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2 0 1 5 T R A V E L G U I D E T O C A L I F O R N I A 81 Gabriel Mountains, above the smog, your vistas can range from the vast, chocolate- brown Mojave Desert to Catalina Island. Also known as State Highway 2, the 66- mile-long Angeles Crest Scenic Byway was built 100 years ago to be "the most scenic and picturesque mountain road in the state." Access it from the suburb of La Canada Flintridge at the western end of the San Gabriel Valley. The popular side-trip hike to the summit of 6,164-foot Straw- berry Peak has reopened after being closed due to a 2009 fire. As you drive east on the narrow two-lane road, keep an eye out for bears, mountain lions and bighorn sheep. Another side trip brings you to the Mount Wilson Observatory, where astronomers found the first observational evidence for the Big Bang theory. If you've brought along your fishing rod, try your luck in Little Rock Creek near the Mt. Waterman Ski Resort. Farther east, the road crosses the 2,665-mile-long Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail: From here you can hike south to Mexico or north to Canada. From the road's end at Highway 138, head southeast to Interstate 15, which will whisk you back to the Los Angeles Basin. San Diego Cross the Palomar Mountains to soak up the vast and colorful Anza-Borrego desert on a daylong drive from San Diego. Make your way north on I-15 and east to Ramona, and then continue on to the ridgetop town of Julian. A beautifully preserved relic of an 1870s gold rush, Julian these days is renowned for apples. You'll smell the aroma of baking pies as soon as you step out of your car. Stop for a slice, just out of the oven, warm and gooey with a scoop of French vanilla ice cream. The air here is so clean, and the views so extensive, that the California Institute of Technology built the Palomar Observatory a few miles away. Continue east, downhill, on Highway 78 to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, a 937- square-mile preserve that encompasses the eastern fifth of San Diego County. If it's spring, and the winter has been wet, you'll be treated to one of the most vivid and sweeping displays of wildflowers in the United States. If the flowers aren't up, there's still plenty to see. A local landowner commissioned artist Ricardo Arroyo Bre- ceda to produce more than 130 giant sculptures in the desert, everything from life-size replicas of gomphotheres (ele- phant-like creatures that once lived there) to prehistoric camels and ground sloths to scenes from California history: a Spanish padre, a gold miner and farmworkers. One of the latest is the undisputed highlight: an enormous sea serpent that undulates so far across the desert that it spans one of the main roads. From here you can retrace your route or take the long way home via the Salton Sea and Palm Springs. VIEW OF DOWNTOWN from San Diego Pier, above; Palomar Observatory on Palomar Mountain, below; cyclist on the Venice Beach promenade, boXom leV.