HIKE Southern California: A Day Hiker's Guide

The Best Day Hikes in Southern California! Hike Southern California is the one must-have guide for every SoCal hiker. You're sure to enjoy this greatest hits collection of former Los Angeles Times hiking columnist John McKinney. Discover 140 of the best hikes to classic peaks, to wildflowers, and to waterfalls.

From Lost Palms Oasis to the HOLLYWOOD sign to the top of Mt. Baldy, you're guaranteed to find a hike you'll like in the updated new edition of this popular guide.


• Best hikes in Santa Barbara & Ojai, Griffith Park, San Gabriel Mountains, Santa Monica Mountains, Orange County, the Inland Empire, San Bernardino Mountains, Catalina Island, Palm Springs, Joshua Tree, and more.
• Chill-out in Cold Spring Canyon, Icehouse Canyon and Winter Creek. Cool-off at Eaton Falls, Seven Falls and Holy Jim Falls.
• Climb Mt. San Gorgonio, Mt. San Jacinto and Saddleback Peak. Get grand metropolitan vistas from atop Echo Mountain, Mt. Hollywood and Inspiration Point.
• Choose from Nature Walks, Family Hikes, or All-Day Adventures. Complete with colorful stories, trusted trail accounts and easy-to-follow maps.
• Other regions of the country have high peaks, pine forests, vast deserts and lovely shorelines but only Southern California has all these environments. And four-season hiking, too!

Put a smile on the face of a friend or family member: Give them a copy of HIKE Southern California, and tell them to Take a Hike!


About the Author


John McKinney is the author of 30 books about hiking, parklands and nature, including The Hiker's Way and Hiking on the Edge: Dreams, Schemes, and 1600 Miles on the California Coastal Trail.

For 18 years, John, aka The Trailmaster, wrote a weekly hiking column for the Los Angeles Times, and has hiked and enthusiastically described more than ten thousand miles of trail across America and around the world. The intrepid Eagle Scout has written more than a thousand articles about hiking plus numerous trail guidebooks, including HIKE Southern California: A Day Hiker's Guide and Day Hiker's Guide to California's State Parks.

One of the nation's top hiking experts, John is particularly passionate about sharing the trails of his home state of California. John solo-hiked the entire California coast while pioneering the California Coastal Trail and is the only one to have visited, hiked - and written about - all 270 California State Parks.

When John McKinney says, Take a hike! people do. Many people - hikers and not - credit John's talks and books with inspiring them to hit the trail to a better life. John and his team created The Trailmaster Pocket Guides to share the best day hikes around California, and to give hikers the information they need in an engaging and easily accessible way.

A passionate advocate for hiking and our need to reconnect with nature, John McKinney shares his expertise on radio, TV, online, and as a public speaker. John has been featured or interviewed in major media from the Los Angeles Times to NPR to ABC World News, and appeared on numerous regional talk shows and news programs. Organizations that ask John to share his tips, trails, and inspiring tales include: schools and colleges, churches and retreats, the health and wellness community and conservation and trails organizations.