Mad Libs. License plate bingo. The “quiet game,” a universal parent savior. Long live Slug Bug, where kids with zero self-control punched each other in the arm every time they saw a VW Bug in the wild—an activity no doubt invented by some Volkswagen marketing intern who now quietly runs the world. A family that cruises together bruises together.

So many threats to pull the car over and leave unruly progeny on the side road for good. GenXers are such baddies because our parents actually followed through. But we tracked those boomers down—or just walked into the wilderness and formed angsty flannel bands. We survived.

There were no downloaded movies back then. No seatback entertainment. Just a mythical road, a few bug-gutty windows, and the fast-moving summer world beyond. Seatbelts ignored, hot air whipping a frenzy of hair and beef-stick child scent.

February 13, 2026

Travel: A Guide to What's New in the Desert in 2026RELATED ARTICLE

Very few chaoses match being trapped in a moving car with your entire bloodline. It’s unimaginable, but we kinda liked it.

The road trip was always about endurance, discovery, adventure, creativity, and memory. Somewhere between gas station hot dogs, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and musty motels with coin-operated vibrating beds—the bored between moments of mutual expedition sealed our love of the long distance car ride.

To respark road lust, we’ve put together a coastal California run up the 101 and Highway 1. The state’s famed road trip siblings, with ocean on one side and possibility in every direction. We analyzed what’s incoming, just-arrived, compelling, or a classic in need of a reminder in almost every county along the way—the kind of places we’d drag our family (or dog or best friend) to.

We start our trip just outside San Diego County lines and work our way through San Francisco. Because, by then, it’s time to turn the car around and do it all again.

The road is still the main character.

Laguna Beach

A 90-minute drive from downtown San Diego, Laguna Beach is home to serene coves, big-deal art events, miles of hiking trails, and the greatest number of beachfront hotels in California. Among the latter is the newly revamped icon, Surf & Sand Laguna Beach. Along with tweaks to the guestrooms, pool, and onsite Splashes restaurant, the remodel includes a new spa, Aquaterra. Wake up to ocean views, then get outside: Go tide pooling at Shaw’s Cove, or descend to Thousand Steps Beach and spend the day stretched out with a salacious summer read. For dinner, get fancy at the upscale (no swimwear allowed!) Studio Mediterranean at the Montage Laguna Beach hotel. Led by Greek chef Dennis Efthymiou, it serves feta-, phyllo-, and fish-forward cuisine inspired by his heritage.

Newport Beach

Head another 15 minutes up the road to Newport, an unlikely destination for adrenaline junkies both relatively tame (family-friendly thrill rides at the Balboa Fun Zone amusement park) and willing to risk life and limb (30-foot waves at the Wedge surf break). It’s also increasingly a killer place to eat, with Luke’s, of international Maine-lobster-roll fame, having recently opened locations in town. James Beard Award winner Tyson Cole just opened his sleek omakase and sushi restaurant Uchi this year. Once you’re stuffed, lay your head at Bay Shores Peninsula Hotel, a midcentury-inspired, 25-room boutique resort overlooking the sea. Watch the waves from beside the hotel’s rooftop fire pits, or paddle out on surfboards provided free for guests.

Huntington Beach

Huntington Beach has been an icon of California surf culture since the 1910s thanks to Hawaiian Olympic swimmer Duke Kahanamoku. Surfers still chase waves near his old haunts, including the Huntington Beach Pier, where the aptly named Huntington’s on the Pier is scheduled to arrive this fall in the location of the old Ruby’s Diner (RIP, Ruby). It’ll serve seafood, obviously, plus livestreamed videos of groms wiping out just a few feet away. Sports here don’t always require wetsuits: Mini-golf bar Playground is equipped with the obvious, as well as arcade and pinball games. Or bypass physical exertion en masse at the new Holistic Lounge at Hyatt Regency. It’s packed with newfandangled healing tech that uses light, heat, and electromagnetic fields to allegedly repair stressed skin and muscles tired from lifting mojitos.

