.Richard Stockton

Freedom Boulevard is my road home. I have driven by Aptos High School 500 times and never gave the school a thought.

This 1.3-mile loop trail has been hiked by so many people for 50 years the stones in the path have been polished by the soles of our feet.

This week, Take a Hike columnist Richard Stockton walk through windswept grasslands on bluffs towering over crashing waves.

There are many hikers, bikers and cars in the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, but veer off onto a path up a hill and you’ll find solitude.

Arana Gulch seems to be serotonin to the Santa Cruzan soul. Under a giant oak I meet two artists who have set up their easels to paint the golden meadow that dominates the preserve.

In his weekly column, writer Richard Stockton explores the crown jewel of the California State Park System, which draws 600,000 people a year.

In this week’s Take a Hike column, Richard Stockton describes wh two OG hikers did when an ankle cracked in the backcountry.

Twenty years ago, when Kirby Scudder and Chip (yes, one name only) created First Friday, they were not thinking outside the box, they didn’t...