Hiking Temescal Canyon

At the peak of Temescal Rivas Trail, Catalina Island in the distance.

Hugging the Pacific on the northern edge of Malibu is a wide ranging recreation area known as Temesecal Canyon. Home to two high schools and beach front homes, the main attraction is Temescal Regional State Park, an extension of Topanga State Park and part of the Santa Monica Mountains.

Once parked, remember to pre-pay by grabbing a payment envelope from the brown mailing posts that line the lot. Parking is $7.00. Be sure to make your parking stub visible on your dashboard. Failure to do so will result in a $70.00 parking fine. (Trust me on this)

There are three main trails. Once you come to the fork in the road, you can either go left and head into Temescal Canyon and Temescal Ridge or turn right, heading into Temescal Rivas Canyon and end in Will Rogers State Park.

You can take the long looping and gentle uphill route or cut into a steep, tree-stump staircase that shortcuts you onto the Temescal Rivas Trail. The trail is narrow and steep, including the final two switchbacks, but once you're at the top, the view will take whatever remaining breath you have left inside you away.

Once at the top, off to your right, you can see the Temescal Ridge trail, which brings you to essentially the same view of the state beach and, on a clear day, Catalina Island in the distance. The Temescal Canyon/Ridge loop is four miles long and take about two hours at a leisurely pace to complete.

Temescal Ridge is off to the left of Temescal Rivas' peak.

One final note. As with hiking anywhere there is heavy vegetation, keep your eyes open at all times, including occassionally scanning the ground for animal prints. If you see fresh prints of predatory animals, proceed with caution or turn back. Trust your judgment.

Paw prints in fresh mud are a dead giveaway that a large cat has been thru here.