Brighten Grey Days With Urban Art & Garden Walks

When the weather forecast is grey and gloomy with a good chance of rain, you can still hit some more urban trails and find a little color in murals and gardens. Sunnier days ahead!

Week: 01.17.2024
Regions: Southern CA

Mediterranean Diet

Visiting Niguel Botanical Preserve in Orange County

Visiting Niguel Botanical Preserve in Orange County
Niguel Botanical Preserve features a variety of vegetation, both native and from the similar climates of Australia, Chile, South Africa. It's also got a cool little labyrinth.
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Art of the Matter

Do a UCLA College Campus Walk Among Art, Architecture, and Botanical Gardens

Person walking at campus grounds of UCLA in Los Angeles County
Person looking at an outdoor art installation at UCLA in Los Angeles
Raised piano art installation at UCLA campus in Los Angeles
Person sitting on a bench overlooking a green grassy area at UCLA
Wander the school grounds of the most-applied-to university in the nation for an outdoors study in art, architecture, and gardening. The University of California, Los Angeles has a nice 3.5-mile route with historic buildings, unique sculptures, serene botanic gardens, and no final exams!
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San Pedro Outside the Box

An Artistic Walking Tour of San Pedro

How much does San Pedro appreciate art? Well, in this historic waterfront community, even the utility boxes are works of public art! Discover 10 of these decorated traffic signal power prisms (by 10 different local artists) on a 5.5-mile walk that also includes maritime history and culture.
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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.

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  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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