101 Hikes in Southern California: Exploring Mountains, Seashore, and Desert

By Jerry Schad and David Money Harris

Trek the diverse terrain of Southern California, from desert to beach to mountaintop, on an easy stroll or overnight adventure, with this ultimate guide to the 101 best hikes in the Southland. Covers the Santa Monica, San Gabriel, San Jacinto, and San Bernardino mountains, and the Mojave and Colorado deserts. This updated and revised edition of one of our best-selling guidebooks includes 12 new hikes and updated information for hikes from the previous edition. All trips have been rehiked for this update. Each trip includes a map, photos, trail highlights, and symbols to tell you the basics of the trip at a glance. Each map now includes key GPS coordinates.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wilderness Press
• Release date: Jul 22, 2013
• ISBN: 9780899977171

Book preview

HIKE 1

Paradise Falls

Location: Wildwood Park, City of Thousand Oaks

Highlights: Gem of a waterfall in a steep gorge

Distance: 2.7 miles (loop)

Total Elevation Gain/Loss: 400'/400'

Hiking Time: 2 hours

Optional Map: USGS 7.5-minute Newbury Park

Best Times: All year

Agency: CRPD

Difficulty: Moderate

Trail Use: Dogs allowed, good for kids

Wildwood Park in Thousand Oaks is Ventura County’s most scenic suburban park. The scenery here has been imprinted in the minds of many in the over-50 age group: The area was once an outdoor set for old Hollywood movies, as well as for television’s The Rifleman, Gunsmoke, and Wagon Train. The short but steep hike—down and then up—described here takes you to Wildwood Park’s scenic gem: the Arroyo Conejo gorge and Paradise Falls. The lovingly maintained park offers drinking fountains, picnic tables, interpretive signs, and shady rest spots along this fine loop.

Paradise Falls

To Reach the Trailhead: From the 101 Freeway at Exit 45 in Thousand Oaks, take Lynn Road north 2.5 miles to Avenida de los Arboles. Turn left and follow Avenida de los Arboles 1 mile west. At this point traffic goes sharply right on Big Sky Drive; you make a U-turn and park on the right at Wildwood Park’s principal trailhead, open 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Nearby curbside parking is also available.

Description: Three trails radiate from the Avenida de los Arboles trailhead. Two are wide and relatively bland dirt roads. The third (the one you want), the narrow and scenic Moonridge Trail, descends sharply from the east side of the parking area. This is the left side of the parking area as you drive in. Right away you come to a T-intersection amid oak woods. Turn right, remaining on the Moonridge Trail. The trail descends a sunny slope covered with aromatic sage-scrub vegetation and dappled with succulent live-forever plants that sprout white, comical-looking flower stalks. Beware of the prickly pear cactus flanking the trail. There’s a brief passage across a shady ravine using wooden steps and a plank bridge. At 0.5 mile, you cross over a dirt road and continue on the narrow Moonridge