One-way distance: 10.2 miles, 2,780 feet of gain/loss moderate 2, retrace your steps for a long hike, or shorten the return to three miles by leaving a car at the Satwiwa/Rancho Sierra Vista parking lot in Newbury Park. The segment climbs 1,000 feet and then heads downhill 3,000 feet, ending in wooded Blue Canyon before arriving at Danielson Ranch, the same end point as hike No. Here too begins the Mediterranean habitat shaped by hot summers and mild, wet winters, one of five discrete places on the planet where forest, woodland, savanna and scrub-plant communities thrive. This part of the trail takes you through the only wilderness area in the SMMNRA. "You're in the spirit of the hike now, right?" he usually tells his hikers. A nearby picnic spot in an oak grove is a good place to take a break. Walk west to east through the rock to cleanse yourself of demons, Waycott suggests. Two landmarks along the trail: Balancing Rock, which lives up to its name, and Chamberlin Rock, also known as Split Rock because you can walk inside its walls. Waycott likens the rocky landscape to sculptures worthy of an art gallery. Yep, volcanoes erupted millions of years ago and left much of what you see on this route. Spoiler alert: The peak isn't made of sandstone but rather volcanic igneous rock. The Mishe Mokwa takes you to Sandstone Peak at 3,111 feet. This is one of the most dramatic parts of the Backbone Trail, placing you at the highest point in the mountain range with views in all directions. One-way distance: 8.3 miles, 4,500 feet of gain/loss strenuous Or shorten the return hike to three miles by dropping a car at the Satwiwa/Rancho Sierra Vista parking lot in Newbury Park. Tip: To retrieve your car, retrace your steps and walk back eight miles, which makes this a long day hike. Congratulations, you just completed the first segment. Follow the main canyon trail (often busy with hikers and bicyclists) to Danielson Ranch, the home of a former rancher who spent three decades here. It's wide, with oaks, sycamores and small meadows lining a creek. Enjoy the quiet before you drop into Sycamore Canyon, what Waycott identifies as one of the best pastoral canyons in Southern California. After three miles, you approach the Overlook Fire Road at the top, where you're about as far from the hum of the city as you can get. Look for sagebrush, buckwheat, ceanothus, monkey flowers and coastal sage scrub, the only place on the Backbone Trail where these plants thrive. The higher you get the more you see - first the Channel Islands and then, inland, jagged Boney Ridge. It crosses lands lived on by the Chumash and Tongva, then settled by Spanish ranchers and early homesteaders, and later reimagined by hippies who laid claim to Topanga Canyon. It's a patchwork of old ranch roads, deer paths and newly designed sections. The trail's 67½ miles travel to woodsy canyons filled with native oaks and sycamores high points for views of the Channel Islands in one direction and the San Gabriel Mountains in the other and 16-million-year-old rock spires that look more like Arizona than L.A. Pull on your hiking boots and head out on the Backbone Trail to experience the most spectacular and wildest parts of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. To take the truly scenic route from Malibu to Pacific Palisades, you won't need a car. This story is part of our ultimate guide to hiking in L.A. The sun sets behind the Santa Monica Mountains in a view from Eagle Rock along the Backbone Trail in Topanga State Park.
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