hikespeak

Mandeville Canyon is a north-south running trench in Brentwood area of the Santa Monica Mountains. Above Mandeville Canyon is San Vicente Mountain, a 1,960-foot summit that was used at the start of the cold war as a defense site to protect Los Angeles from Soviet attacks. Mandeville Canyon is enclosed by two long finger-like ridges, Westridge and Canyonback Ridge. ...Read more.

Lower Canyonback Trail crosses Canyonback Ridge between Brentwood and a development of estate homes built along the ridge. The trail offers views of west Los Angeles, Santa Monica Bay, and neighboring ridges in the Santa Monica Mountains. The Getty Museum to the east is also in view and on the same plane with trail. From the top of Kenter Avenue to Mountain Gate Country Club Estates is 4. ...Read more.

Canyonback Ridge runs north to south in the area of the Santa Monica Mountains known as the Big Wild. The ridge is located east of Mandeville Canyon near San Vicente Mountain. Much like the neighboring ridges, Westridge, Sullivan Ridge, and Temescal Ridge, there is both a wide fire road and a narrow single-track running along Canyonback Ridge allowing hikers to choose their own adventure on the trail. ...Read more.

The shortest route up San Vicente Mountain approaches the peak from the east. This 2-mile round trip hike follows an unpaved portion of Mulholland Drive and climbs just 335 feet. In the 1950s, San Vicente Mountain was used to defend Los Angeles from soviet missile attacks. Like Mount Disappointment in the San Gabriel Mountains and White Point on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, San Vicente Mountain was used as a Nike missile defense site to detect and intersect missiles directed at Los Angeles. ...Read more.

Sullivan Canyon runs north to south in the Santa Monica Mountains east of Will Rodgers State Park. This 8.5-mile round trip hike departs from a residential street a couple miles north of Sunset Boulevard and follows a wide trail up the center of a sycamore-filled canyon. Sullivan Canyon A green wall across Queensferry Road marks the start of the hike. ...Read more.

In the 1950s, San Vicente Mountain served as a mountaintop military installation to defend Los Angeles from soviet missile attacks. Today, the 1,960-foot peak provides visitors with a look back at this chapter in the city's history, along with a great view of West LA and the Santa Monica Mountains. Westridge Fire Road leads to San Vicente Mountain and is a popular path for mountain bikers, trail runners, and dog walkers (dogs are permitted off-leash in Westridge-Canyonback Wilderness Park under their owner's supervision). ...Read more.