Long Beach

Halcyon Hideaway Exterior Sunset

Photo Credit: Tomoko Matsubayashi

“I drove to Joshua Tree the night this land came up for sale and slept in my car under the stars,” says Nate Benedetto, co-owner of Halcyon Hideaway, Joshua Tree’s latest spa-inspired retreat. Even if Nate’s name doesn’t sound familiar, you probably know the restaurants that looked to him to secure their locations.

A well-established pillar of San Diego’s commercial real estate community, he knows a thing or two about hospitality, having brokered deals for the likes of Kingfisher and CH Projects. He’s also the founder of Urbanist, a local zine-like brochure that documents the best of San Diego’s food and drink scene.

Halcyon Hideaway Interior Day

Photo Credit: Tomoko Matsubayashi

Nate combined forces with his wife Kristi, an interior designer and owner of the design firm Jooj Projects, to create a getaway with wellness in mind. Their niche space sits on 50 acres of quiet desert land and lets you unplug and realign. “Truly getting away from it all, including other people, is the best way to block out all of the distractions of city life in order to reconnect with nature and yourself,” Nate says.

Inspired by the couple’s many backpacking expeditions and Nate’s memorable trip to a Scandinavian-style spa in Whistler, Halcyon Hideaway is an amalgam of ease, comfort, and seclusion. “Halcyon Hideaway was built with the intention to provide benefits [similar to] backpacking in a remote setting but in a warm, luxurious, and comfortable setting,” Nate explains.

Halcyon Hideaway Sauna

Photo Credit: Tomoko Matsubayashi

To get the feeling just right, the couple teamed up with architect Andrew Hall of AHA to craft the 1,700-square-foot house and its adjoining 600-square-foot yoga studio. The edifice itself is a solar-powered, modern adobe structure with clean lines and a wide berth, running parallel to views of the national park. With four bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths, the vacation abode accommodates as many as eight guests. “We want to market this space as a place where a small company or a group of friends or family members could do a small retreat,” Kristi says.

Halycon’s Hideaway Yoga Studio

Photo Credit: Tomoko Matsubayashi

Halcyon’s soothing energy comes from its amenities. It’s a laundry list of leisure, with a custom sauna, cold plunge pool, hot tub that seats eight, a sun deck, separate yoga and dining facilities, an outdoor shower, and plenty more. Of the compound-like feel, Kristi says, “You can make [it] what you want, [get] whatever you want to gather from it.” Feel like heading into Pioneertown for a show? Go for it. Want to cook dinner on a Miele range and never glance at a screen? There are all these possibilities waiting for you.

When it came to the design, Kristi says, “We wanted to embrace the natural landscape.” Channeling her own tastes and expectations for this kind of getaway, she brought in “organic, soothing, textural” elements to the space, like raw stone and linen paired with boucle and warm wood, she says. In terms of the color palette, don’t think Millennial beige (remember the “stick of butter” trend?); think ecru with an attitude, as there is colorful commissioned art and wallpaper that welcomes. It’s the finer details, like complimentary Ouai toiletries, that seal the relaxing deal.

Halcyon Hideaway Exterior Night Hot Tub

Tomoko Matsubayashi

If Nate slept in his car for you—well, for the love of cold plunges and the magic of an arid breeze under a starlit canopy—the least you can do is return the favor and sleep inside this top-tier home away from home. As Kristi says, “We just want everybody to have a memorable, relaxing experience where they can really tune into nature.” Okay, I guess you could sleep outside, too.

House on the Hill at Ram’s Hill

@Couldbetheday

“I don’t see a lot of people out here.” So said a gentleman who introduced himself as “Sailor,” rationalizing to me why he’s been coming to Lake Morena over the decades. “It’s wonderful here.” Sailor has been pedaling his bike around San Diego County’s most remote manmade lake, taking in the myriad photogenic sights: diving birds, behemoth boulders, and a bluish body of water that, while perfect for fly fishing, might not be ideal for swimming.

