Page 28 - 2025-2026 Travel Guide to California

ROAD TRIPS
HIKER STANDING ABOVE the
Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Badlands at sunrise, right; The
historic Hotel del Coronado is
situated in San Diego, below.
might catch tule elk grazing on misty hill-
sides above the wave-battered coast. West
Marin County, with its organic farms, arti-
sanal bakeries and gourmet cheesemakers,
is the breadbasket for San Francisco’s foodie
culture.
Los Angeles
On a day trip along the Angeles Crest Scenic
Byway you’re more likely to spot a bighorn
sheep than a Kardashian. As you wind up
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 picturesque 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 observational evidence sup-
porting the Big Bang theory.
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. The air here is so clean, and the
views so extensive, that the California Insti-
tute of Technology built the Palomar
Observatory a few miles away. Continue east,
downhill, on Highway 78 to Anza-Borrego
Desert State Park. If it’s spring, and the winter
has been wet, you’ll be treated to one of the
most vivid and sweeping displays of wild-
flowers in the United States.
A local landowner commissioned artist
Ricardo Arroyo Breceda to produce more
than 130 giant sculptures in the desert,
everything from life-sized replicas of gom-
photheres (elephant-like creatures that
once lived there) to prehistoric camels and
ground sloths. The undisputed highlight is
an enormous sea serpent that undulates so
far across the desert that it spans one of the
main roads.
26 2025-26 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA
CARON KRAUCH/HIGHWAY1DISCOVERYROUTE; SIERRALARA/SHUTTERSTOCK