Summer travel: best spots for swimming holes, events and wine tasting
Summer is upon us, inspiring touring, special events, exploring swimming holes or small towns, and wine tasting – it’s prime season for road trips! One of the tricks to fun road-tripping is staying flexible – more on that in a moment – but don’t overlook preparations before departure. Ensure your vehicle is tuned, oil is fresh, clean air filter (which can improve your highway mileage by 10% or more), and check your tire pressure (including the spare!).
Before departure, plan and check you're “must-take.” We have a small backpack packed with a first aid kit, two sets of small binoculars, several water bottles, protein bars, and other necessities. We load a cooler with drinks, snacks, and fresh fruit or yogurt. If our trip includes an overnight stop, we pack for that contingency and several layers of clothing if we’re headed towards higher elevations or expecting inclement weather.
On the assumption, you’ll be in your vehicle for long stretches, plan carefully for mobile entertainment. For my spouse, Susan, that includes a couple of word game workbooks, and for both of us, we use the smartphone app Spotify to download several road-trip playlists onto our phones that we can plug in and play on our car stereo system. Since we’re also packing a share of CDs, we ensure we have 10 of our favorites ready. If books are a favorite, download a few mobile books from your favorite source. On longer trips, we also have a travel-sized chess-checkers game kit.
Make sure you know where you’re headed and prep for several possibilities. Most cars have a decent GPS – be sure you know how to use it. If you use your smartphone’s GPS, download/print key maps if you find yourself out of cell range. I also pack a AAA set of state maps, for I find paper maps help get the big picture of a state-wide or multi-state trip, and they are portable outside your vehicle.
It’s always wise to check ahead online or with a phone call to appropriate land management regarding current road conditions, any special notices regarding reservations required, special programs, and more. If you’re a hiker or like to explore on bikes, try our favorite smartphone app, AllTrails, to search out and map hiking or biking trails at your destination. It’s a lovely tool and allows you to discover spectacular paths just right for exploration, often just a few miles from where you plan to be.
We always pack our frugal traveler mentality to save time and money. Suppose we’re headed on a drive-trip of four or six hours. In that case, we will plan a stop that includes gas and lunch all in one, often at a truckstop that may feature a nearby McDonald’s or Carl’s Jr. We can get two McDoubles, drink our water, and gas-up. We’re on our way, having spent only six dollars for lunch and investing 15 minutes total – saving the more considerable outlay for a nice dinner at our ultimate destination (keep in mind we often split a salad and a main course for dinner; never gone away hungry, yet!).
Finally, stay flexible and seek the unique. If we can, we avoid interstates and major highways and seek out back roads, particularly those we’ve never explored. If you’re traveling with kids or young adults, or your spouse, and they see something that intrigues their fancy, don’t hesitate to stop and check out a possible gem.
Next week we will share five of our favorite road trip destinations from San Joaquin County. This week, start with a nearby favorite, heading west to explore some of the lovely East Bay regional parks. This road trip is a “one tanker”; you’ll only log 150 miles on this scenic trip loaded with gems. Take Highway 4 west from Stockton to Antioch, then go south on Somerville Road to Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve.
Black Diamond Mines preserves the history of California’s lively coal mining district. Coal mining was a big business and a vast employer from the 1850s to the early 1900s, supplying coal for steamships and trains and heating the homes of San Franciscans and Stocktonians. By the late 19th century, several towns within the current preserve were the center of the Contra Costa population, with several thousand miners and their families mining deep veins of coal, shipping the black diamonds to Pittsburg, where the coal was sent to regional markets. Hike to Rose Hill Cemetery above the parking area to tour the final resting place of over 100 miners and their families, where the voices of the past seem all too real.
After visiting Black Diamond, retrace your steps along Highway 4, then go south on Byron Hwy. to Byron, then west on the backroads of Camino Diablo and Marsh Creek Roads to Round Valley Regional Preserve. For lunch, check out Wild Idol Saloon in Byron, a biker bar that caters to a lively, younger country set.
We’re headed to Round Valley Regional Preserve, between Mount Diablo’s dual peaks and Byron. Round Valley Preserve is a lovely foothills park in the coastal range, with hills and canyons still green and lush. It offers 30+ miles of hiking trails through old oaks: valley, blue, live, and black oak, along with California bay laurel and buckeye trees. The park is open for hiking, horseback riding, and bicycling (with some restrictions); no dogs are allowed.
From the parking lot, cross over Marsh Creek and ascend the Hardy Canyon Trail into the foothills beside High Creek. Along the creek, find signs of deer, pawprints of either bobcats or cougars and watch hawks lazily circling on high. With more time, spot San Joaquin pocket mice, Audubon‘s cottontail rabbits, red foxes, coyotes, and the endangered San Joaquin kit fox; Golden eagles also patrol the reserve.
Other scenic options nearby include Los Vaqueros Reservoir, with hiking trails and marvelous fishing, Morgan Territory Regional Preserve, and Mount Diablo State Park.
For info: Round Valley and Black Diamond Mines, ebparks.org; Los Vaqueros Watershed, ccwater.com/losvaqueros; Mt. Diablo State Park, parks.ca.gov.
Where are you headed? Contact Tim at tviall@msn.com. Happy travels in your world!
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Summer travel: best spots for swimming holes, events and wine tasting
