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Backbone Trail Buena Road Passes Through Private Land

Missing links Yerb a Buena R d. MILE 0 0.25 A section between and Yerba Currently the Buena Road passes through private land. The is missing about five miles is waiting for Congress to that straddle the border of VENTURA approve the funds needed to purchase the land. L.A. and Ventura counties. COUNTY KEY Little A smaller gap is an existing trail that runs Sycamore Trail exists, but Rd. a mere half-mile through Zuma and public right-of-way Trancas canyons on private land. The Park needs to be secured Service has made offers to the landowners The Backbone Trail COUNTY and are awaiting their decision. It’s 59ƒ miles of canyons and ridges stitched together with a few urban seams. And it’s not done yet. Trail construction required Mulholland Hwy. Trail open to the public Encinal Canyon Rd.

MILE Decker Rd. 01

DANIELSON RANCH

Cornell Rd. Cornell

Calabasas MILES 5 Westlake Blvd. Westlake MISHE MOKWA LOS ANGELES COUNTY 0 10 TRAILHEAD Kanan Dume Rd. P Yerba SANDSTONE Mulholland Hwy. 1 PEAK Buena Rd. Detailed N1 118 VENTURA COUNTY 101 Thousand Oaks Los Old Topandga Canyon Rd. Oxnard 101 Angeles Little Sycamore Mulholland Hwy. N9 27 Cnyn. Rd. Malibu Detailed State Park Lake 23 10 Stunt Rd. 1 405 Mulholland Hwy. CAMPGROUND Ray Miller Mulholland Hwy. Trailhead Latigo Canyon Rd. Pacific Ocean ZUMA RIDGE Topanga State CAMPGROUND Encinal MOUNTAINWAY Canyon Rd. Malibu Creek Park P P Trippet State Park P Ranch Monte Nido P

Encinal Canyon Encinal Rd. P P

Las Saddle Peak Rd. Flores Canyon 405 Deer Creek Rd. Mulholland Hwy. Santa Topanga Canyon Blvd. Piuma Rd. Schueren Rd. Trailheads Monica Latigo Canyon Rd. Los Angeles Leo Mountains Thirteen segments break the Rambla Pacifico Yerba Buena Rd. Carillo 23 National Rd. Will Las Flores Canyon Rd. Backbone Trail into day Recreation N9 N1 Rogers

State Canyon Malibu Rd.

DeckerRd. Brentwood hikes. Hikers beware: Don’t Beach Area KananRd. Dume State Charmlee Tuna Historic Canyon Rd. leave home without a more County Park detailed map.* Park Sunset Blvd. directions are listed 1 27 Parking P here from east to west. Castellammare Pacific Solstice Palisades Canyon 1 1

