Very Local Outdoors.

Our weekly email newsletter brings the outdoors to your inbox. Every Thursday we’ll send you fresh ideas and information on where to explore in California.

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  1. Northern CA

    Mellow in the Marsh

    When you just need to mellow out, you can find your peace, quiet, and sense of wonder while strolling some of our most tranquil marshlands. These three places are where birds of many feathers hang together and bonus Bay Area scenery adds iconic flair.

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  2. A woman on a hiking trail fringed in yellow wildflowers with San Diego County's Hemet Lake in the background and a mountain.
    Southern CA

    Wildflowers by the Waterside

    If timing is everything, then Easter arrives around the same time that SoCal blooms with a bevy of beautiful colors, courtesy of wildflowers that pop up this time of year. Here are three places where you can combine waterside adventures with some fresh blooms. 

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  3. Sponsored
    2025-04-09

    Weekend in Reno Tahoe

    Weekend plans? Reno Tahoe! Just a few hours by car or a short flight away, Reno Tahoe springs to the moment with great ways to combine adventure and relaxation in its beautiful mountains-meets-desert setting.

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  4. Woman standing at the top of Brush Peak in the East Bay Regional Park, looking out towards the mountain scenery
    Northern CA

    Technicolor Hikes and Bike Rides

    We’re just gonna hop to it: spring for hikes and bike rides that currently have more colors than an Easter basket, thanks to the season’s riches: fresh hills and blossoming wildflowers.

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Trending Stories NorCal

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  1. Paint Brushy

    This time of year you’ll have good reason to head for the hills—the electric-green rolling hills of Brushy Peak Regional Preserve in Livermore. This 4.5-mile loop hike is like stepping into a plein air painting.

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  2. Woman hiker is climbing up the ladder in the Steep Ravine section of the Dipsea Loop Trail on Mount Tam

    Misty on Mount Tam

    Mount Tam’s 3.9-mile round-trip Steep Ravine and Dipsea Trail Loop weathers the wets and wilds with some confidence, sheltered in parts by redwoods, and wowing with a waterfall.

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  3. All right, Almaden!

    Take a trip through time on this 5-mile loop in Almaden Quicksilver County Park. Explore the ruins of an old cinnabar mine and enjoy the first hints of wildflower season.

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  4. Up and Umunhum

    Early risers can experience one of the Bay Area’s best morning glory hikes on this 7.4-mile out-and-back up beautiful Mount Umunhum. In early spring if you arrive at the parking area right before sunrise, you’ll get a beautiful eastern view of the sun coming up between Bald Mountain and the nearby Santa Cruz Mountains. On days when fog settles into the valley, the colorful view is nothing short of magical.

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Trending Stories SoCal

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  1. Sponsored

    Weekend in Reno Tahoe

    Weekend plans? Reno Tahoe! Just a few hours by car or a short flight away, Reno Tahoe springs to the moment with great ways to combine adventure and relaxation in its beautiful mountains-meets-desert setting.

    View
  2. Hiker walking along the North Bluff Trail on Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park

    Purely Wild

    Channel Islands National Park lives up to its nickname as “North America’s Galapagos.” This less-traveled national park is an undeveloped and isolated series of five dramatic and distinct islands reached by boat. Hike the largest of the islands, Santa Cruz.

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  3. Woman hiking the South Kaibab Trail in the Grand Canyon

    Truly Grand Day Hike

    One of the best spring day hikes in the Grand Canyon? See layer upon layer of the park’s grandeur—including the river—on this 3-mile (one-way) journey to Skeleton Point via the South Kaibab Trail.

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  4. A woman stands amid an array of yellow and purple flowers at Descanso Gardens in Los Angeles

    Petal Paradise

    Tulips, lilacs, and daffodils—flower power is in full bloom at Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge. Sprawling across 150 acres surrounded by mountains, the gardens are putting on their best show right now.

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