Trail Running Shoes Los Angeles CA

Activities: Hiking

Info:
State: California
Location: Mount Diablo State Park
Length: One-Way: 2 miles
Minimum Elevation: 3050 feet
Best Season: Year-Round
Difficulty: Difficult

Description: The trail up Dan Cook Canyon is a moderate 2 mile out and back with an elevation gain of 1000 feet. Take the singletrack trail on north side of South Gate Road for 0.5 miles to junction with Summit Trail fire road and turn right. Climb 1.5 miles through Dan Cook Canyon to Live Oak Campground. Continue through campground to explore Rock City. This trail encompasses a variety of habitats, from moist riparian zone at the bottom of the canyon to fascinating sandstone formations at Rock City

Activities: Hiking

Info:
State: California
Location: Yosemite National Park
Length: One-Way: 2.5 miles
Trail type: Out and Back
Minimum Elevation: 8600 feet
Maximum Elevation: 9450 feet
Elevation Change: 850 feet
Best Season: June to September
Difficulty: Moderate
Usage: Heavy

Description: The trail to Elizabeth Lake begins from the horse camp in Tuolumne Meadows Campground. Park at the trailhead within the campground and begin by Hiking southward. Within a few minutes of the trailhead you’ll cross the John Muir Trail leading eastward from Cathedral Lakes. After this trail crossing the route to Elizabeth Lake begins to ascend, gently at first, then more steeply. The steepest terrain is ascended during the first mile of this trek. The trail reaches the eastern bank of Unicorn Creek at one and a half miles from the trailhead. Shortly after reaching the creek the trail levels. It is less than a mile to the lake from this point. Continue climbing along the stream then turn right on to a spur trail that leads to the eastern shore of Elizabeth Lake. This is a short trip to some magnificent scenery. Fishing and swimming are permitted at this high alpine, glacier-formed lake. Unicorn Peak forms the backdrop for any activity around Elizabeth Lake.

Activities: Hiking

Info:
State: California
Location: Mount Diablo State Park
Length: Round Trip: 5 miles
Trail type: Out and Back
Elevation Change: 2200 feet
Best Season: Year-Round
Difficulty: Difficult
Usage: Heavy

Description: The trail to Mount Olympia is arguably the steepest trail in the Mount Diablo State Park. The first part of the trail from Three Springs is gentle enough, but things get a lot more challenging when you get to the flanks of Mt. Olympia the total rise occurs in a little over a mile. There are many things to attract your attention on the way and to let you catch your breath wildflowers well into summer, grotesquely eroded rock formations reminiscent of the American Southwest, the sequence of gradually expanding views. The climax view, of course, is from the summit itself. Turn right at first road junction and soon there after right onto a small trail. At its end make a short left jog on the gated road to locate the posted Olympia Trail. Follow it and its continuation, the East Trail, to the summit.

Activities: Mountain Biking

Info:
State: California
Location: Mount Diablo
Length: Round Trip: 13.5 miles
Trail type: Loop
Minimum Elevation: 600 feet
Maximum Elevation: 3500 feet
Elevation Change: 3000 feet
Best Season: Year-round
Difficulty: 2B

Description: The trailhead for the Mitchell Canyon Loop starts at the parking lot at an elevation of about 600 feet (water is available). The Mitchell Canyon Loop trail is a fire road, passing up Mitchell Canyon, along Mt. Diablo Creek. The first 2 miles are a gradual climb, a nice warm-up. After that the fun starts! The next mile climbs relentlessly for 1,000 feet up a series of tight switchbacks to Deer Flat. At Deer Flat, take the right-hand fork, (Deer Flat Road). After a brief reprieve, the climb begins anew, as you ascend 800 more feet to Juniper Campground. Proceed through the campground there is water here to the main park road. Turn left and take the pavement for about a mile to a 180-degree hairpin (Devils Elbow). This is the high point of the ride, at 3,500 feet. There is a gravel turnout at this point that is the beginning of the (legal) North Peak singletrack. The Mitchell Canyon Loop is a moderately to highly technical, rocky, singletrack that descends about 550 feet in about three-quarters of a mile. Be sure to take in the spectacular views of the Sierra Nevada and Central Valley on the way. At the base of the trail, take the steep Prospectors Gap Road north. This fire road is VERY steep and rocky, so watch out. You descend 800 feet in short order looking out on your right for the Meridian Ridge fire road. Turn right and descend a screamingly fast, straight, rolling ridge crest road, looking out for the sharp right turn in the road. Descend to the Donner Canyon Trail (fire road) and turn left (north). The road follows Donner Creek to an intersection where you turn left out of the canyon and across relatively flat topography to the Mitchell Canyon parking lot at the trailhead. The total distance of this trail is about 13.5 miles with about 3,000 feet of climb. The ride usually takes about 2.5 hours if you are rolling at a good pace. The best times are in the spring and fall, since Mitchell Canyon is hellishly hot in the summer. In the winter, you will want to avoid a stretch of sticky adobe soil on the lower part of the return loop by skipping the Meridian Ridge descent and continuing straight (west) along the Prospectors Gap road, up a short climb to the saddle at Murchio Gap and down another steep section of gravely road that will take you back to Deer Flat (be prepared to ford a deep puddle in late winter). From there, turn right and down, returning down the Mitchell Canyon road to the starting point. In general, the soil conditions on the upper parts of Mt. Diablo are excellent for winter riding, with most roads cut into hard igneous and metamorphic rocks that form a good all-weather surface.

Activities: Hiking, Photography

Info:
Location: Death Valley National Park
State: California
Length: 15 Miles
Difficulty: Difficult
Elevation: 11,000 feet
Trail type: Up and Back

Description: This all-day, 14-mile round-trip climbs 2,916 ft/889 m to the highest point in Death Valley. As you would expect, the views from the 11,049 ft summit are fabulous. Incredibly as you climb above the floor of Death Valley you will be awestruck by the cool temperatures, lowering about fifty degrees below those in the valley below you. The wildflowers and lush, nearly alpine meadows will amaze and delight you as you continue upward and in some places in mid summer you will be Hiking through snow. This is not a walk for the faint hearted, and do be certain that you check the trail conditions as in some cases you will need an ice axe to negotiate the trail. From the trailhead at Mahogany Flat Camp ground, at an elevation of 8133 feet, the strenuous 14-mile round-trip day hike to the top of the 11,049-foot desert mountain called Telescope Peak is a struggle that is absolutely worth the time and energy it will take to help you to arrive at your destination. Located in the Panamint Range, it is the highest point in the Death Valley National Park. The trail is often covered with snow until June and if traversed at that time many hikers have laboured through knee-deep snow over the last mile to reach the summit. Splashed with patches of white evening primrose, yellow flowering prickly pear and pink phlox scattered among lupine and desert paintbrush, if the trail or the altitude don’t take your breath away the scenery most certainly will. From the summit of Telescope Peak, there is a 360º view of the surrounding basins and mountains, badlands and salt flats. Death Valley lies below you, to the east, a vast panorama. The Sierra Nevada Mountains lay on the distant horizon to the northwest, beyond the Inyo Mountains. While the trail may be a bit of a struggle, achieving the peak will be that much sweeter.