Hiking Eagle Rock and Temescal Peak

A 7+ mile semi-loop in one of the Los Angeles area’s most accessible parks. Some classic, Sycamore-covered SoCal geography, with meadows, boulder formations and outcroppings, and rolling chaparral ridges. Excellent views of the Pacific Ocean, the Santa Monica Mountains and — if you’re lucky — the far reaching sprawl of the Los Angeles megalopolis.

The Basics:

- Distance: 7.41 miles
- Elevation Gain: 926 feet
- Time: About 2 hours, 45 minutes with some slight rests.
- Trail Condition: Excellent. Most of this route is on fire roads, but the trails in Topanga State Park are well-worn and well taken-care of.
- How To Get There: Take the Pacific Coast Highway north from Santa Monica to Topanga Canyon Blvd. Just past the village of Topanga, bear right onto Entrada Road and follow the signs for Topanga State Park. Parking is five dollars (as of Jan. 2008) at Trippet Ranch, although you can park along the side of the road just outside the gate and hike in for free. But don’t be cheap — our parks are running out of money, according to the Governator. If you’re staying overnight, you have to register.
- Map It

The Notables:

- Wide, relatively level fire-roads for trail-running.
- Great views of Topanga Canyon, Santa Monica Bay, and on clear days almost the entire L.A. Basin and San Fernando Valley.
- One of Los Angeles’ closest and largest State Parks.

More Pictures:
- On Flickr. I also have some pictures from an earlier hike on the Musch Trail during the summer, posted here.

Eagle Rock and Temescal Peak at EveryTrail

Map created by EveryTrail:Share GPS tracks

Rainy days in Los Angeles are great — as long as you’re not driving anywhere. After the downpours or drizzles have stopped, we SoCal hikers are usually blessed with one or two days of spectacularly clear skies. The air is clear, everything has that fresh-rain smell, and if it’s the winter, the mountains usually get a healthy dusting of snow. One quick whiff of that post-rain air and all you want to do is run into the woods somewhere.

We just got a healthy (and much needed) dose of precipitation here in L.A., but unfortunately the "clear day" fell on the following Monday, when working saps like me have to go sit in an office building. I remember walking by an office that had a view of the Hollywood Hills and spotting a light layer of snow on the lower peaks.

That was it. I had to get out.

I scrambled to finish up my writing and sped home, stopping to climb to my building’s roof to catch a snapshot of the clear air and mountains. The lower San Gabriels, near La Canada Flintridge, had a light coating — some farther west than I’d seen before.

Topanga State Park is the largest state park in the Santa Monica Mountains, and — according to Wikipedia — the largest State Park inside L.A. City Limits, whatever that means.

What’s important is that the park is large, has a very-well designed and labeled system of trails, and is accessible from several different approaches. From the north, you can enter off Reseda Blvd. through Caballero Canyon Park, from the south, entrances are just off Sunset Blvd. through Will Rogers and Temescal Gateway Parks, or through the Pacific Palisades neighborhood. Or you can enter from the western end of the park, from Topanga Canyon’s Trippet Ranch.

I hadn’t been to this park in a long time, although it was one of the first places I started hiking in Los Angeles. On a Monday afternoon, the Trippet Ranch parking lot was almost empty, and the air had just enough of a chill to require long sleeves. In other words, perfect.

From Trippet Ranch, there are several options, and I decided to heard toward Eagle Rock on the Eagle Springs Fire Road instead of taking the Backbone Trail / Musch Trail. I should note, however, that during the spring and summer, the meadows on the Musch Trail absolutely explode with color, and it’s definitely worth exploring.

The area around Trippet Ranch is still a working ranch, which means occasionally, a truck will find its way onto the fire roads that lace the mountains and canyons. Unfortunately, though, even all the horsepower of a four-wheel pickup is no match for a nice helping of rain in the mountains.

From the parking lot, you can either wind up the East Topanga Fire Road to the Eagle Springs Route, or you can proceed up the much shorter Nature Trail that passes a ranch building / education center. It’s a very short path, and dives under some tree-cover for a quick glimpse at some typical coastal range sycamores.

Shortly after that, you’ll find yourself on the Fire Road, which is wide, sandy, and well-maintained. If you’re hiking this in the summer, be aware that there’s almost no shade on any of the Fire Roads. What they lack in shade, though, they make up for in views. Almost immediately, you’ll be able to see wide-angle panoramas of Topanga Canyon and the rest of the Santa Monicas to the west.

And, as it had just rained, the air was clear enough for me to spot some of the more southern Los Padres Mountains, also-snowcapped from the recent storm.

There is a lot of wildlife within the boundaries of Topanga State Park. I have had a few close-up encounters with some large deer and bobcats, and met people on the trail who’ve seen mountain lions (thankfully, from a distance). On the more mundane end of the spectrum, this park is also full of birds and lizards — but there’s nothing mundane about watching a hawk glide effortlessly along thermals near the canyon walls.

After just over a mile of hiking on the fire road, you’ll start to make out the monolithic face of Eagle Rock, rising dramatically from the rest of the surrounding landscape.

Here, the fire road meets back up with the Musch Trail and splits into a lower road and more rugged, ascending fire road. The ascending road winds for another half-mile or so, and will take you to the top of Eagle Rock itself. There, you can (carefully) walk along the rock formation and sit near the edge for some great views. The less adventurous can chill out on an engraved park bench that sits just above the rock formation.

If all you’re looking for is a quick in-and-out, and maybe a good picnic spot, this should do the trick for ya. But I wanted to use all of the daylight hours of my surprise Monday hiking time … so after stopping at Eagle Rock for a few minutes, continued on the fire road eastbound. There were plenty of great north-facing views, as well as some distant views of the San Gabriels (I told you visibility is great after a rain!) and just generally nice scenery all around.

Once you reach “Hub Junction,” it’s less than a mile south to meet up with the Rogers Road Trail, which will be the only time you’ve stepped off a fire road on this route unless you chose the Musch Trail at Trippet Ranch. If so, it will be – by far – the most forested section of the trail for you.

You’ll only be on this trail for a very short time. Keep your eye peeled for a use-trail on your left hand side, and take this through a small scrub meadow and up to the unimpressive looking, but clearly marked Temescal Peak.

It is another nice place to stop and take a hike break, as well as gaze back at Eagle Rock — just for a good dose of perspective and scale.

I can’t vouch for non-post-rain views, but after a good sky-scrubbing, this peak sure makes for some great near-360 degree views. Here’s a short video from the peak — you can make out Santa Catalina Island, Palos Verdes, Santa Monica, Westwood, downtown L.A., the San Gabriels, Studio City, and the entire expanse of Topanga State Park.

From there, it’s back down to the fire roads and just under 3.5 miles back to Trippet Ranch. If you’ve got energy left, you can join the park’s joggers and try your hand at trail-running … or you can just take your time, and maybe get to enjoy the sun setting behind the mountains in front of you.

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Tagged as: Backbone Trail, Eagle Rock, Hiking, hiking in Los Angeles, Santa Monica Mountains, Temescal Peak, Topanga, Topanga Canyon, Topanga State Park, trails