The outdoorsy traveler’s guide to Redding, California

Discover the city’s top adventures.

California gives adventurous travelers seemingly endless outdoor travel possibilities. You can surf by the shore, ski the summits, and hike gorgeous trails. The state even has nine national parks to visit. Among those national parks are heavy-hitters like Joshua Tree, Death Valley, and Yosemite. With so many activities and destinations to explore, individual California towns can sometimes be overlooked by tourists planning their next trip. Don’t make that mistake the next time you’re near the charming town of Redding.

Redding, California, claims the title of “sunniest city in all of California.” It also enjoys spectacular views of nearby Mount Shasta. On a recent trip to the area, Outdoors Wire scoped out some of the city’s best spots and recreation opportunities. What we found will have you itching to plan a visit. Here are five awesome outdoor activities to experience in and around Redding.

The best things to see and do at Lassen Volcanic National Park

Explore this park’s volcanoes.

If the classic baking soda volcano science fair project sparked a lifelong interest in volcanoes for you, then Lassen Volcanic National Park is a must-visit destination. There are four main volcano types (composite, cinder cone, shield, and plug dome). Lassen features all four.

“The greater Lassen area has been volcanically active for about three millions years,” the park explains. “While the area sleeps now, steam vents, boiling springs, and bubbling mudpots remain active–direct evidence that the volcanic center still smolders. No one can say when or where the next eruption will occur. We can only say that it will.”

Learn more about the park’s explosive history by visiting. And when you go, let this list of the best things to see at Lassen Volcanic National Park help guide your trip.

Rare cloud formations make waves during California storm

A Channel Islands National Park ranger on Wednesday boated across the channel beneath a sky that appeared wavier than the ocean.

A Channel Islands National Park ranger on Wednesday boated across the channel beneath a sky that appeared wavier than the ocean.

The agency featured two images of the surreal-looking cloud formations beyond the Oxnard-Ventura area, explaining to followers via X:

“Check out these rare cloud formations today in the Santa Barbara Channel. A ranger captured this while returning to the mainland. These are asperitas clouds, known for their dramatic wave-like appearance on the underside of the cloud. Asperitas translates to ‘roughness’ in Latin.”

Images courtesy of Channel Islands National Park/NPS

The International Cloud Atlas states that aspertitas “is characterized by localized waves in the cloud base, either smooth or dappled with smaller features, sometimes descending into sharp points, as if viewing a roughened sea surface from below.

“Varying levels of illumination and thickness of the cloud can lead to dramatic visual effects.”

The clouds materialized during an atmospheric river event that delivered heavy rainfall to Southern California. A second wave is expected to arrive beginning late Friday.

Hotel Paradox is Santa Cruz’s home base for outdoor adventurers

Explore Santa Cruz in style.

Santa Cruz, California, is an unmatched destination for outdoor recreation. In the south, you can watch monarch butterflies flourish in the preserve near Natural Bridges State Beach. Up north, hikers and cyclists can explore glorious redwood forests. The city is also home to robust surfing and skating communities. For travelers who prioritize action-packed itineraries and outdoor recreation, few towns offer the variety found in Santa Cruz. And when a day full of adventure ends, visitors can stay connected to the local landscape while relaxing at the recently revamped Hotel Paradox.

You’ll find Hotel Paradox near the Riverwalk, centrally located between a treasure trove of local landmarks. The Santa Cruz Boardwalk is only about a mile away, and Natural Bridges is just under four miles from the hotel. Visitors can reach fascinating experiences like the Roaring Camp redwood train ride less than seven miles away. These nearby spots are a huge perk for guests, but there’s even more to love inside Hotel Paradox.

A hotel lobby with funky modern decor.
Photo by William James

This year, the hotel completed a massive renovation project that sought to emphasize Santa Cruz’s unique charms. Inspired by the region’s natural beauty, Hotel Paradox made organic wood features and vibrant greenery focal points of its new lobby. A huge chunk of eucalyptus tree serves as the reception desk, and tree trunk columns throughout the area build a relaxing indoor forest atmosphere. Meanwhile, green accents and funky modern decor complement the nature-inspired base and turn the lobby into an inviting space for guests to unwind.