When I point out that I got lost on my way to Lake Morena and Google Maps was of no help, Sailor points out that this is a good thing. “It keeps the crowds away.”

San Diego’s many deserts are about to have a moment. I know this because I’m now a resident of one. Historically popular places such as Pioneertown, the High Desert and, yes, even Joshua Tree, are at a saturation point when it comes to tourists and influencers. It’s only a matter of time before the artists and influencers look elsewhere, and said elsewhere will likely be our own backyard, in places like Borrego Springs and the towns and valleys that make up the southeastern desert areas of SD County.

See

Desert View Tower near Jacumba Hot Springs

Ariana Drehsler

This fact is evident on the drive out to Lake Morena and, later, a stop at Desert View Tower near Jacumba Hot Springs. Straddling the border of Imperial and San Diego counties, the five-story stone tower, looking like some medieval fortress, offers a grand view of the In-Ko-Pah mountain range. The items in the ground-floor gift and consignment shop skew odd and kitsch, but also offer artisanal art and beauty products from local crafters with names like Your Mom Is a Hippie Soap Company. I bought a bar of their vegan cold process citronella/fennel soap and can confirm that it does, indeed, smell like a hippie.

The Desert Tower has hosted music festivals and recently started offering on-site Airbnb options next to its artsy Boulder Park (rocks painted in a style respectful of the area’s Indigenous petroglyphs). It’s not glamorous, but like many activities in the desert, I’m here for the scenery and the seemingly endless sporadicness of it all. Roadside installations, random museums—like the Imperial Valley Desert Museum—and bizarre outsider art with names like “Coyote’s Flying Saucer Retrievals and Repairs Service” pop up on side roads on the way up to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

Relax

Highway 78 on the way into Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Ariana Drehsler

I won’t mince words here: Come to the area to camp. The hotel scene in Anza-Borrego is rustic, sometimes rundown, but charming in a way that the Rosebud Hotel from Schitt’s Creek was, pre-renovation. For those looking for a slightly more luxurious experience, head just a bit out of town to The Palms at Indian Head, a midcentury-modern boutique gem, or to La Casa del Zorro Resort & Spa, which sports a spa, a golf course, and (say what?) bocce ball and pickleball courts. For more of an intimate experience or one with friends, I’d recommend renting out the more isolated, less light-polluted House on the Hill at Ram’s Hill, which sports a rooftop deck for stargazing galore.

The same logic extends to the dining scene. It just isn’t there yet. Yes, I had one of the best diner burgers I’ve ever had in my life (the “Smitty,” topped with barbecue sauce and onion rings) at the motocross-themed Red Feather Offroad Market & Café in Ocotillo. That and the Borrego Art Institute–adjoined Kesling’s Kitchen, with its rotating menu and respectable buttermilk fried chicken plate, are a nice start, but like many things in this area of the desert, it’s a work in progress. That’s part of the charm—the idea that we’re visiting a place that is still off the radar, but won’t be for long.

Do

Desert art installation near the Imperial Valley Desert Museum

Ariana Drehsler

On the way to the town of Borrego Springs, stop at trails and lookouts like Carrizo Badlands Overlook, the Moonlight Canyon hiking trail, and the uber-rustic Vallecito Regional Park (sdparks.org). All offer visitors a chance to take in the majesty of the area before heading into town. The Anza-Borrego Wildflower spring blooming fields are all but dry this time of year, but still offer a nice hike in the area. (Bring water. Better yet, plan a trip for mid-to-late March.) Once in Borrego Springs proper, stop by the sprawling sculpture garden that is Galleta Meadows Estate before heading to the impressive Borrego Art Institute, which stands out like a modern-designed beacon of the area’s burgeoning art scene. Maybe even pick up an “I ❤ B.S.” bumper sticker from the neighboring convenience store.

