101 Hikes in Southern California. Jerry Schad

the road beside the Circle X Ranch Group Campground (camping by reservation only).

      Rock-hopping in the Grotto

      Description: Start hiking at the Circle X Ranch park office. Walk down to the group campground, where you find and follow the Grotto Trail heading south down along a shady, seasonal creek. Keep going downhill as you pass the Canyon View Trail intersecting on the left. Shortly afterward, you cross the creek at a point immediately above a 30-foot drop, which becomes a trickling waterfall in winter and spring. You then go uphill, gaining about 50 feet of elevation, and cross an open meadow offering fine views of both Boney Mountain above and a deep-cut gorge (the west fork of Arroyo Sequit) below. Maintain your descent, which becomes sharper as you get closer to the bottom of the gorge.

      When you come upon an old roadbed at the bottom, stay left, cross the creek, and continue downstream on a narrowing trail along the shaded east bank. Curve left when you reach a grove of fantastically twisted live oaks at the confluence of two stream forks. On the edge of this grove, an overflow pipe coming out of a tank discharges tepid spring water. Continue another 200 yards down along the now-lively brook to the trail’s abrupt end at The Grotto, a narrow, spooky constriction flanked by sheer volcanic-rock walls. If your sense of balance is good, you can clamber over gray rock ledges and massive boulders fallen from the canyon walls—just as thousands of Boy Scouts have done in the past. At one spot you can peer cautiously into a gloomy cavern, where you more easily hear than see the subterranean stream. Watermarks on the boulders above are evidence that this part of the gorge probably supports a two-tier stream in times of flood.

      When you’ve had your fill of adventuring, return by the same route, uphill almost the whole way.

      HIKE 6

      Charmlee Wilderness Park

      Location: Santa Monica Mountains

      Highlights: Spring wildflowers and ocean views

      Distance: 2.8 miles (loop)

      Total Elevation Gain/Loss: 500'/500'

      Hiking Time: 1½ hours

      Optional Maps: Trails Illustrated Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area or USGS 7.5-minute Triunfo Pass

      Best Times: 8 a.m.–sunset, all year

      Agency: CW

      Difficulty: Easy

      Trail Use: Dogs allowed, good for kids

      Charmlee Wilderness Park (also known as Charmlee Natural Area), 590 acres of meadow, oak woodland, sage scrub, and chaparral, was first opened to the public in 1981 as a unit of the Los Angeles County park system. Today the City of Malibu administers the park, which lies on that coastal city’s western extremity. Never designed to accommodate a large number of visitors, Charmlee’s parking lot is often full on the weekends. A spiderweb of trails totaling 8 miles covers the park, making it a great place to ramble with family and friends for wildflower spotting in spring and ocean watching on any clear day. The perimeter route described below is pieced together out of the maze of unevenly signed footpaths and old ranch roads in the park. Never fear if you find yourself straying from the route; aim downhill to get to the ocean views and uphill to return to the parking area.

      To Reach the Trailhead: To reach Charmlee Wilderness Park from Santa Monica, drive 25 miles west on Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) to a point 0.5 mile west of mile marker 001 LA 59.0. Turn north on Encinal Canyon Road, and proceed 4 miles to the park’s well-marked entrance. Gates are open 8 a.m.–sunset daily. Pay the $4 parking fee at the iron ranger.

      Description: From the parking lot, walk on pavement to the nature center (if it is open, pick up a guide for the interpretive signposts). Head uphill on a paved road, which soon becomes dirt and bends north up a slope. Make an acute left turn at the top by a gate, and then follow Potrero Rd. along the ridge road past a hilltop water tank. Boney Mountain, the eroded core of an old volcano, stands prominently on the crest of the Santa Monicas. Curve left at a junction, and head east to meet Charmichael Road. From here, consider a short detour left (south) to visit the foundation of an old ranch home in the oaks on a hilltop overlooking the meadow.

      Resuming your walk, continue down Potrero Road to the edge of the park’s large central meadow, where the road turns left and crosses the meadow. Continue all the way to a dry ridge topped by some old eucalyptus trees and a concretelined cistern, both relics of cattle-ranching days. From there descend to the southeast, making a broad switchback. Pass a connector trail on the left, then make a right onto a short spur leading to Ocean Vista, which delivers in a big way what its name suggests. In addition to miles of surf and sand seemingly at your feet, your eyes drink in perhaps a thousand square miles of wind-ruffled ocean. From here you can identify at least six Channel Islands if the ocean is free of haze. The small island to the west is Anacapa, with mountainous Santa Cruz Island looming behind. As your eyes roam left, you might glimpse the low ridge of San Nicholas Island far out to sea. It has become famous in children’s literature as the Island of the Blue Dolphins, based on the true story of Juana Maria, a Nicoleño Indian girl, who survived there alone for 18 years after being stranded when her tribe fled. Closer in, Santa Barbara Island rises from the sea like a broken tooth. Continuing left, look for the low form of San Clemente Island, now a Navy firing range, behind large Catalina Island. Continuing your panoramic sweep to the left, look for the Palos Verdes Hills, Santa Monica Bay, and Point Dume.

      Circle north from Ocean Vista, passing the unsigned connector trail on the left. Watch for a charming oak-shaded glade on the right, where boulders tempt you to stop and sit a bit. Just beyond, pass the East Meadow Cutoff Trail on the left, and continue straight on the East Meadow Trail. At the next junction, stay straight onto the Botany Trail and follow it into the woods. The trail ends at a shady picnic area near the parking lot.

      If it’s a spring day and you’ve kept a tally of wildflowers spotted on the hike, you may be surprised to find your list includes as many as two dozen or more.

      HIKE 7

      Zuma Canyon

      Location: Santa Monica Mountains

      Highlights: Spectacular, wild canyon trek and ocean views on the return

      Distance: 9 miles (loop)

      Total Elevation Gain/Loss: 1700'/1700'

      Hiking Time: 6 hours

      Optional Maps: Trails Illustrated Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area or USGS 7.5-minute Point Dume

      Best Times: 8 a.m.–sunset, October–June

      Agency: SMMNRA

      Difficulty: Strenuous

      Although it slices only 6 miles inland from the Pacific shoreline, Zuma Canyon harbors one of the deepest gorges in the Santa Monica Mountains. Easily on a par with nearby Malibu and Topanga Canyons in scenic wealth but much less known, Zuma Canyon holds the further distinction of never having suffered the invasion of a major road. Under cover of junglelike growths of willow, sycamore, oak, and bay, the canyon’s small stream cascades over sculpted sandstone boulders and gathers in limpid pools adorned with ferns. These natural treasures yield their secrets begrudgingly, as they should, only to those willing to scramble over boulders, plow through sucking mud and cattails, and thrash through scratchy undergrowth.

      On this challenging trek, you’ll proceed straight up the canyon’s scenic mid-section, climb out of the canyon depths via a powerline service road, and loop back to your starting point on the ridge-running Zuma Ridge Trail (a fire road). The roads are shadeless, yet they offer great vistas of the canyon, the ocean, and the seemingly interminable east-west sweep of the Santa Monica Mountains.

      Hiking