I Tried a Free Yoga Hike and It Might Be OCs Best-Kept Fitness Secret

Free yoga in the canyon? Yep, it’s a thing. OC Parks host guided yoga hikes across Orange County where you hike a few miles with a guide, then roll out a mat at a scenic spot for a volunteer-led yoga session. It feels like a wellness retreat—but without the $20 price tag of a typical studio class.

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I tried it myself at Black Star Canyon in Silverado. We started with a steady climb up to the old helipad clearing, surrounded by sycamores and open sky. By the time we set down our mats, my legs were warm and my mind was already calmer. (Watch a short video of what it was like)

Then the yoga began. No mirrors, no studio walls—just birdsong and a canyon breeze as the backdrop. Every pose felt deeper because the hike had primed my body first. By the time we lay back in Savasana, I wasn’t just stretched out—I was fully reset.

“It’s a perfect combination,” says Gail Judd, a volunteer yoga teacher with the Conservancy. “You elevate your heart rate, warm your body and work your muscles during the hike, then use breath and movement to relax, stretch and restore.”

I left Silverado feeling like I’d managed a workout, a meditation, and a mini-retreat—all before lunch.

These book up REALLY fast because they’re free… and fun.

🧘‍♀️ Reservations for a session on 9/19 in Newport Coast at Bulk Gully Reserve open tomorrow (9/4) at at 8 am. Sign up here.

🧘‍♀️ Bommer Canyon- reservations open 9/11, event is 9/26. Learn more

🌲While not Yoga, you can sign up for “shinrin-yoku,” or “forest bathing” here.