Reddit reviews Afoot and Afield: San Diego County: 281 Spectacular Outings along the Coast, Foothills, Mountains, and Desert (Afoot & Afield)

Just want to take this opportunity to say anyone who lives here and is at all interested in hiking should own this book

I like the book Afoot and Afield San Diego County as it will cover access, etc and even where to park. Often trail heads are pretty well defined with parking lots.

https://www.amazon.com/Afoot-Afield-Spectacular-Foothills-Mountains/dp/0899978010

As for etiquette. I'm only ever annoyed by people playing music without headphones. I tend to say hello to people as we pass them. Just normal human etiquette will work.

I really recommend afoot and afield in San Diego. It's where I find most of my hikes. Very informative and easy to go through. The absolute go to resource for San Diego hiking.
Afoot and Afield: San Diego County: 281 Spectacular Outings along the Coast, Foothills, Mountains, and Desert https://www.amazon.com/dp/0899978010/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_1jSTCb68EZ7VP
The older editions are fine as well.

Dripping springs is pretty close and accessible and has a few different routes. It's a little further out, but I like doing San Gorgonio fairly regularly as well.

The best place to check out local hiking books is your closest REI.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Moon Guides: Camping CA, Hiking CA
These are the most general as they cover the whole state.

Robert Stone: Day Hikes Around Los Angeles
This is just one of many hiking books he has in CA.

Schad Afoot and Afield: Los Angeles County

Schad: Afoot and Afield: Orange County

Harris: Afoot and Afield: Inland Empire

Shad/Turner: Afoot and Afield: San Diego County

Casey Schreiner: Day Hiking Los Angeles
Casey is the new kid on the block. He runs the Modern Hiker blog

Robinson/Christiansen: Trails of the Angeles

Robinson/Harris: San Bernardino Mountain Trails

Since you are in Arcadia you should visit the Theodore Payne Foundation. They are a
CA native plant nursery. They have a short hike on their property. They should be able to hook you up with some good hikes in the area, and a hiking club.

IMO the best resource for hiking in San Diego is Jerry Schad's epic hiking guide, Afoot and Afield in San Diego County. It has recently been updated with a new edition written by Scott Turner, who personally hiked every single trip outlined in the original edition since Jerry Schad passed away. He also added new trips, and most awesomely he has a fantastic companion website with maps, photos, and other goodies.

The hiking websites mentioned here are good, but I strongly recommend getting this book, it is worth its weight in gold to the San Diego hiker.