Sugar Hill Farm

Nikolas Zvolensky

“This is nice,” I think while sitting on the redwood deck of my room at The Brambles, a boutique hotel in Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley. I puff on a freshly-rolled joint made with cannabis from the owners’ farm, called Sugar Hill, which is just down the road and on the other side of the redwoods towering around me. At the same time, I’m sipping a chilled glass of light-bodied red wine made from Pinot Noir, the region’s flagship grape. It feels like the most natural thing in the world, especially after a long drive.

It’s not lost on me that a hotel experience such as this wasn’t possible until recently. That’s not the fault of anything in the natural world—a remarkable coincidence of California’s geography is that weed and wine country overlap.

The Brambles

Nikolas Zvolensky

Still, the regulations around cannabis, particularly those concerning alcohol and weed together, are still fairly strict. But things are loosening up, especially on hotel properties, and wine and weed vacations are finally becoming a thing. Even though cannabis and alcohol consumption is not allowed, nor recommended, while driving, they do make great rewards after a day of logging miles. Plus, flying with weed and wine is kind of a pain, so the fact I can load up the car with cases, eighths, bottles, ounces, and all the rest is, to me, just one of the many benefits of living in California.

Relax

Sandman Hotel

It’s possible to make it to Mendocino in a straight shot from San Diego, but having done that drive many times alone, I don’t recommend it. So instead, I decided to stop in Santa Rosa, in Sonoma County. Long considered to be California wine country’s regional hub, it’s home to two cannabis-friendly hotels and a few excellent dispensaries. I bed down at the retro Sandman Hotel, which has an in-house, Sonoma-focused wine bar that allows smokers to toke up on-site.

Once in Mendocino, I crashed at The Brambles, which is cannabis-friendly and features a handful of well-appointed luxury suites in an old redwood house repurposed for hotel guests. It’s all part of a larger adult playground, called The Brambles, which has an on-site restaurant, dispensary, boutique, and other bells and whistles.

Eat

Wickson at The Madrones

Nikolas Zvolensky

The Spinster Sisters in Santa Rosa is a farm-sourced, veggie-friendly restaurant boasting the best and most interesting local wines on tap as well as a bistro-style menu with seafood options and stellar cheese selections. Farther north, Wickson at The Madrones is the place to eat in Anderson Valley—it’s the on-site restaurant that works with local farms to fill its modern Californian menu. While there, I decided to sit in the garden, where nobody would bother me, while I vaped cannabis oil and enjoyed a glass of wine with some pizza.

Do

Garden Society

While in Santa Rosa, I stopped at Solful dispensary. They stock my favorite cannabis brand, Garden Society, which makes wine-flavored cannabis gummies and ice water hash-infused pre-rolled joints. The ride up the 101 from Santa Rosa, which passes through the Russian River Valley, was stunning, but at some point, I turn off on the 128, to reach my final destination of Anderson Valley. Almost instantly, the rolling wine country geography turned much more mountainous, the highway more winding. Gnarled, moss-covered trees start to interspersing with redwoods. Eventually, I start to see wineries again, and I know I’m in the Anderson Valley. Roederer, Husch, and Navarro are three good wineries in the town of Philo.

One of my all-time favorite vintners, however, is Long Meadow Ranch. It has a tasting room at The Madrones and just across the breezeway is The Bohemian Chemist, a custom-built dispensary at The Madrones that’s almost too pretty to be believed. The art deco apothecary vibe comes from the Czech Republic. The shop sells weed products from all over the state, as well as its signature house brand of the same name.

The Bohemian Chemist

Nikolas Zvolensky

The coup de grâce on my trip was Sugar Hill Farm, the working sun-grown cannabis farm that powers The Bohemian Chemist and The Madrones and is owned by the same couple. They inherited the property from a parent who grew medical cannabis in the pre-legal days. As far as I know, it’s one of the only places where regular folks can tour an active, licensed weed grow, and was a fitting end to a journey that provided me with a sense of just how much things have changed.

