📍 Only the Best 10 in Los Angeles, CA

Griffith Park, Mount Hollywood Trail. No entry fee at all for one of the largest urban parks in the country, and this trail climbs past the Griffith Observatory itself before delivering a summit view that takes in the Hollywood Sign, downtown LA, and the Pacific on a clear day all at once. Around 3 miles round trip, moderate grade, and the observatory makes a natural stop either before or after.

Santa Monica State Beach. Free beach access along the entire stretch, and the pier at its center — a working amusement park on pilings since 1909 — is the single most photographed spot on the whole LA coastline, ferris wheel included. Parking in the beach lots runs $10-15, but the beach itself never charges admission.

Pacific Coast Highway to Santa Barbara from LA. Roughly $20 in gas covers the 100-mile drive up one of the most famous coastal roads in the world, hugging the ocean through Malibu and past the Rincon point surf break before ending in Santa Barbara's Spanish-colonial downtown. The whole point is the drive itself — resist the urge to just get there fast and pull off at the beach turnouts along the way.

Leo's Taco Truck. Meat carved straight off a vertical spinning trompo, the same technique that defines real al pastor, running from a stand that national food writers have repeatedly called one of the best tacos in the entire country — parking-lot setting included. Eight dollars for a plate of tacos that regularly beats sit-down restaurants charging three times as much.