A hotel lobby with a large chunk of tree for a check in desk.
Photo by William James

Past the lobby, visitors can experience another facet of Hotel Paradox’s new style at Solaire Restaurant + Bar. The space connects to the outdoor patio and, beyond that, the pool and firepit area. This open layout and abundant natural light contribute to an indoor-outdoor living vibe that makes the restaurant perfect for a fun dinner with friends or family.

An indoor-outdoor dining restaurant.
Photo by William James

Even the menu pays homage to Santa Cruz’s natural wonders. Delightful cocktails, desserts, and the fresh brioche bread incorporate honey from the hotel’s rooftop apiaries (maintained by beekeeper Emily Bondor, owner of Santa Cruz Bee Company). Drinks like the Live Oak Bramble will make you feel like you’re eating blackberries in a fairytale forest. The kitchen also focuses on local ingredients and sustainable cuisine to help preserve the local environments that inspire the menu.

A hotel restaurant full of funky modern decor.
Photo by William James

After a day of adventuring around Santa Cruz and dinner at Solaire, Hotel Paradox guests can head out to the pool to take a dip or cozy up by the firepit. The surrounding trees make the pool deck feel like the world’s most luxurious summer camp. For dessert, you can keep the summer camp ambiance going by toasting s’mores by the poolside. It’s the ideal treat to enjoy before heading back to your room to recharge for another day of adventure.

Trees surrounding an outdoor pool deck.
Photo by William James

Disclaimer: While this article was not sponsored, Outdoors Wire did visit Hotel Paradox during a press trip to Santa Cruz, California. As always, Outdoors Wire operates independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

Where to play golf around Los Angeles: Golfweek’s Best 2023 public-access courses

We rank the best courses within a reasonable drive of Los Angeles.

Looking for the best public-access golf around Los Angeles? If you’re willing to drive a bit, there are several courses available that appear on the Golfweek’s Best rankings of top public-access layouts in each state.

But it’s not as easy as pulling up our state-by-state rankings, which lists California courses that might be a full day’s drive away from Los Angeles. We wanted to focus on courses that – while they might require golfers spend a fair bit of time in the car – are within reasonable driving distance.

For the purpose of this exercise, we limited driving time to within two hours of Los Angeles International Airport. Why two hours? Because it can take a while to get anywhere in Los Angeles, two hours seemed like a reasonable amount of time in a car to reach great golf.

And why LAX? Because that airport is a fair starting point with a reasonable amount of courses to the north, east and south. For the sake of this Los Angeles list, we did not include courses in San Diego to the south or those well to the east in areas such as La Quinta, which might be reached in just over two hours from parts of LA if traffic cooperates at off-peak times.

We used Google Maps for its drive times, keying in LAX on a mid-afternoon that showed no significant traffic slowdowns; take all drive times around Los Angeles with a grain of salt, of course, as backups can be considerable.

It’s worth noting for a city where prices, particularly for private golf, can soar: Two of the courses on this list are bargains. The peak annual green fee at Rustic Canyon is $104 on weekends, and much better deals are available during the week and off-peak times. At the municipal Soule Park, peak weekend tee times are just $49 for walkers.

None of this is to say there aren’t plenty of other worthy places to play around Los Angeles, because there are. For example, players should definitely check out the vibe at Goat Hill Park south of Los Angeles, which narrowly misses out on our list of top courses in California. The purpose of this list is merely to identify which courses around Los Angeles are included among the top 30 courses in a very gifted state by Golfweek’s Best.

Included with this list is a general map of where to find all these courses. Each one on the list below is represented with a number on the map – keep scrolling to see the numbers.

Included with each course is its position in its state on the Golfweek’s Best public-access list. For any course that appears on our other popular rankings lists, those positions are included as well.

A little background: The hundreds of members of our course-ratings panel continually evaluate courses and rate them on 10 criteria on a points basis of 1 through 10. They also file a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings are averaged to produce all our Golfweek’s Best course rankings.

The courses on this list allow public access in some fashion, be it standard daily green fees, through a resort or by staying at an affiliated hotel. If there’s a will, there’s a tee time – no membership required.

