Viewridge Road/Santa Maria Canyon Trail(edit)

Overview

This is a moderate loop trail in Summit Valley Edmund D. Edelman Park in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. This hike is in Topanga Canyon which is a more lush part with trees and green bushes. The trail is a single track but is well maintained and fairly easy to follow. There are excellent views of the canyon. As you head south you'll be dropping in elevation and you'll cross Santa Maria road. Shortly after the trail is on a rocky area. There is a picnic bench there and if you look carefully there is a trail down to some caves at Lat: 34.12154, Lon: -118.58608. There is a step down for the first one and a larger step down for the second one so hiking poles or a walking stick will be useful to lever your self out.

The whole trail is in the park, but you'll be very near to some homes. The boundaries of the park are not marked on either open street or NeoTreks (they are on Google maps). You can refer to the park web site: https://mrca.ca.gov/parks/park-listing/summit-valley-edmund-d-edelman-park/ for details on the trail and park boundary.

Getting Started

The trail head is at the end of Viewridge Road on the east side of Topanga Canyon Boulevard. You can park for free on the street. The trail head will be on the south side and there is a sign. There are no restrooms (the Park restroom is on the other part of the park west of Topanga, quite a distance away) or water, the only facility is a picnic table. Also you can park on Santa Maria Road accessed from Topanga Canyon Boulevard (it's a private road from the other direction) which is closer to the picnic table and caves.

This area is generally not as hot as the San Fernando Valley and there is shade. But you should still bring water because in summer the area can get hot.

Taking Children

No facilities, but the area south of Santa Maria Road has rocky surface and the caves that would be fun.