Los Liones Trail to the Parker Mesa Overlook in Pacific Palisades, California

Parker Mesa Overlook

The Los Liones Trail is a popular recreational trail located a few miles north of Santa Monica California, just off Pacific Coast Highway. Most people use this trail to connect to the Paseo Miramar Trail and continue on to the Parker Mesa Overlook. From the locked gate on Los Liones Drive, you're looking at about a 7 mile round trip to the overlook and back.

The first mile of the Los Liones trail is the steepest, but its shaded and the grade is relatively gradual. This section is a single track trail. After a mile, you'll come to the fork for the Paseo Miramar Trail. Make a left and continue uphill for an additional 2.4 miles to the Parker Mesa Overlook. The Paseo Miramar Trail is extremely wide and well-maintained. The trail is almost entirely uphill and there is absolutely no shade, so bring a ton of water.  You will pass several small spur trails, but you can just ignore them. Just stay on the wide trail and follow the signs to the overlook.You may also see mountain bikers on this section of the trail, so keep an eye open. 

The overlook at the top is absolutely worth the climb. You can see all of Los Angeles and a stretch of beach south all the way to the hills in Rancho Palos Verdes. After a well-deserved rest, just turn around and head back down exactly the way you came in.

For those of you looking for a really brutal hike, you might think about taking the spur off of Miramar trail for the E. Topanga Fire Road and heading north all the way to Eagle Rock. I’ve never personally done this section, so I can’t vouch for it.  A round-trip hike from gate at the Los Liones trailhead to Eagle Rock is 14 miles. 

Directions:

From Santa Monica, head North on Route 1, Pacific Coast Highway.  After passing Will Rogers State Beach,  make a right onto Sunset Blvd . Go ¼ mile make a left onto Los Liones Drive.  Continue approximately ½ mile on Los Liones road to the metal gate adjacent to the Latter Day Saints church. There is free parking and several public restrooms along the right side of Los Liones Road.  Enter this address into your GPS and it will lead you directly to the trailhead:

575 Los Liones Dr

Los Angeles, CA 90272

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Escondido Falls, Malibu California

Escondido Falls

This is my favorite waterfall hike in the immediate LA area. On weekends, the trail can get extremely crowded because of its proximity to the city. I recommend hiking it during the middle of the week. The waterfall is just a trickle for most of the year, so try to hit it after a good rainstorm. 

"This hike takes you to one of the gems in the Santa Monica Mountains, the spectacular multi-tiered Escondido Falls. The hike starts out on the pavement, passing million dollar homes along Winding Way with lovely ocean views. After about a mile, an obvious trail takes you down into picturesque Escondido Canyon, crossing creek 4 or 5 times. As you approach the base of the lower falls, you can see the water dropping over the lip of the 150 ft upper falls in the distance. The lower falls are about 50 foot high and trickle over a moss covered wall into a lovely shallow pool. This is the turn around point for those not comfortable with a bit of rock scrambling.

To get to the upper falls, take the trail to the right of the lower falls up an obvious gully. At the top of the gully, go left and follow the stream over some small cascades and boulders to the base of the upper falls. This is an amazing site, with water tumbling over 3 or 4 tiers, finally falling into a deep

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Solstice Canyon Waterfall and Ruins, Malibu California

Solstice Canyon Ruins

 Solstice Canyon is a fun, relatively easy hike to a small waterfall and the ruins of an old mansion in the mountains above Malibu. The hike can be completed in less than an hour. This is a popular hike for families because the elevation gain is moderate and gradual. Many hikers turn this hike into a loop by crossing the creek at the waterfall and returning to Solstice Canyon via the Sostomo and Rising Sun Trails.

The loop takes you up over a larger mountain and might be too difficult for

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The Best Hikes in Los Angeles

The Best Hikes in LA

This is a Google map put together by ModernHiker.com of some of the best hikes in LA with detailed trail descriptions and directions to the trailheads. Click the picture of the map and it should open in a new window.