Los Angeles GWB public map
(Google Earth/Golfweek)

How Pizza Has Changed

Pizza by the slice at Pennington Pizza in Pennington, New Jersey, paired with a regional Stewart’s root beer. Pizza used to be regional. If you were in New York, you just got New York pizza. If you were anywhere else in the country, there was a …

Pizza by the slice at Pennington Pizza in Pennington, New Jersey, paired with a regional Stewart’s root beer.

Pizza used to be regional. If you were in New York, you just got New York pizza. If you were anywhere else in the country, there was a different style.

New Jersey pizza can be folded and the oil runs down your arm. It’s sold by the slice, and paired with a Stewart’s root beer or maybe a birch beer. At one time, there was a neighborhood pizza pie place for everyone, run by somebody’s Italian uncle.

New York-style is pretty much the same, until you bring coal-fired into the picture. Some swear by the char.

Midwest pizza is all over the board. There was the cracker-thin crust that places like Ken’s popularized in the 70s. More recently, there are attempts at New York-style pizza, without the Italian uncle. It depends on your part of middle America.

The fun thing about Chicago pizza is arguing about it—all friendly, of course. Deep-dish is what they are known for, but Chicagoans beg to differ about which pizza maker is best. Giordano’s? Nancy’s? Lou Malnati’s? Pizzeria Uno? Do you want cheese in your crust? What’s worth standing in line for…because that’s a likely scenario.

Detroit-style pizza is square or rectangular, and often eaten with a fork. Otherwise it’s closely aligned to Chicago pizza.

California pizza—oh, now there’s a different pizza. Describe California toppings to someone from New Jersey and they won’t believe you are talking about pizza. These pizzas arguably started the trend toward fresh spinach, pineapple, artichokes, roast red pepper, sundried tomatoes, and goat cheese.

All this regionality made pizza distinctive. You knew where you were when you ate it. Times have changed.

Now you go to New Jersey and everyone raves about the wood-fired pizzas, thin crust and all. You go to Chicago and the deep-dish rivalry continues, sure, but they’ve branched out to skinny versions to appeal to the masses.

Pizza, in all its forms, has become ubiquitous. Want deep dish in Alabama? Go to Tortugas in Birmingham. Want Detroit-style on the West Coast? Try Purgatory Pizza in Los Angeles. Want New York-style in Missouri? Try The Big Slice in Springfield.

Understand, this is not a complaint, but rather a commentary on the melding of flavors and tastes that has taken place. As our world gets smaller, our access to the finer things in life—like our choice of pizza—is getting larger.

On a personal note, when I was transplanted from the East Coast to middle America, I missed “real pizza” terribly. What I could find was mostly described as cardboard covered in ketchup. Now, budget notwithstanding, I could use Goldbelly to get Pequod’s or John’s of Bleecker Street or a dozen others. But I don’t even have to do that. Pizza is offered in all its various forms at many local restaurants. It may not be the stuff of memories, but it usually satisfies the craving.

We are an amalgamation of tastes. And now, good or bad, we can access what we want. Without a road trip. Without necessarily packing it in dry ice to mail. Without using your imagination.

When it comes to pizza, it may no longer be regional. But it’s almost always good, in all its permutations. Go grab a slice.

The opinions of the author are just that—opinions. Feel free to nicely express your own.










California’s Calico ghost town invites you on a desert adventure

Indulge your sense of adventure.

Back in the 1880s, silver miners found work and built homes in the desert town of Calico, California. But those days of prosperity couldn’t last forever. By the mid-1890s, silver had dropped in value, leading miners to abandon the town. However, this wouldn’t be the end of Calico.

In the 1950s, Walter Knott, founder of Knott’s Berry Farm, bought the town and began restoring several historic buildings. Since then, the Calico ghost town has found new life as a tourist destination. Today, you can explore Calico Ghost Town Regional Park in the desert of Yermo, California. Take a look at what adventures await you there with this photo guide.

Could the Epson Tour Championship be moving from Florida to California? An upcoming vote might decide

The proposal is a one-year deal, but the city and Troon might be interested in extending it.

The LPGA may have taken a major championship out of California’s Coachella Valley after 51 years, but women’s professional golf is poised to return to the desert with the biggest event on its developmental tour.