Malibu Santa Monica 2

1 10 Danielson Ranch to Ray Mishe Mokwa Trailhead Trail gap to Mishe Mokwa Encinal Canyon Road to Kanan Dume Road to Latigo Canyon Road to Corral Canyon Road to Malibu Canyon Road to Stunt Road to Malibu Saddle Peak Road to Stunt Topanga Canyon Blvd. to Trippet Ranch toTopanga Will Rogers Miller Trailhead/ to Danielson Ranch Trailhead Mulholland Highway Zuma Ridge Mountainway Kanan Dume Road Latigo Canyon Road Corral Canyon Road Canyon Road Road/Schueren Road Saddle Peak Road Canyon Blvd. State Historic Park to Distance: 7.9 miles Distance: 4 miles Distance: 2.2 miles Distance: 2.5 miles Distance: 2.3 miles Distance: 4.1 miles Distance: 5.4 miles Distance: 2.1 miles Distance: 4.7 miles Distance: 5.2 miles Distance: 1.1 miles Trippet Ranch Distance: 8.1 miles Parking: At Mishe Mokwa Parking: Limited on Yerba Parking: None at either Parking: Only at Kanan Parking: Limited on Latigo Parking: Limited on Latigo Parking: At either end Parking: Limited on Stunt Parking: On Saddle Peak Parking: $3 fee at Dead Parking: $5 parking fee at Distance: 11.5 miles 1 Parking: $5 fee at Ray Trailhead on Yerba Buena Buena Road on narrow end Dume Road Canyon Road; parking lot at Canyon Road to turnout on Locating trailhead: Trail Road; lot at Malibu Canyon Road; limited parking on Horse Trailhead on Entrada Trippet Ranch; $3 parking Parking: $5 parking fee Miller Trailhead Road; no car access at turnouts; parking lot at Kanan Dume Road shoulder Road shoulder along Stunt Road Road; parking at Saddle fee at Dead Horse at either end Locating trailhead: Locating trailhead: Well- Pacific is signed but not visible at Locating trailhead: Danielson Ranch Mishe Mokwa Unmarked at both ends, marked trail ends at Locating trailhead: Trail is Ocean Locating trailhead: Trail Malibu Canyon Road. Look Locating trailhead: Trail Locating trailhead: Peak Road Trailhead on Entrada Road Locating trailhead: 1 Backbone Trail designated Locating trailhead: Locating trailhead: Hard trail is hard to find. West unfinished segment. Walk signed at Latigo Canyon is signed, but in the brush for a lot south of Piuma is unsigned as it leaves Unmarked as it continues Locating trailhead: After Locating trailhead: Signed at both ends. at west end. Rerouted to continue from to find at Yerba Buena end is a half-mile from the north less than a half-mile Road, but hard to see from several feet off Latigo Road intersection. Stunt Road. Look for it 2.8 west of the Saddle Peak crossing Greenleaf Canyon Unsigned and difficult to Mishe Mokwa to a Road. Look for a small intersection of Decker to Encinal Canyon Road (no road. Look for trail 2.8 Canyon Road. miles from intersection of trailhead. Look for it Road bridge and before the find at Topanga Canyon connector route that leads hiking sign (no mention of Canyon and Mulholland parking) or return to Kanan miles from the intersection Mulholland Highway and climbing steeply at road takes a sharp right Blvd. Look for it across to Trail. the Backbone) 1.7 miles Highway; look for hiking Dume Road. of Kanan Dume Road and Stunt Road. intersection of Schueren and turn, look for a trail that from the Greenleaf Canyon This segment is not signed from the intersection of sign and gate just off the Latigo Canyon Road. Stunt roads; sign for a goes up the hill to the left. Road bridge. at each end as Backbone Little Sycamore Canyon highway. connector trail from Stunt Trail is signed as it comes Trail. Road (which becomes Yerba Road is obscured by brush. down to Saddle Peak Road. Buena) and Mulholland Highway.

Three standouts Flora and fauna Ray Miller Trailhead at La Jolla Canyon The Backbone Trail cuts across seven of nine plant MILES to Danielson Ranch N communities in the . Wildlife 0 1.0 Danielson For insatiable viewmongers, the Backbone saves the best for Ranch includes coyotes, mule deer, coast horned lizards, Southern Freshwater marshes last. The western end of the trail starts at sea level from La Pacific rattlesnakes, bobcats, mountain lions, gray foxes as Edges of ponds and lakes; sedges, Jolla Canyon then climbs quickly along a quiet path where you well as birds such as red-tailed hawks, quail and tules and cattails. can gaze at the Pacific and debate which Channel Island is golden eagles. Oak woodlands which or look inland toward grasslands and 1,266-foot Mugu Peak. Mountain bikers, allowed on part of this stretch, are Primarily in Topanga and Malibu La Jolla Widespread on inland slopes diverted through Sycamore Canyon under a canopy of trees Canyon canyons; coast live oak, bracken and ridges; chamise, ceanothus that cover the fire road. After 8.1 miles, you can stop for water Trail fern, at 11 feet tall believed to be Point Mugu State Park (known as California lilac), and shade at Danielson Ranch. Load up your pack with camera the largest in the U.S. gear and binoculars — it’s well worth the weight. scrub oak, toyon. Big Sycamore Ray Miller Elevation profile Canyon Trailhead Trail (in feet) Ray Miller Danielson Ranch CAMPGROUND 1,000 1 P Parking Deer Creek Rd. 0 02468 (in miles) The western end of the trail from La Jolla Canyon climbs steeply.

Mishe Mokwa Trailhead to Danielson Ranch MILES Western slopes above beaches; Mishe coastal sagebrush, coyote Solitude seekers and rock hounds take note: This may be the 0 1.0 Mokwa brush, buckwheat and three least-traveled section of the Backbone because the trailhead is N Trailhead Danielson different sages. remote and not well signed. Here, the trail meanders through BONEY RIDGE Ranch meadows of shoulder-high grass, climbs toward Sandstone SANDSTONE PEAK P Peak, the highest point in the Santa Monica Mountains, and P traverses Boney Ridge, offering wide views of the ocean and the Rd. Point Mugu Circle X Oxnard Plain. But the towering rocks and dramatic crags really State Park Ranch P Buena define this landscape. You can hike 7.9 miles west on the Backbone or, if you want to explore, take a spur trail to Sandstone’s 3,111-foot summit or do a 5-mile loop that includes Cotharin Rd.Yerba a big-picture stop at Inspiration Point. Elevation profile (in feet) Mishe Mokwa Danielson 2,000 SYCAMORE CANYON Grassland Oak 1,000 Open grassy areas; valley oak, Deer Creek Rd. Not extensive, mostly in La Jolla Valley at

