Point Lobos State Natural Reserve is a wonderful place to admire the immense biodiversity and beauty of the Californian Central Coast. There are numerous trails within the reserve that allow you to immerse yourself in stunning scenery, ranging from coastal bluffs providing habitat for — among many others — harbor seals, sea lions, pelicans, and great blue herons, to dense forests with yellow-green lichens hanging mythically from the trees, often shrouded in fog.

The Tomales Point Trail at Point Reyes National Seashore offers a beautiful hike along California’s central coast, featuring stunning Pacific Ocean views and wildlife sightings like tule elk and coyotes. The trail is set within a historic landscape where past land use meets today’s conservation efforts.

The James Irvine Trail is an incredible hike through a dense redwood forest, leading down to Gold Bluffs Beach and the popular Fern Canyon. Along the way, you can spot redwood sorrel, with its heart-shaped, clover-like leaves, banana slugs, or even Roosevelt Elk, that live in this unique habitat. In this article, I’ll take you on a journey through this magical hike, share fascinating facts about the majestic redwoods, and my best tips for exploring this route!

Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks are nestled in the stunning scenery of the Sierra Nevada and are home to the impressive giant sequoias — the largest trees in the entire world. While these incredible trees are reason enough to visit Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, there’s much more to see—gray granite mountains, waterfalls, abundant wildlife, valleys, or canyons with raging rivers.

Mori Point, located just south of Pacifica, is a beautiful place on the Californian coastline and is only a short drive from San Francisco. With its rugged bluffs, the wild ocean crashing at the shore, black beaches, carpets of wildflowers in spring, and abundant wildlife, Mori Point is a great example of what is possible when restoring natural landscapes after decades of exploitation.

Winters in California are mild, and on the Central Coast, the temperatures do not differ much from those in summer. In fact, a dry and sunny winter day may even feel warmer than one of the many foggy and windy summer days. In January, after a long stretch of rain, we took the opportunity on one of those summery weekends and headed out to Point Reyes for a little backpacking adventure to the Coast Campground and Santa Maria Beach.

What was that? It sounded like someone or something broke a bunch of thicker branches and I immedetly knew that it was impossible that a squirrel, a mouse or even a coyote could have caused this. The trail was rather narrow at this point. To my left side, there were thick bushes that were hiding the river down in the valley below us. The sound was so close. It must have come from these bushes! I turned my head to the left and all I could see was fur in the midst of greenery, A LOT of brown fur.