Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Follow the meandering Sunset Trail along the forested west rim of the Laguna Mountains.

Big Sycamore and Serrano Canyons in Point Mugu State Park are a study in contrasts. As its name suggests, shallow and wide Big Sycamore Canyon harbors stately California sycamores, set at spacious intervals. Serrano Canyon is narrow, private, filled with thickets of dark live oaks, pale sycamores, pungent bay laurels, and a green carpet of wild blackberry, ferns, and poison oak.

This season's early rains may be enough to get water moving again in both canyons, despite the past two years of generally sparse rainfall. Both canyons are accessible by foot: Big Sycamore Canyon by means of a graded dirt road, and Serrano Canyon by means of a primitive trail. Mountain bikers are allowed on Big Sycamore's road, but not on the Serrano Canyon Trail.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The 16,000-acre Point Mugu State Park, the largest contiguous piece of parkland in the Santa Monica Mountains, is located some 50 miles west of Los Angeles (and 20 miles west of Malibu) along Pacific Coast Highway. For San Diegans that means a drive of about three hours, heavy traffic notwithstanding. A trailhead parking area can be found just off Pacific Coast Highway at Sycamore Canyon Campground. The wide service road through Sycamore Canyon starts here and goes many miles north into the interior of the park. Some 1.5 miles up this road is a major fork in the canyon, Serrano Canyon branching east. From that juncture you have a couple of choices: Stay on "easy street" by proceeding farther north in Sycamore Canyon, or opt for the more challenging exploration of Serrano Canyon on the narrow and sometimes rough Serrano Canyon Trail to the right.

Sycamore Canyon boasts the finest example of what biologists call "sycamore savanna" in the California State Parks system. Some of the gangly sycamores soar to heights of about 80 feet. Look for deer, bobcats, and coyotes in the grass and owls and hawks nesting in the trees. In fall and early winter you may see masses of monarch butterflies in some of the trees.

The Serrano Canyon route starts with a stretch across a rather dry, open bit of landscape before you enter the steep-walled canyon itself. The seasonal stream in Serrano Canyon has carved its way in a couple of spots through bedrock, and you may find shallow pools there. Choose your own turnaround point ahead. By about three miles from the Sycamore Canyon junction, the trail veers left and climbs out of the canyon. You've seen the best by then.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Top Websites To Buy Instagram Likes + Bonus Tip!

Next Article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?

Big Sycamore and Serrano Canyons in Point Mugu State Park are a study in contrasts. As its name suggests, shallow and wide Big Sycamore Canyon harbors stately California sycamores, set at spacious intervals. Serrano Canyon is narrow, private, filled with thickets of dark live oaks, pale sycamores, pungent bay laurels, and a green carpet of wild blackberry, ferns, and poison oak.

This season's early rains may be enough to get water moving again in both canyons, despite the past two years of generally sparse rainfall. Both canyons are accessible by foot: Big Sycamore Canyon by means of a graded dirt road, and Serrano Canyon by means of a primitive trail. Mountain bikers are allowed on Big Sycamore's road, but not on the Serrano Canyon Trail.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The 16,000-acre Point Mugu State Park, the largest contiguous piece of parkland in the Santa Monica Mountains, is located some 50 miles west of Los Angeles (and 20 miles west of Malibu) along Pacific Coast Highway. For San Diegans that means a drive of about three hours, heavy traffic notwithstanding. A trailhead parking area can be found just off Pacific Coast Highway at Sycamore Canyon Campground. The wide service road through Sycamore Canyon starts here and goes many miles north into the interior of the park. Some 1.5 miles up this road is a major fork in the canyon, Serrano Canyon branching east. From that juncture you have a couple of choices: Stay on "easy street" by proceeding farther north in Sycamore Canyon, or opt for the more challenging exploration of Serrano Canyon on the narrow and sometimes rough Serrano Canyon Trail to the right.

Sycamore Canyon boasts the finest example of what biologists call "sycamore savanna" in the California State Parks system. Some of the gangly sycamores soar to heights of about 80 feet. Look for deer, bobcats, and coyotes in the grass and owls and hawks nesting in the trees. In fall and early winter you may see masses of monarch butterflies in some of the trees.

The Serrano Canyon route starts with a stretch across a rather dry, open bit of landscape before you enter the steep-walled canyon itself. The seasonal stream in Serrano Canyon has carved its way in a couple of spots through bedrock, and you may find shallow pools there. Choose your own turnaround point ahead. By about three miles from the Sycamore Canyon junction, the trail veers left and climbs out of the canyon. You've seen the best by then.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Summit Fellowship wants to be a home of belonging

Unitarian Universalism allows you to be exactly who you are in the moment
Next Article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.