34° 03′ N · 118° 15′ W · From 14,000 feet over Perris to the surf at Santa Monica · Ground 31
The city has no mountain.
So you drive two hours, a different altitude in every direction.
Los Angeles is a set of day trips: the West Coast's biggest drop zone an hour and a half east, a zipline forest at 8,400 feet in Big Bear, a paragliding launch above Malibu, the Hollywood hill on horseback, an island with five lines over a canyon, and the surf at Santa Monica. Six stops, ordered by height, with prices from two networks – or an honest note that you book direct.
Stop 1 · Tandem skydive · Skydive Perris, Riverside County
14,000FT · OVER PERRIS
There is a wind tunnel on the field and a DC-9 on the ramp, and you climb into the Twin Otter: 14,000 feet over the Perris Valley, sixty seconds of freefall at 120 mph, then canopy, and somewhere in the haze lies the Pacific.
On no platform. About 9,800 people a month in the US search for Skydive Perris and Skydive Elsinore, and neither GetYourGuide nor Viator carries a jump in Southern California. Perris sells direct from about $199, the world's only skydiving DC-9 included. Photo: a tandem skydive, not over Perris.
↓ Above your pulse limit – keep falling
Two miles by off-road vehicle into the forest, then nine lines, each longer and higher than the last, up to 860 feet and 85 feet off the ground, Johnson Valley behind them. Two hours from the city, and the air smells of pine.
Viator only. GetYourGuide has nothing in Big Bear except airport transfers; Viator carries the tour with 81 reviews. The Alpine Slide and the summer sled hill at Magic Mountain sell direct. Big Bear sits at 6,750 feet – skis in winter, cables in summer.
↓ Above your pulse limit – keep falling
Stop 2 · Zipline · Action Zipline Tours, Big Bear Lake
8,400FT · START IN THE MOUNTAIN FOREST
Stop 3 · Tandem paragliding · Las Flores Canyon, Malibu
3,000FT · LAUNCH ABOVE MALIBU
The truck climbs Las Flores Canyon, then a few running steps into the sea breeze, and Malibu lies below: the Pacific Coast Highway as a thread, the beach houses, the ocean. Half an hour, and you land in the sand at Carbon Beach.
One listing, 37 reviews, 4.5. The only bookable tandem paragliding launch in the metro area; Torrey Pines in San Diego is the alternative, with no reservations. The height is the operator's ceiling – the launch site moves with the wind.
↓ Above your pulse limit – keep falling
From the stables at the top of Beachwood Drive, at a walk up the Mulholland Trail, and suddenly the letters stand above you, 45 feet tall, since 1923. From the top, downtown to the ocean, and the horse knows the way.
Pulse two, but the number belongs here. Over 8,000 searches a month for horseback riding in Hollywood, and the ranch at the top of Beachwood Drive has them all: nearly 900 reviews for the one-hour ride. If you would rather walk, go with a guide – the hike on Viator has 1,600 reviews.
↓ Above your pulse limit – keep falling
Stop 4 · Horseback & hike · Griffith Park, Sunset Ranch Hollywood
1,578FT · MOUNT LEE, HOLLYWOOD SIGN
Stop 5 · Zipline · Descanso Canyon, Avalon, Catalina Island
300FT · ABOVE THE CANYON FLOOR
An hour on the ferry, then the shuttle to the ridge 600 feet above Descanso Beach, and five lines down the canyon, 300 feet above the floor, the longest 1,100 feet, the Pacific in every frame. The beach waits at the bottom.
The best-reviewed thing on these grounds: 384 reviews, 4.9 – Viator only. GetYourGuide knows Catalina Island only as the one in the Dominican Republic. Add parasailing up to 800 feet over the bay and a ropes course in the eucalyptus, both on Viator.
↓ Above your pulse limit – keep falling
Two hours in a wetsuit north of the pier: practise the pop-up in the sand, then into the whitewater, and at some point a wave carries you all the way in, the Ferris wheel behind you. The waves are not big. That is the point.
Both networks, both good. The GetYourGuide lesson has over 500 reviews at 4.8, the Viator lessons 150 at 4.8 to 5.0. Prices run $75–145 across the board; private lessons cost double.
↓ Above your pulse limit – keep falling
Stop 6 · Surf lesson · Santa Monica State Beach
0FT · IN THE SURF
Parasailing 600 to 800 feet over Avalon Bay, a ropes course with five circuits in the eucalyptus at Descanso Beach, and an off-road tour into the interior to the bison, brought over for a silent film in 1924.
Twenty minutes with no traffic: the sign, Griffith Observatory, the studios and Beverly Hills from above – the city's most-booked thing in the air.
Two hours by kayak or paddleboard among the sea lions of Marina del Rey; if you want rock, climb four hours guided in the mountains above Malibu.
The alpine slide at Magic Mountain in Big Bear and the second drop zone at Lake Elsinore – 4,400 searches a month – both sell direct only.
| Activity | Pulse | The number | Duration | From | Reviews | Bookable online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tandem skydive · Perris | 5/5 | 14,000 ft; 18,000-ft option | 3–4 h | on no platform | — | book with the operator |
| Ziplines · Big Bear | Book now → | |||||
| Paragliding · Malibu | Book now → | |||||
| Mount Lee on horseback | Book now → | |||||
| Zipline · Catalina | Book now → | |||||
| Surf lesson · Santa Monica | Book now → | |||||
| Parasailing · Catalina | Book now → | |||||
| Helicopter · Hollywood | Book now → | |||||
| Alpine Slide · Big Bear | 2/5 | — | 1 h | operator | — | no – book direct |
| Skydive Elsinore | 5/5 | 13,000 ft | 3 h | operator | — | no – book direct |
At Perris, an hour and a half east: Skydive Perris calls itself the West Coast's largest drop zone, with a wind tunnel and the world's only DC-9 rated for skydiving. Tandems from 14,000 feet with sixty seconds of freefall from about $199, from 18,000 feet with oxygen for $399; 18 and over, 240 pounds maximum. Skydive Elsinore is half an hour further south. Both sell direct only.
By ferry, about an hour from Long Beach, San Pedro, Dana Point or Newport Beach, $47–90 return depending on the departure. The zipline starts at Descanso Beach, ten minutes on foot from Avalon harbour – a day trip covers the lines, parasailing and the beach. There are almost no cars on the island.
To just below the sign, yes: Sunset Ranch at the top of Beachwood Drive, since 1929, rides the Mulholland Trail with a view of the letters in an hour and to Mount Hollywood with a 360-degree view in two. Directly behind the sign there is only the trail up Mount Lee, 1,578 feet, with a guide from about $29.
The altitude: the lake sits at 6,750 feet, two hours east of the city, and the nine ziplines start at 8,400 feet in the pine forest – the highest cables on these grounds, up to 860 feet long and 85 feet above the ground, from age eight. In winter Big Bear is Los Angeles's ski resort.
Late summer and autumn for Malibu and Catalina, once the marine layer has gone; in May and June (“May Gray, June Gloom”) paragliding and jumps often slip into the afternoon. Big Bear runs the lines from spring to autumn, with snow in winter. Surfing works all year in a wetsuit.
On Sept 25, 2026: Catalina zipline about $156 plus the ferry, Big Bear about $179, Malibu paragliding $250, horseback from $75, surf lesson from $75; the Perris skydive is from $199 with the operator.