February 13, 2023
In our quest to find an open trail, we discovered Johnson Ranch Open Space. We drove the picturesque Los Osos Valley Road, went south on the 101 to the trailhead just off the freeway. The green hills were calling us as we started up the slight uphill trail. It was very pretty as we discovered various wildflowers among the grassland. There are wooden bridges that cross Dry Creek which wasn’t dry. At the top of the loop, there is a connector to the Irish Hills. We didn’t take the connector, but instead continued the loop back down to the parking lot. It was a nice fairly easy 3.7 mile hike.
After the hike, we decided to stop by the Los Osos Oaks State Natural Reserve on the way back. It’s located off Los Osos Valley Road so on our home. It was a spooky place, with gnarly, dwarf oaks dripping with lace lichen. Maybe it was the overcast weather, but I think not. We didn’t spend a lot of time there.
As a treat, we stopped at High Street Deli in Baywood for a meal and then back to the warm condo in Cayucos
Los Angeles Excursions 