The Indian Wells city council will vote Thursday whether to spend as much as $100,000 to sponsor and host the Epson Tour Championship in the fall of 2024 at the city-owned Indian Wells Golf Resort. The Epson Tour Championship is the final event of the developmental Epson Tour’s season, with the top 10 players from the tour’s money list earning LPGA exemptions for the following year.

“After discussing funding options, the time during the year when the tournament is played, the consumption of existing tee times, and negotiated Resident Benefits, the Finance Committee recommends the Council consider the $100,000 Host City Sponsorship,” a city staff report to the city council suggests.

The event, to be played Oct. 3-6, would be the first Epson Tour event held in the desert, though the tour does play an annual tournament in March at the Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet in Beaumont. The championship has been held in Florida every year since its inception in 2008, with the lone exception of 2020, when it was played at River Run Country Club in Davidson, North Carolina.

“The chance to bring women’s golf back to the Coachella Valley and the chance to bring championship golf to the city is something that we look forward to,” said Christopher Freeland, city manager for Indian Wells who prepared the staff report. “And the idea that at the end of the week 10 players will get their LPGA cards is great.”

The LPGA has a long history in the Coachella Valley dating back to an event in 1953 at Tamarisk Country Club in Rancho Mirage. The best-known LPGA presence in the desert was the 51-year run of an event hosted by television and recording star Dinah Shore under various sponsorship names at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage. That tournament, which started in 1972 and was elevated to a major chainpionship in 1983, ended its run in the desert in 2022 as the Chevron Championship before moving to Houston for the 2023 season.

While the proposal to be voted on Thursday is a one-year deal, Freeland said be believes the city and Troon would be interested in extending the Epson Tour’s deal to play at the city’s golf resort. He added that by showcasing the resort and the Coachella Valley in October, it might be possible that a successful Epson Tour Championship could influence the LPGA to think about returning to the desert with an official LPGA event.

Alexa Pano of USA plays her shot on the third tee during the first round of the Epson Tour Championship at the Champions course at LPGA International on October 06, 2022, in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

Resident discounts included

If approved by the city council at the $100,000 sponsorship level, the new event will be known as the Epson Tour Championship at Indian Wells. City residents would receive discounts on grounds tickets, VIP hospitality and pro-am berths, and the city would receive advertising opportunities on the live stream of the event.

“This opportunity is consistent with the City Council’s goal to increase tourism to Indian Wells and expand the City’s brand as a golfing destination,” the staff report says.

The report says if the $100,000 sponsorship level is approved, staff has $62,200 in the Golf Resort fund to be allocated for the Epson event. That would still require $37,800 in an appropriation. The council will also consider a $50,000 sponsorship opportunity, or could turn down the chance to host the event at all. Freeland sid he was optisitic about the council vote.

“I would expect some sponsorship to be approved,” Freeland said. “I don’t know if it will be the $100,000 level or the $50,000 level, but I think something will be approved.”

For its part, the LPGA is estimating more than 1,900 hotel room nights from Sept. 30 to Oct. 6, a traditionally slow shoulder month period for the city, spinoff revenues at local restaurants, especially the golf resort itself. Receptions and parties, a pro-am for 150 amateurs, the LPGA card ceremony at the end of the event and an estimated $2.5 million in media exposure for the city are all part of the LPGA pledge for the event.

The Epson Tour Championship was played this year in Daytona Beach, Fla., at the LPGA International, but Freeland said the LPGA, through IWGR management company Troon, asked about moving the tournament to the IWGR. While the staff report does not say which of the two 18-hole courses at the golf resort will be played, Freeland said he has confirmed that the Players Course, renovated by John Fought from an original Ted Robinson design, will be the tournament course.

The Indian Wells Golf Resort has hosted professional events before, starting in 1993 with the Gulfstream Aerospace Invitational on the PGA Tour Champions, an event won by Raymond Floyd. The LG Skins Game was played at the resort starting in 2006 and ending in 2008 when the Skins Game itself ended. In recent years the resort has hosted the Southern California Open, an event conducted by the PGA of Southern California.

