Читать книгу 101 Hikes in Southern California - Jerry Schad - Страница 22

HIKE 9

Solstice Canyon Park

Location: Santa Monica Mountains (Malibu)

Highlights: Superb oak woodland and lessons in fire ecology

Distance: 2.4 miles (out-and-back)

Total Elevation Gain/Loss: 350'/350'

Hiking Time: 1½ hours

Optional Maps: Trails Illustrated Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area or USGS 7.5-minute Malibu Beach and Point Dume

Best Times: All year

Agency: SMMNRA

Difficulty: Easy

Trail Use: Dogs allowed, good for kids

The easy-going but scenic Solstice Canyon Trail takes you through the grounds of the former Robert’s Ranch—now Solstice Canyon Park, a site administered by the National Park Service. The canyon once hosted a private zoo where giraffes, camels, deer, and exotic birds roamed. At trail’s end you come to Tropical Terrace, the site of an architecturally noted grand home that burned in a 1982 wildfire.

Live oak in Solstice Canyon

To Reach the Trailhead: From Highway 1 in Malibu 0.3 mile west of mile marker 001 LA 50.0, turn north onto Corral Canyon Road. In 0.2 mile, turn left into the park. There’s overflow parking space for several cars at the entrance, and a more spacious lot 0.3 mile farther inside at the main trailhead. Parking is free. Carpooling is encouraged since parking space is limited. Posted park hours are 8 a.m.–s unset. The trail description begins from the inside parking lot.

Description: Starting at the main trailhead, pass through a gate and continue upstream alongside the canyon’s melodious creek. The path is paved for much of the way. You travel through a fantastic woodland of alder, sycamore, bay, and live oak—the latter with trunks up to 18 feet in circumference. In 0.7 mile, you pass an 1865 stone cottage on the right—thought to be the oldest existing stone building in Malibu.

At 1.2 miles, you arrive at the remains of Tropical Terrace. In a setting of palms and giant birds-of-paradise, curved flagstone steps sweep toward the roofless remains of what was for 26 years one of Malibu’s grand homes. Beyond the house, crumbling stone steps and pathways lead to what used to be elaborately decorated rock grottoes, as well as a waterfall on Solstice Canyon’s creek. Hidden among the Tropical Terrace ruins are the remains of a concrete bomb shelter. For all its perfectly natural setting, Tropical Terrace’s destiny was that of a temporary paradise, wiped out by both fire and flood.

The steep and rugged Sostomo Trail continues up the canyon, eventually joining the Deer Valley Loop for those who want a longer trip. A beautiful but strenuous option for a loop hike is to return via the Rising Sun Trail, which adds 500 feet of climbing onto the canyon wall but offers fantastic coastline views stretching from the Palos Verdes Peninsula to Point Dume. Otherwise, you can turn around at Tropical Terrace and start an easy, gentle descent back to the trailhead.

Back at the trailhead parking lot you may want to check out the Dry Creek Trail, which goes northeast up an oak-shaded ravine for about 0.6 mile before entering private property. An outrageously cantilevered “Darth Vader” house overlooks the ravine as well as a 150-foot-high precipice that infrequently becomes a spectacular waterfall.

Tropical Terrace ruins in Solstice Canyon