Wilds for every mood

This convenient portal covers plenty of California-centric outdoor action. Name it, and most likely your favorite activity gets useful coverage here -- from whitewater paddling to rock climbing to nature excursions. If you’re looking for things to do, this site can give you a clue.

It makes it easy to find the outdoor spot you’re looking for by breaking down listings into environmental settings to match your mood -- such as wildflowers or lakes. The section on wildflowers steers you to places now blooming with spring colors.

If you’re hankering for a lakefront outing, you can turn to a page with voluminous links to California lakes, each with visuals and summaries of the offerings, from Coyote Lake in the Sierra to Green Valley Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains.

The coastal camping pages pinpoint many less known beachside spots, from Russian Gulch State Park to locations in Baja.

Though not likely to win any design awards, the site has a friendly, family feel to it. As you work through the territory, you’ll find a raft of upcoming outings and festivals and links to books, maps and gear -- how about a three-day Santa Barbara wine-tasting trip and back roads campout scheduled for June, with a free map thrown in? One click and you’re wine-camping.

-- Michael Koehn