If you’re looking to book a vacation or a weekend trip next year, then visiting the Laguna Mountains should be on your list. Southern California has plenty of cities that are unparalleled for their outdoor and wilderness opportunities, and the Laguna Mountains are absolutely where you should be going.
These are located right on the eastern edge of San Diego County, and they are the only Alpine area with peaks that range up to 6400 feet. If you’re looking for a hiking trip, you’ll be happy to know that the Laguna Mountains can help you to kill two birds with one stone, given that it’s part of the Cleveland National Forest. This is over 20 miles in length, which gives you so many chances to embrace outdoor opportunities. Whether you choose to stay in Julian vacation rentals so that you can be close to a small town for part of your vacation or you want to camp directly on the mountain floor itself, let’s take a look at some of the things that you could do when you get to Laguna Mountains. Don’t forget there is so much to see around it, but here is what you need to do when you get there.
- Bring your camera and take in the views. There is no point in going to a mountain if you’re not going to take pictures from the top. The best way to get the introduction to the Laguna Mountains is with the scenery, but try not to look through the camera the whole time. The entire region is going to give you a stunning natural beauty backdrop, but some of the best views are attained from the marked viewpoints along the Sunrise Highway and along the mountain itself. Bring your camera and snap your pictures for posterity.
- Don your hiking boots. The Laguna Mountains have a lot of trails, and the most famous in the region is the PCT, the Pacific Crest Trail. This passes through the whole of the region, but you don’t need to hike the entirety of it to really experience that region. The Sunset Trail covers some of the same ground and provides a great introduction to the area. The Sunset Trail itself is a 3.2 mile round trip, and it’s an accessible one too if you’re looking for one to hike in the Lagunas.
- Climbed the mountain. It may not occur to you that mountain climbing is a relaxing activity to do on a vacation, but actually it can really pump that adrenaline for you. At 6000 feet, Mount Laguna is the namesake peak, but it’s covered in a variety of man made pieces of equipment. You’ll find an observatory, a radio tower or two, and they still get in the way of those stunning. If you want to look around the area, the most distinctive mountain you can climb is Garnet Peak. This gives you that leg burning, lung painful ascent to its summit for the final .3 miles of the climb.
- Bring your gloves to play in the snow. If you go at the right time of the year, you’ll be able to find snow in the Laguna Mountains. They’re above 4000 feet, which means snow is received at least once or twice a year at the top. You might not be familiar with too much snow, so just make sure you bring your gloves and hats you don’t freeze.
