Outside: Going Remote

For those who enjoy hiking, there’s a special feeling that comes with reaching a destination where there’s solitude, and not even a cell signal. It’s a feeling of release and letting worldly concerns slip away. For that reason, my go-to local hiking destination has long been Toro Park, where in just two miles one can reach Mark’s Canyon, lined with stately live oak trees walled in by the surrounding hillsides. The outside world just disappears. And when the wildflowers start popping, some of those hillsides are carpeted in poppies and other flowers. One of my colleagues asked why I’d write about one of my favorite spots to get away from it all, and the answer is this: the two miles to get there on the East Ridge Trail and then East Toyon Trail are mostly uphill, totally exposed, and at times quite steep. Climbing up the canyon is another mile, and from the trailhead of the East Ridge Trail, the shortest ways back to the car are on the Wildcat Canyon Trail or Deer Trail, both about a six-mile loop. In my many hikes in Marks Canyon, I’ve never seen another person, and if that changes, that’s fine by me – I’m more than happy to share it. [DS]

Toro Park is at 501 Highway 68, Salinas. Open 8am-6pm; 8am-7pm starting Friday, April 1.