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Ride through a redwood forest on this charming train ride

Hop aboard the steam train.

Just outside Santa Cruz, California, Roaring Camp Railroads takes visitors back in time while connecting them with the outdoors. The destination accomplishes this task with an old-school steam train that carries guests through a stunning redwood grove and up nearby Bear Mountain. Hop aboard and see what makes this attraction worth visiting.

Steam train service at Roaring Camp began on April 6, 1963. The Redwood Forest Steam Train continues running today, taking families, couples, friends, and all other guests on a journey through the forest.

The trip is somehow both serene and thrilling. It’s all thanks to Roaring Camp combining heavy 1800s steam engines with timeless views of nature. On every ride, a conductor’s voice crackles throughout the open-air train cars to provide insight into local history as redwoods tower above the train. For tourists who appreciate their sightseeing with a side of storytelling, Roaring Camp’s redwood train ride is a can’t-miss stop.

The top of a white bridge house painted with the words "Welcome to 1880 & Roaring Camp." A tree stands behind it.

While Roaring Camp’s inaugural steam train service began in 1963, the area’s history dates back a little further. In the 1830s, a “mountain man” named Isaac Graham settled in the region with plans to start a logging operation. On my recent visit to Roaring Camp, a train conductor claimed that Graham’s daughter and wife convinced Graham to keep the forest intact. Twenty-five years later, the redwood grove “became the first virgin stand of coastal redwoods to be protected from logging.”

Light shining through a redwood forest.

Guests board the Redwood Forest Steam Train at the little station across from Roaring Camp’s retro, western-themed general store. During the festive season, visitors can expect to see yellow-leafed trees and pumpkins or colorful twinkling lights decorating the area. For Halloween this year, Roaring Camp is hosting “Thomas the Tank Engine”-themed events for families. Later in the year, guests can enjoy a Holiday Lights Train and Chanukah Train. See what else Roaring Camp has to offer on its website.

Pumpkins on the ground near old machinery and a brown shed near a yellow tree.

Disclaimer: While this article was not sponsored, Outdoors Wire did visit Roaring Camp during a press trip to Santa Cruz, California. As always, Outdoors Wire operates independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

Gil Hanse, Jim Wagner restore Olympic Club’s Lake Course to historical glory

Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner looked to the past to set up Olympic Club for the future.

SAN FRANCISCO – From the first tee to the 18th green, golfers will notice plenty of differences on the recently renovated Lake Course at the Olympic Club, a layout that already had seen plenty of changes since it was first designed in 1924.

In 2020, Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner were hired to renovate the Lake Course, which has several top-tier professional and amateur events scheduled for coming years. The layout ranked No. 8 on Golfweek’s Best 2023 ranking of top private courses in California, and it was No. 44 on Golfweek’s Best 2023 list of all classic courses built before 1960 in the U.S.

As they did at several other major championship courses including 2023 U.S. Open host Los Angeles Country Club, Hanse and Wagner planned for the future by studying the past.

Hanse Design associate Tommy Naccarato said that meant researching old aerial photos from the 1920s and ‘30s as well as Spring Valley Water Company’s plans. That allowed the team to identify fairway bunkers that had been abandoned over the decades, and the historic research also provided clues on fairway widths, approaches and green surrounds.

Olympic Club Lake Course
The Spring Valley Water Company’s historical plans show the routing of the the Lake Course at Olympic Club. (Courtesy of Hanse Golf Course Design)

Ultimately the Hanse plan would call for the reintroduction of fairway bunkers on Nos. 4, 9, 14, 16, 17 and 18. Other refinements included the expansion of greens by roughly 33 percent to provide more pinnable space, widening fairways by roughly 25 percent to better fit the land, expanding approaches to greens to offer more ground-game options and converting numerous green surrounds from fairway to rough for consistency course-wide.

The final piece of the plan was the creation of a new seventh hole to better connect Nos. 6 and 8 after the 2009 shifting of the tees on No. 8. The new No. 7 remains an uphill and drivable par 4, but the green was shifted down a hill to the right. The tee shot offers numerous options, the best of which come when players challenge a new fairway bunker about 50 yards from the green, Hanse said via zoom at a September reopening event.