Yerba Buena Rd. Point Mugu State Park; many non-native Riparian woodlands at its southernmost limit. 0 1 02468 grasses, but some natives, such as purple Streambanks; western sycamores, (in miles) View at sunset from Sandstone Peak looking northwest toward Camarillo. needlegrass, survive. Fremont cottonwoods, California bay, big leaf maple, white alder. MILES Will Rogers State Historic Park to Trippet Ranch N This eastern-most stretch is 11.5 miles of Backbone bliss. You 0 1.0 can peer into cha parral-studded canyons from rocky ridges, CAMPGROUND scramble to the top of a hulking sandstone slab called Eagle P Eagle Rock Birth of the Backbone Rock (no, not that Eagle Rock) or take refuge from the heat P Loop Trail Early baptism: Early in the 20th century, Rogers State Historic Park in Pacific “Hiking Trails of the Santa Monica is celebrated. Half are newly built trails, Service invites hikers to spend the night under sun-shielding oaks. But be prepared to share. Hikers Entrada the area is known as the Devil’s Palisades. Mountains” in 1980. half are pre-existing trails and fire roads. at campgrounds along the route. sometimes bristle when mountain bikers appear on the narrow Road Trippet Ranch Backbone Trail. The U’s turn: In 1978, Pepperdine Foot patrol: With an eye toward plotting Heard it all before: Campaigning for Closer, closer: Closing of 3-mile gap in and steep single-track portion that starts near the beginning at 27 Will Rogers. Don’t expect solitude — the masses flock to this Grand plan: Notion of a foot trail across University sells the state 145 acres in the route, about 10 hikers in 1983 begin bond money in 1990, director of Santa upper Zuma Canyon in 1999 creates 40 well-signed, accessible segment. Topanga Canyon Blvd. the Santa Monica Mountains that spans Topanga Canyon, the first parcel walking the length of the proposed trail. Monica Conservancy “guarantees” miles of continuous trails. two counties takes hold by early 1970s. earmarked for the Backbone Trail. Some ranching paths date to the days of Backbone will be completed within 18 It’s a wonderful trail: Ghost of Frank Elevation profile Proposed Ridge Trail is expected to run Politicians on the hill: Backbone gets a Mexican land grants. months. Capra joins the saga in 1999, when his (in feet) roughly west from to the higher profile when Congress creates United, we dig: In 1986, Youth Master of this universe: Trail blazer Ron heirs deed to the cause 160 acres the Temescal Pacific Ocean at Point Mugu State Park. 3,000 Fire Road Santa Monica Mountains National Conservation Corps builds the first Webster, who designs and oversees filmmaker once owned between Will Rogers Trippet Getting a spine: In 1974, California Recreation Area in 1978. segment of the trail on federal land, 1ƒ building of many segments, is honored Westlake Village and Malibu. 2,000 Legislature approves early version of Another engine: Plans pick up steam miles in Newton Canyon. in 1992 for his work on the Hondo 59.5 miles and counting: When will it be Tuna Canyon Rd. (and funding for) what is now being when the land-buying Santa Monica Is that in dog years?: There’s a “good Canyon section. done? It’s complicated. Easements, land 1,000 27 called the Backbone Trail. Mountains Conservancy is formed in chance” Backbone will be completed Hello, Hollywood: In 1997, Gregory Peck buys and trail-building slow finish of 0 Will Rogers Goodbye, Griffith: Development of 1980. Its No. 1 priority? You got it. within five years, a National Park makes a pitch to raise money to pay for planned 64-mile trail to a crawl. One 02 4 6 810 State Park private property around Griffith Park in The good book: Milt McAuley, known as Service official says in 1986. the final 6-mile gap. Donors can buy it official prediction: 2007. (in miles) Sunset Blvd. Parking P the mid-’70s causes plans to shrink. the father of the Backbone, borrows Define “almost done”: With 43 miles in by the foot — at $100 a pop. Photographs by Al Seib Easternmost point is changed to Will against his insurance policy to print his place in 1990, “near completion” of trail Camp Backbone: In 1998, the Park Oaks provide shade along a stretch of the trail near Trippet Ranch. * Trail segments rounded off to the nearest 10th of a mile account for the discrepancy in total mileage

Sources: “Guide to the Backbone Trail”; National Park Service, “Flowering Plants: The Santa Monica Mountains, Coastal & Chaparral Regions of ”; California Native Plant Society; Times files. Graphics reporting by Mary Forgione, Leslie Carlson Times staff writers, and Bill Sharpsteen, for The Times Leslie Carlson Los Angeles Times

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