*poof*

I'd make tracks to Santa Fe, NM.

My sister lives there and I'm out there about 2x a year. She and I use her house as a "base camp" and get up early and drive anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to a seemingly endless supply of incredible trailheads.

So far, my favorite would be the loop trail at Tent Rocks - it's definitely not a hard hike, but the vistas are incredible and the rock formations look like something you'd find on a distant planet.

Santa Fe is located close to Bandelier National Monument that has a wide selection of hiking options there. Additionally, Santa Fe is located at the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains which is literally litered with hiking options.

Santa Fe also features some of the top restaurants in the country (IMHO). I'd check out The Compound, La Casa Sena, & Geronimo. There are plenty of amazing galleries throughout town, an opera in the summer, the Zozobra Festival in September, the Georgia O'Keefe Museum in downtown & handfuls of great small restaurants that feature the local cuisine.

As of today, Great Lakes Aviation flies directly to SAF, but AA and DL have announced they will be beginning service there this fall. Alternatively, SAF is located 50 miles north of ABQ.

I'm assuming you have exhausted the obvious choices? Starting from SNA area, you are within 90 minutes of the San Gabriels and Cleveland wilderness and 2-1/2 hour drive from the best hiking in the country in the eastern Sierra.

This should probably be in the Travel & Dining: Destinations >> The US - The West forum. Or maybe California forum.

JR

Please continue to follow this thread in the FT West Forum.
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Perhaps consider the Lake Tahoe area. I personally have not really hiked much there, but the Sierra up there are beautiful and you're pretty close to South Lake Tahoe and the Stateline casinos.

If you're willing to get over the proximity to city limitation, Sequoia and Kings Canyon NPs are about a 5-6 hour drive away from SNA. They are my favorite national parks.

Are you looking for hikes for all seasons? Because I wouldn't go there in the summer, but Joshua Tree National Park was just phenomenal in March during wildflower season.

In the summer, I recommend Redwoods National Park (if you haven't been there); it stays cool even in August, and there are a surprising number of good restaurants in the Arcata/Humboldt area. You have to go to the Samoa Cookhouse!

I also had a fantastic time at Mount Shasta in August. Gorgeous weather all day long, challenging hiking, and breathtaking views.

It's not near a city, but Grand Tetons National Park is probably the most beautiful place I've ever been in the lower 48; it can hold its own next to Switzerland, Alaska, and other places that are considered some of the most gorgeous in the world.

I'd think the areas around Seattle and Portland would work as well.

Fly to Seattle, there are tons of hiking trails in the Mt. Rainier National Park and in the North Cascades within an easy drive of downtown Seattle. Here are some links to get you started:

http://www.cooltrails.com/list-Northern-Washington.htm
http://www.mount.rainier.national-park.com/hike.htm
http://www.nwsource.com/outdoors/hiking/

Thanks for all the great replies!

Hopefully I can make it to all of the places mentioned. As stated, GF and I just started hiking. We both really enjoy being outdoors, and hiking seems to be a perfect fit. Obviously, as seasons change we will find different opportunities throughout the west. Right now I am focusing on Labor Day weekend.

Aspen, Tahoe, Santa Fe, Seattle, Portland (and Vancouver) are on the short list, but I really appreciate the "local" in-state alternatives and will try these on "normal" weekends sooner rather than later (August/September/October). The in-state choices probably provide us the luxury of less planning than a Labor Day weekend getaway requires, and some might even be day trips from OC.

Aspen looks like a lot of fun and offers mountain biking and rafting as well (as I'm sure other destinations do). There are good restaurants and plenty do after hiking. The prices are a little steep.

I will look at the other cities mentioned next.

Thanks for the great ideas so far...

Boulder, Colorado is an insanely good basecamp for dayhikes. You really can't go wrong in the Colorado rockies, and any of the ski areas will have great, off-season accommodations.

All that said, Rocky Mountain National Park is probably not ideal, with much more "efficient" alternatives available.

*poof*

I agree that Santa Fe and Boulder are good hiking bases but you still need to use your car to get to most trail heads. I used to live in both towns and have done extensive hiking near both. After my stints in those towns I moved to Telluride in 1993 and still have a own place there. It is the perfect place for weekend hikes. You can be on a number of trails in 5 minutes after having a delicious breakfast on Main St. and never even use the car. There are hiking trails literally on every side of town and for every degree of difficulty and length. A few of my favorites from town are Jude Weibe, Bear Creek Falls, Silver Lake and the really short but rewarding Cornet Creek Falls. You can fly directly into Telluride (tex) or Montrose (mtj) about and hour away. The scenery is spectacular and you can reward yourself with great food back in town at the end of the day. Food in Telluride runs the gammut, great Thai at Hong's Lotus Petal or Siam, seafood and Bluepoint to great continental at la Maramotte and Mexican la cocina del luz.

Happy hiking!

during the winter months, Joshua Tree National Park which is E/NE of Palm Springs area. http://www.nps.gov/jotr/

Also Kauai has some tremendous hikes.

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I think an hour to an hour and a half would get you pretty far into the North Cascades, within the national forests and close to lots of hiking trails. Check out the locations of the trail heads in the links I sent to you and map them on Google Maps. If it were me, I'd stay in Seattle one night, drive to Mt. Rainier for a full day of hiking, stay at Paradise Inn on Mt. Rainier, get up the next morning and hike, then go back into Seattle for the third night. You'll maximize your time on the trails while having the city experience on each end.

http://rainier.guestservices.com/htm...modations.html

You might want to consider the Yosemite High Sierra Camps.

They are anywhere from 6 to about 10 miles apart. Each camp has overnight accomodation, if you don't want to carry all the necessary equipment. They also serve both breakfast, dinner, and can provide a sack lunch too.

You can access some fantastic areas of Yosemite National Park not seen by most visitors.

Here is the website:
http://www.yosemitepark.com/Accomoda...erraCamps.aspx