Trees

Canyon Park ForestCanyon Park is another hidden gym in southern California where you can enjoy nature, have a picnic or go on a hike to a waterfall. Canyon Park is situated at the foothills of San Gabriel Mountains and is operated by the city of Monrovia.

The park offers several picnic areas, educational tours and a nature center. The picnic areas have tables and barbeques.  At the Nature Center you can enjoy displays of local flora and wildlife indigenous to Canyon Park. Learn about the early history of the Canyon residents, and the present day natural hazards in visiting a wilderness environment.

At the end of August in Southern California you don’t expect to find running water and a beautiful cascading waterfall – but that is exactly what we found during our hike through Wildwood Regional Park in Thousand Oaks, California.

Thousand Oaks is situated at the southern end of Ventura County adjacent to Los Angeles County. The area in and around TO, as it is called by its residents, is full of parks and recreational facilities.

Our surprising waterfall was hidden within a deep valley at the park - near Avenida De Los Arboles and North Big Sky Drive intersection. Free parking is available off West Avenida De Los Arboles.

Sturtevant Falls Hiking Trail is located in the foothills above Arcadia and Pasadena in the heart of the Angeles National Forest.  This is only one of many hikes available in the Chantry Flats area, but it is my favorite hike because of the reward at the end of the hike – the waterfall.

Once you reach the Chantry Flats area, find a parking spot and purchase a parking tag (Wilderness pass) - they cost $10. There is a general store at the flats that sells snacks, gear, maps and the parking tags.

This park is located in the city of Buena Park, north of Anaheim. It is another large recreational area with lakes, streams, trees, hills, playgrounds, sports fields, bike trails and a very nice hiking trail.

The park lands range from large open grass areas, to gently rolling hills of native plants, to shear sandstone cliffs to the north.

For sports enthusiasts, the park offers sand volleyball courts, three softball fields and a baseball diamond and tennis courts.

Oak Canyon Nature Center is located in the Anaheim Hills area. It is a hidden nature sanctuary in the middle of urban development.

The center has many hiking trails with varying difficulty. They range from easy to moderate. A year-round stream meanders through the park and crosses many of the trails.

Check out more details and directions at www.anaheim.net/ocnc.