Olympic Club Lake Course
The land for the new No. 7 at Olympic Club’s Lake Course in San Francisco before the restoration by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner (Courtesy of Hanse Golf Course Design)

Olympic Club Lake Course
No. 7 at Olympic Club’s Lake Course in San Francisco during the restoration by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner (Courtesy of Hanse Golf Course Design)

Olympic Club Lake Course
No. 7 at Olympic Club’s Lake Course in San Francisco during the restoration by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner (Courtesy of Hanse Golf Course Design)

Players can notice the differences from the first tee shot, where the removal of dense shrubs between the first tee and second green has opened a view across the property and down to Lake Merced, all the way to the 18th, where fairway bunkers were added and the green was expanded.

All told, the refinements have provided the Lake Course with a more consistent Golden Age look and feel as well as improved playability for day-to-day play.

The Lake Course offers a rich history that Hanse and Wagner were able to tap into. William Watson and Sam Whiting designed the first version of the Lake in 1924, but storm damage led to a Whiting redesign in 1927.

Starting in 1955 the Lake Course became a familiar home to USGA championships, hosting U.S. Opens in 1955, ‘66,  ‘87, ‘98 and 2012. It also hosted the U.S. Amateur in 1958, ‘81, and 2007, as well as the U.S. Women’s Open in 2021.

Throughout its championship history, plenty of work was done to the course while leaving the routing intact. Before the 1955 U.S. Open, architect Robert Trent Jones Sr. toughened the course. In 2009 the uphill par-3 eighth hole was shifted to the north and the greens were converted from poa to bent grass. And in 2016 a bunker renovation was executed under the direction of Bill Love.

Olympic Club Lake Course
No. 1 at Olympic Club’s Lake Course in San Francisco before the restoration by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner (Courtesy of Hanse Golf Course Design)

Olympic Club Lake Course
No. 1 at Olympic Club’s Lake Course in San Francisco after the restoration by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner (Courtesy of Hanse Golf Course Design)

The course played beautifully during a media event thanks to the work of director of grounds Troy Flanagan and his team that worked closely with Hanse’s team, including shaper Shaymus Maley who was on site every day throughout the project.

“Tapping into his knowledge and enthusiasm allowed us to do a better job and be much more responsive on how the golf course plays,” Hanse said of Flanagan. “I can’t think of better greens I’ve played on for an opening day.”

The praise of the course was music to the ears of Olympic Club president Jim Murphy, who led the club through what is always a nervous time for a membership.

“First there was uncertainty, then there was anticipation and now there is jubilation,” Murphy said of his members’ response to Hanse and Wagner’s work.

Those sentiments were echoed by longtime Golfweek’s Best rater and Olympic Club member Pat Murphy, who said, “I’ve been a member of the Olympic Club for 65 years, and previously served as green chair, on the board and as vice president. I feel this renovation has done a great job of honoring our past and positioning us for the future. The golf course is as beautiful, fun and engaging as it has ever been in all my years.”

Olympic Club Lake Course
No. 18 at Olympic Club’s Lake Course in San Francisco before the restoration by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner (Courtesy of Hanse Golf Course Design)

Olympic Club Lake Course
No. 18 at Olympic Club’s Lake Course in San Francisco during the restoration by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner (Courtesy of Hanse Golf Course Design)

Olympic Club Lake Course
No. 18 at Olympic Club’s Lake Course in San Francisco after the restoration by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner (Courtesy of Hanse Golf Course Design)

There is no doubt the course refinements will be embraced by the membership, but perhaps the bigger question is how will the course play in championships. The Lake Course is set to host the 2025 U.S. Amateur, 2028 PGA Championship, 2030 U.S. Women’s Amateur and 2033 Ryder Cup.

The amateur events and the Ryder Cup should be able to tee off while maintaining the added fairway width thanks to their match-play formats. It will be interesting to see how chief championships officer Kerry Haigh and the PGA of America prepare the course for the 2028 PGA Championship, for which conventional wisdom would suggest the narrowing of fairways to add challenge. But a potential ball rollback, more hole locations from which to choose and more rough around the greens may see them embrace the added width – we can only hope.