico or north to Canada.
From the road’s end at Highway 138, head
southeast to Interstate 15, which will whisk
you back to the Los Angeles Basin.
36 2022-23 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA
San Diego
Cross the Palomar Mountains to soak up
the vast and colorful Anza-Borrego desert
on a daylong drive from San Diego. Make
your way north on I-15 and east to Ramona,
and then continue on to the ridgetop town
of Julian. A beautifully preserved relic of an
1870s gold rush, Julian these days is
renowned for apples. You’ll smell the
aroma of baking pies the moment you step
out of your car. Stop for a slice, just out of
the oven, warm and gooey with a scoop of
French vanilla ice cream. The air here is so
clean, and the views so extensive, that the
California Institute of Technology built the
Palomar Observatory a few miles away. Con-
tinue east, downhill, on Highway 78 to
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, a 937-
square-mile preserve that encompasses the
eastern fifth of San Diego County. If it’s
spring, and the winter has been wet, you’ll
be treated to one of the most vivid and
sweeping displays of wildflowers in the
United States. If the flowers aren’t up,
there’s still plenty to see. A local landowner
commissioned artist Ricardo Arroyo Bre-
ceda to produce more than 130 giant
sculptures in the desert, everything from
life-sized replicas of gomphotheres (ele-
phant-like creatures that once lived there)
to prehistoric camels and ground sloths to
scenes from California history: a Spanish
padre, a gold miner and farmworkers. The
undisputed highlight is an enormous sea
serpent that undulates so far across the
desert that it spans one of the main roads.
From here you can retrace your route or take
the long way home via the Salton Sea and
Palm Springs.
JON BILOUS/SHUTTERSTOCK; DLHCA/SHUTTERSTOCK