Doggone it if San Diego hasn’t broken into Orbitz.com’s top 10 list of spring break destinations for 2010! Joining such traditional hot spots as Las Vegas, Cancun, and Miami Beach, San Diego has the ideal spring break profile: plenty of sunny beaches, a downtown nightlife, and of course the largest urban park in North America, Balboa Park.

While I don’t suspect many college students will be flocking to Balboa Park’s many world-class museums to research upcoming term papers, there are still plenty of reasons for them and vacationing families to visit.

Where else are you going to see such a variety of picturesque gardens at the height of seasonal bloom? You could spend a whole day exploring the award-winning Inez Parker Grant Memorial Rose Garden, the Desert Garden, the Zoro Garden, Palm Canyon, and the Alcazar Garden, just to name a few, without spending a single penny of beer money.

For the more active set, the resort-like park offers miles of scenic hiking trails, a championship golf course, lighted tennis courts, a swimming pool, and even a disc golf course and archery ranges.

In addition, for well less than you might spend at a trendy Gaslamp nightclub, the Passport to Balboa Park will give you admission to 14 different museums, while the Zoo/Passport combo includes a trip to the World Famous San Diego Zoo—where the real party animals hang out.

While my super-sniffer snout prepares for the abundance of fresh blossoms this spring in Balboa Park, I actually find wintertime to be the best season to visit the blooming succulents in the Desert Garden.

More than just a Southwestern-style collection of garden-variety cacti, the Desert Garden spans 2.5 acres between Park Boulevard and Zoo Place to present a vast assortment of arid-climate plants from around the world. From the familiar aloes and agaves to the truly otherworldly looking Candelabra and Dragon Trees, the Desert Garden comprises approximately 1,300 plants arranged in picturesque formations overlooking Florida Canyon.

A handy colorful map you can print out before your visit will help you locate such oddities as the Quiver Tree, Boojum Tree, Pencil Tree, and the (gasp) Naked Coral Tree.

You are even encouraged to stray from the main paved walkway to fully explore this thoughtfully designed landscape. But be careful—especially bipeds wearing sandals and shorts—as you are liable to graze a prickly barrel cactus if you aren’t watching your step. (I’ve personally had more than one sticker plucked from my hide.)

Whether you are passing through on one of three marked trails that crisscross Balboa Park or enjoying a leisurely visit, keep an eye out for the blooming aloes this month and many additional blooms in March. This is also a great time to take your pack on a guided Off-Shoot Tour on the fourth Saturday of the month, which highlights the Park’s desert vegetation.

You don’t have to be a PGA Tour pro to enjoy a great game of golf this weekend on one of the City of San Diego’s finest golf courses. That’s because, in addition to everything else Balboa Park has to offer, it is also home to a very affordable 18-hole championship course.

Located on the Park’s East Mesa, the Balboa Park Golf Course features undulating greens with steep canyon drop offs, spectacular views of the San Diego skyline and Pacific Ocean, and an historic club house. Play on the par 72 course is often described as both fun and challenging, though three different tee settings make the course manageable for duffers and seasoned pros alike.

It’s generally easier to get tee times on this well-maintained municipal course than on its Torrey Pines counterpart, and local residents can take advantage of a special discounted greens fees program. There are also discounts for twilight times, seniors, and juniors. And while the 9-hole Executive Course may sound like a pricier option, it’s actually an even less expensive way for time-challenged worker bees to get a few holes in.

On-site club and cart rentals and lessons with the resident pro make taking up this relaxing sport accessible to anyone—anyone with opposable thumbs that is.

Cash and Georgia write: Dear Cosmos, two weeks into the New Year and my family is already neglecting their New Year’s resolutions. What should they do to stay on track?

Cosmos: New Year’s resolutions, particularly those involving a fitness program or spending more time outdoors with loved ones, are hard to start and keep up given the wintery time of year. However, anyone living in sunny San Diego, which boasts the continent’s largest urban park, has little excuse, I’m afraid.

Any fitness regimen begins one step at a time. And what better way to move your body than by exploring miles and miles of trails that wind through Balboa Park’s 1,200 acres? From short strolls on pavement through lush gardens to long hikes on dirt trails in steep canyons, there is an endless variety of challenge and scenery for you to work up a good pant.

For any bipeds wishing to pick up a new sport or revisit an old one, Balboa Park also offers excellent facilities for swimming, tennis, golf, archery, cycling, and softball at the Morley Field Sports Complex. They can even work on their throwing skills playing fetch with you in one of the Park’s three off-leash dog parks.

But getting outside and exercising is always more fun with friends and family, especially if food is involved. Fortunately, Balboa Park has numerous parks within the park that feature large open grassy spaces and picnic tables, including Pine Grove, Redwood Circle, Bird Park, and Golden Hill Park.

That should be plenty to keep anyone from getting off track.

Tucked away in the southeastern-most end of Balboa Park is a charming reminder in microcosm of what makes Balboa Park such a treasure to the City of San Diego. For just as the Park serves as an urban oasis for the entire city, Golden Hill Park provides an oasis-like respite for this venerable community and its many dog lovers.

After winding your way up 26th Street from Pershing Drive, take a left before reaching A Street to find this green mesa that overlooks Florida Canyon and the municipal golf course on one side and the downtown skyline on the other.

A paved traffic loop surrounds a wide expanse of green grass, which is dotted with palm, Moreton Bay fig, and other tree varieties. Outside the “loop” are several picnic tables and hiking trails that allow you to explore the park’s many botanical wonders, including the Coast Oak Grove at the northern tip.

Easily overlooked at the south end are remnants of an historic Arts & Crafts–style stone fountain grotto that dates to this park’s beginnings. The entire site was designed in 1907 by Henry Lord Gay (who also designed downtown’s Western Metal Supply Building), making Golden Hill Park one of the first developed areas of Balboa Park.

Golden Hill Park is not only the perfect spot for family picnics and pick-up soccer games, but this neat little park within a park gives joggers, bicyclists, and, of course, dog walkers a shady natural refuge to “get away from it all.”