San Marcos, CA Outdoor Activities

Escondido Country Club's 6,140-yard championship golf course rests in the rolling landscape of the long coastal mountain valley. Players can warm up swinging arms with range balls before heading out to the first tee. Designed by Harry and David Rainville, the rolling course has challenged generations of golfers since opening in 1963. After butting heads with sand traps and zooming a cart around the path, divot-diggers garbed in appropriate attire can imbibe frothy sips of draft beer or fizzy soda in the clubhouse. Golfers can complete their recharge by knocking back Angus beef burgers and telling longwinded tales of the hole-in-one that got away.

When you can hear the gentle whoosh of the tides from your backyard, it's impossible to ignore the ocean's calling. What's Up Stand Up Paddleboard Surf Company happily embraces the calm Pacific waters that backdrop their three locations, beckoning passersby to hop on their standup paddleboards and skim across Mother Nature's aquatic playground. Each location's tranquil water conditions are ideal for visitors to learn and enjoy the paddle-powered sport, which situates riders atop long surfboards, where they'll propel themselves with oars or uprooted stop signs. Standup paddleboarding not only strengthens an array of muscles but can also bring paddlers up close to the area's wildlife, which may include dolphins and sea lions.

Every Christmas morning, Jo Davis would run to the tree, eagerly searching her packages in the hopes of finding one large enough to conceal a horse. Jo never discovered a horse, pony, or even a poor man’s horse—a cow—underneath her family's tree, but she pursued her dream of riding by taking lessons and attending summer camps throughout high school. After that, she worked as a wrangler at the summer camp.

Today, Jo directs her own riding school, H&W Riding, at the Hoofs and Woofs Animal Rescue Ranch, a nonprofit rescue center for horses, cats, and dogs. Amid lush vegetation and rolling hills, Jo conducts lessons and camps with the ranch's four lesson horses: Ranger, Charlie, Tonka, and Lil' Dude.

Having spent her early years on an alfalfa ranch, Sabrina Fortyune of Vineyard Trail Rides has spent most of her life around livestock, and developed a special appreciation for horses at a young age. That equine enthusiasm never abated, and today she can look back on a three-decade career as a professional horse trainer and competitor, working with breeds ranging from arabians to quarter horses. Riders in search of a relaxing jaunt can head out into the surrounding countryside on a trail ride among oak trees and ponds more peaceful than the ocean during a shark conference.