Disclaimer: This story was published in the January 2021 issue of San Diego Magazine, which was sent to press before the Regional Stay Home Order was enacted. Visiting these destinations may be restricted, visit covid19.ca.gov for the latest information.

Choose Your Travel Category:

The Great Outdoors | Small Town Vibes | Wine and Dine | Close to Home

The Great Outdoors

Big Bear

Big Bear

2.5 hours northeast

This village might revolve around the lake it’s named for, but it’s the slopes that draw Southern Californians in the winter months—and for good reason. Avid snow bunnies know Bear Mountain and Snow Summit are the two resorts to choose from. Opt for the former if you’re seeking freestyle skiing or snow­boarding. Snow Summit, on the other hand, has more traditional runs. There’s lodging aplenty near the two resorts. For a boutique option, Noon Lodge is a mere mile from Big Bear Village and offers modern single cabins. The lakefront Marina Resort is slated to reopen this winter and has a quintessential cabin aesthetic. Before setting out on your adventures for the day, consider fueling up at Teddy Bear Restaurant for breakfast or Dank Donuts for grab-and-go. Big Bear Lake Brewing Co. is a must-stop for post-shred libations.

Traveling with kids? Take the whole family to Big Bear Snow Play for tubing, a ropes course, and even go-kart racing. Or pay a visit to Big Bear Alpine Zoo. It serves as a rehabilitation center for injured and orphaned animals, and you can see winter-climate creatures like snowy owls, snow leopards, and arctic foxes. If weather allows, squeeze in a hike on one of the several trails nearby. Alpine Pedal Path Trail is perfect for a leisurely lakefront stroll, and Castle Rock Trail affords views of Big Bear Lake that are worth the trek.

Mammoth Mountain

Mammoth Mountain

7.5 hours northeast

Curious about what San Diego’s favorite ski resort will look like during the pandemic? Mammoth Mountain plans to keep skiers safe by managing the crowds. With limits on daily ticket sales, priority given to season pass holders, and no walk-up window purchases, the key to shredding powder this year is to plan ahead and make reservations. Stay safe with contactless ski rental services—your equipment will be waiting for you at a designated locker. With social distancing in mind, two new eateries built out of shipping containers have been added slopeside to spread the skiers out when it’s time to grab a burger and a beer.

If you really want to ditch the crowds, hire High Sierra Guides for alpine skiing in the deep wilderness outside the resort’s boundaries. Mammoth also has five uphill routes for off-piste practice—think backcountry skiing’s version of a climbing gym—and offers introductory courses. If you want to explore the 19 miles of groomed yet secluded tracks of Mammoth Lakes Basin by snowshoe or cross-country, gear up at Tamarack Cross-Country Ski Center. You can also bundle up, don a headlamp, and grab a thermos of hot chocolate for a Full Moon Tour (snowshoe or cross-country), where a naturalist will guide you through the silvery moonlight. Kids love Woolly’s Tube Park and Snow Play, but keep in mind you need a reservation.

After all that alpine play, it’s time for après-ski. In The Village mall, the newly revamped 53 Kitchen + Cocktails serves up barrel-aged libations and sports-bar eats like chili and chicken wings, and meatloaf. Noodle fans will appreciate the newly opened Yama Ramen, where sake bombs, Japanese whiskeys, and tapas are served alongside delicious noodle bowls. Oenophiles should pop a cork at Jimmy’s Taverna, known for its seafood and carefully curated wine list; families gravitate to casual Campo for wood-fired Neapolitan pizza and pasta.

New stylish digs can be found at Hillside, an easy walk from The Village Gondola. These mountain-chic townhomes sport gourmet kitchens, antler chandeliers, modern bunk beds and suites, floor-to-ceiling windows for epic views, and decks for hot tubbing under the stars. While the Westin Monache Resort lures families for its ease of mountain access, giant pool, and reasonable rack rate, you can also cozy up in a rustic cabin at the Tamarack Lodge & Resort for a more secluded stay.

Tucson, Arizona

Tucson, Arizona

6 hours east