Here is a list of hikes on the map:

	Sandstone Peak and Tri-Peaks An easy hike for ‘intermediate beginners’ and novice hikers looking for a challenge. Great scenery, well-maintained trails, and lots of opportunities to branch out and explore. This is definitely one ...
	Cucamonga Peak A lengthy, steep hike up one of the tallest peaks in the San Gabriels. You’ll get a great workout, and amazing views off the peak’s nearly-sheer face — a small promontory that reveals the great L.A. S...
	Timber Mountain A long, tall hike down one of the most beautiful canyons in the Angeles National Forest. Probably the easiest way to reach Timber Mountain, the southernmost of the ‘Three Tees.’ Icehouse Saddle - just...
	Dry Lake A backpacking trip down a rarely-used route to a popular mid-mountain campground — an alpine lake-side camp in view of Southern California’s tallest mountains. A great way to get deep into the heart o...
	Matilija Creek A beautiful, isolated, and rugged river canyon in the Los Padres National Forest. Lots of river crossings, swimming holes, fascinating geology, and opportunities for off-trail adventuring. Read more...
	Mount Lawlor A short but rugged trip up to one of the lesser-known summits in the San Gabriels. Easily accessible, but still moderately challenging, with some light rock-scrambling and a use-trail descent if you’r...

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Mishe Mokwa Trail

Mishe Mokwa Trail, Santa Monica Mountains

This is an interesting article about one of my all time favorite trails, the Mishe Mokwa Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains. You can drive from Malibu Beach to the trail-head in less than fifteen minutes.

http://www.sierradescents.com/hiking/sandstone-peak/2007/mishe-mokwa-trail.php

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The Grotto Trail, Malibu

The Grotto, Malibu

The Grotto, Malibu

The Grotto trail is a short, but fun 3 ½ mile round-trip hike to see a 20 foot waterfall that flows into a hidden cave.  The trail features a few other smaller waterfalls and a beautiful open meadow that is filled with wildflowers in the spring.  As you approach the waterfall on the grotto trail, the canyon narrows and the last ¼ mile of the trail can be a bit tricky. To reach the base of the falls and the hidden cave, you’ll have to navigate around, over, and through a maze of house-sized boulders. Grandma and your fat uncle Phil will have to wait at the top of the falls while everyone else does some exploring. You probably won’t be able to spend the entire day at the Grotto, but you might consider heading over to nearby Temescal Canyon in Santa Monica afterwards. 

To reach the Grotto trailhead from Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, turn onto Yerba Buena Road and follow it 5 ½ miles to the Circle X Ranch Ranger Station.

For a more detailed description of the actual trail, visit http://socal.hiking.info/ventura/ve-grotto.php

Grotto Trail, Malibu California

The Grotto, Malibu California

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Temescal Canyon, Santa Monica

Temescal Canyon, Santa Monica

My girlfriend and I hiked Temescal Canyon State Park in Santa Monica today for the first time. We had a bit of rain this week, so I decided to drive out and see it in prime form. The park is really easy to find. From route 10, you head North on Pacific Coast Highway for about 2 miles and turn right onto Temescal Canyon Road and follow it another 2 miles to the end. There was a pay parking lot for 7$, but we found plenty of free street parking less than 500 feet from the pay lot.

To get to the trailhead, you follow the paved road for about a half mile until it ends at a group of cabins. We found a kiosk on the way with free maps. The hike to the falls is only a mile from the trailhead, but we turned it into a 5 mile loop. We started on the trailhead marked “waterfall”. The trail is wide and well-traveled, if not a bit rocky. There were a ton of signs forbidding dogs on the trail. Its an uphill climb all the way to the falls. We saw quite a few out of shape hikers huffing and puffing. I was a little disappointed in the falls. They were fed by a very small creek. There was a large family with a ton of kids having a picnic at the base of the falls. One woman was screaming at her kids at the top of her lungs while they played. I suddenly remembered why I never hike on Sundays.

From the falls, we crossed a metal bridge and began the Temescal Ridge trail. It continues steadily upward, winding along a path carved into the mountain. By this point, I was breathing a little harder myself. A ton of people were passing us on the way down. I saw more beautiful girls on this trail than I’ve seen in my past twenty hikes combined. The eye candy is always motivation to continue. My girlfriend was not amused by the perfectly bronzed brunette who was hiking in a Brazilian cut bikini. It was the highlight of my trip.

2 miles from the waterfall and we reached the summit. We had a view unmatched anywhere in Los Angeles. We could see from LA all the way to the beaches and everything in between. It really makes you appreciate how populated LA really is when you see the endless expanse of buildings in the valley below you.

From the summit, we continued on the Temescal ridge trail which descended back to the main part of the park, completing the loop. It was only a 5 mile hike, but it was a hard 5 miles because of the elevation gain. I can really feel the burning in my calves. A recent peer-reviewed study found that beer was a great way to loosen stiff muscles after a hike. I have no argument with that.

Temescal Canyon Trail

Temescal Canyon Trail

Temescal Canyon Falls

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