hikespeak

The Santa Monica Mountains have significant parks with great hiking getaways. Often overlooked are smaller undeveloped pockets within the mountains that offer quick escapes from the stresses of Los Angeles. Longridge Park in Sherman Oaks is the latter, a 50-acre park with a 0.2-mile long use-trail. Longridge Trail has ridge-top views throughout its short run, like perspectives north across the San Fernando Valley and east toward the Griffith Park end of the range. ...Read more.

Las Virgenes View Park preserves nearly 700 acres of the Santa Monica Mountains adjacent to Malibu Creek State Park. The park has one established trail, Las Virgenes View Trail, which rises to a panorama-boasting ridge. The trail traverses grasslands and oak woodlands near Las Virgenes Road and then runs up a canyon to a ridge where it forms a small loop with mountain views in all directions. ...Read more.

In a rolling, grassy stretch of the Santa Monica Mountains near the 101 Freeway, Anza Loop Trail plots a course through history. Pause along the trail to study panels and plaques about the past - or just breeze through the loop and enjoy the present sights and sounds. Like Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Anza Loop Trail takes its name from Juan Bautista de Anza who led an expedition up California, solidifying a route that is now known as El Camino Real. ...Read more.

Do you want to combine a hike with a stair workout? If the answer is yes, head for the Calabasas Stairs, a long, straight flight of 375 steps that climb a slope in the Santa Monica Mountains below a Calabasas neighborhood. It is a 0.6-mile hike from Calabasas Road (just off Highway 101) to the base of the steps. Venturing to the top of the steps and back to the road is 1. ...Read more.

Dixie Canyon Park preserves twenty tucked-away acres in the Santa Monica Mountains on the north side of the range west of Coldwater Canyon. The park can be accessed from Sherman Oaks for a micro hike that is 0.55 miles round trip with 175 feet of elevation change. This partial loop follows a dirt single track that is narrow and sometime overgrown, finding shade from walnut trees and coast live oaks as it passes through Dixie Canyon Park. ...Read more.

Summit to Summit Motorway is a 3.2-mile road along a ridgeline between the high points of Old Topanga Canyon Road and Topanga Canyon Boulevard (hence the name Summit to Summit). Less than half a mile of the road is paved and the rest is packed dirt perfect for hiking, biking, or jogging. At the northeast end, Summit to Summit Motorway finishes across from Top of Topanga Overlook, a park with views across the San Fernando Valley. ...Read more.

Summit Valley Edmund D. Edelman Park preserves 652 acres at the top of Topanga Canyon that were saved from development. Hikers can explore a couple loops through the main area of the park. For a short 1.65-mile hike with 190 feet of elevation change, try Edelman North Loop, which goes along the valley floor before circling back along a wildflower-covered ridge. ...Read more.

Viewridge Trail doesn't look like much at first glance – a one-mile long single track connecting two roads. However, there is a loop beyond the end of Viewridge Trail that reaches an overlook on sandstone outcroppings with panoramic views over Topanga and the middle of the Santa Monica Mountains. This addition elevates Viewridge Trail, and the trail it reaches called Summer Hill Ranch Road, into a very worthy hike in Summit Valley Edmund D. ...Read more.

Are you looking for a hike that's an action-packed adventure? Rarely does a 2.1-mile loop offer as much excitement as the hike to the Cave of Munits and Castle Peak. You'll start with a gradual warm-up across El Escorpion Park to Upper Las Virgenes Open Space Preserve to find a fun vertical cave just begging to be explored. You won't need any ropes or gear to get through the cave, just an adventurous spirit that will lead you out the top of the cave to a tough off-trail ascent to Castle Peak, a panoramic summit towering over the west end of the San Fernando Valley. ...Read more.

No doubt LA is a busy city, but you can still find calm within the chaos at Franklin Canyon Park. This 605-acre park is tucked into a canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains in Beverly Hills and has a number of trails that allow Angelinos to escape for a couple hours of exercise in nature. North of Hastain Trail (where you can get more of a workout), you will find Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir (Franklin Canyon Lake), a soothing 3-acre lake joined by an add-on called Heavenly Pond. ...Read more.