Backpacking the Backbone: Will Rogers to Kanan Road
Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2018 7:42 am
The Backbone Trail runs roughly 68 miles through the Santa Monica Mountains from Will Rogers State Park in Pacific Palisades to Point Mugu State Park in Ventura County. It begs to be through-hiked, but the lack of legal trail camps at appropriate locations really makes that a challenge. Apparently, last year the appropriate bureaucracies looked at the feasibility of locating additional camps along trail, but as things now sit, that is just a pipe dream. That having been said, it is feasible to through hike a good portion of the trail using the Musch trail camp in Topanga State Park and the established campground at Malibu Creek State Park. So last Friday morning, me, my daughter, and a friend set off do just that.
Doing this hike requires either dropping a car at both ends or having someone shuttle you to and from the trailheads. Fortunately, my wife is a good sport so we had the luxury of the second option.
We started from Will Rogers State Park Friday morning about 10 a.m. Musch Trail Camp was only about 11 miles so we could afford a later start and a leisure pace. The trail from Will Rogers climbs steadily through the chaparral-covered hillsides gaining views of the Los Angeles basin as you climb. Snow capped Baldy was visible to the east, but the basin was obscured by a dense layer of a soupy brown haze. This section to the Hub is heavily traveled by mountain bikers, but on this weekday, the two-wheeled traffic was light so we had the trail almost to ourselves.
At the Hub, we stopped briefly to admire the views and get some water. Their is a composing toilet there that a passerby told his female companion was disgusting, but my friend said it was pretty darn clean. From there, we traversed over to Eagle Rock where we sat and had snacks before dropping down the Musch around 3:30 p.m. or so where I discovered that I had picked up my first tick of the new year. Yay!
Musch has 8 level camp spots that are available on a first come, first served basis. The cost is $7/per person which is paid by self registration at the campsite. The site also has picnic tables, two super clean bathrooms stocked with TP, two wash basins, and a spigot for potable water. Because the site sits immediately trailside, I wasn't expecting it to be that great but it was a very pleasant spot to spend the evening.
Saturday morning, we broke camp around 9 a.m. and dropped down the trail to Topanga Canyon Road. Here, the trail climbs a knoll and then drops again to Old Topanga Canyon Road before crossing into Hondo Canyon. Candidly, this section of the trail was not that compelling. And it was ill-marked in places which caused some navigational confusion. If one wanted to avoid both breakfast at Musch and walking this stretch of the trail, an alternative would be to walk down Topanga Canyon Road to near its intersection with Old Topanga Road, get breakfast at one of the local diners, and then pick the path back up where it crosses Old Topanga Canyon Road.
Anyhoo, out of Hondo Canyon, the Backbone ascends for a good couple of miles to Saddle Peak Road. The path here is shady and pleasant despite the continuous climb. From Saddle Peak Road, the trail traverses the ridge road-side before spitting you out at the Lois Ewen Overlook at Stunt Road. Here, you can simultaneously look north into the San Fernando Valley and south to the mighty Pacific.
Picking up the trail from here is not obvious or well marked, but because we had signal, we were able to locate it with the assistance of Google Maps. More climbing here to the high point before the Backbone makes a long, slow, and rocky descent to Piuma Road and then ultimately, to Malibu Canyon Road. Here, my wife (bless her heart) met us with pizza, cold beer, and firewood, and shuttled over to Malibu Creek State Park for the night. Camping here is now $45/night with a $7 service charge, but the place was relatively quiet, and it has clean bathrooms and showers.
The final day, we trekked through Malibu Creek State Park instead of back-tracking through Tapia County Park to reconnect with the Backbone. We walked through the old M*A*S*H site, climbed Bulldog Road to the Castro Crest, and then dropped back to Corral Canyon where we picked up the Backbone Trail again. The trail through Corral Canyon is lush and green and cool, which was a nice respite from the sun. From here, the trail yo-yo's up to a saddle between Corral Canyon and Latigo Canyon, down into Latigo Canyon, back up to cross Latigo Road, and then down into the canyon for the final stretch to Kanan Road where my wife picked us back up around 4 p.m.
Total mileage: 40.42
Total elevation: 7335
P.S.- I had more pics I could have posted but I think I hit the Tapatalk max so this is all you're gonna get. Lol.
Doing this hike requires either dropping a car at both ends or having someone shuttle you to and from the trailheads. Fortunately, my wife is a good sport so we had the luxury of the second option.
We started from Will Rogers State Park Friday morning about 10 a.m. Musch Trail Camp was only about 11 miles so we could afford a later start and a leisure pace. The trail from Will Rogers climbs steadily through the chaparral-covered hillsides gaining views of the Los Angeles basin as you climb. Snow capped Baldy was visible to the east, but the basin was obscured by a dense layer of a soupy brown haze. This section to the Hub is heavily traveled by mountain bikers, but on this weekday, the two-wheeled traffic was light so we had the trail almost to ourselves.
At the Hub, we stopped briefly to admire the views and get some water. Their is a composing toilet there that a passerby told his female companion was disgusting, but my friend said it was pretty darn clean. From there, we traversed over to Eagle Rock where we sat and had snacks before dropping down the Musch around 3:30 p.m. or so where I discovered that I had picked up my first tick of the new year. Yay!
Musch has 8 level camp spots that are available on a first come, first served basis. The cost is $7/per person which is paid by self registration at the campsite. The site also has picnic tables, two super clean bathrooms stocked with TP, two wash basins, and a spigot for potable water. Because the site sits immediately trailside, I wasn't expecting it to be that great but it was a very pleasant spot to spend the evening.
Saturday morning, we broke camp around 9 a.m. and dropped down the trail to Topanga Canyon Road. Here, the trail climbs a knoll and then drops again to Old Topanga Canyon Road before crossing into Hondo Canyon. Candidly, this section of the trail was not that compelling. And it was ill-marked in places which caused some navigational confusion. If one wanted to avoid both breakfast at Musch and walking this stretch of the trail, an alternative would be to walk down Topanga Canyon Road to near its intersection with Old Topanga Road, get breakfast at one of the local diners, and then pick the path back up where it crosses Old Topanga Canyon Road.
Anyhoo, out of Hondo Canyon, the Backbone ascends for a good couple of miles to Saddle Peak Road. The path here is shady and pleasant despite the continuous climb. From Saddle Peak Road, the trail traverses the ridge road-side before spitting you out at the Lois Ewen Overlook at Stunt Road. Here, you can simultaneously look north into the San Fernando Valley and south to the mighty Pacific.
Picking up the trail from here is not obvious or well marked, but because we had signal, we were able to locate it with the assistance of Google Maps. More climbing here to the high point before the Backbone makes a long, slow, and rocky descent to Piuma Road and then ultimately, to Malibu Canyon Road. Here, my wife (bless her heart) met us with pizza, cold beer, and firewood, and shuttled over to Malibu Creek State Park for the night. Camping here is now $45/night with a $7 service charge, but the place was relatively quiet, and it has clean bathrooms and showers.
The final day, we trekked through Malibu Creek State Park instead of back-tracking through Tapia County Park to reconnect with the Backbone. We walked through the old M*A*S*H site, climbed Bulldog Road to the Castro Crest, and then dropped back to Corral Canyon where we picked up the Backbone Trail again. The trail through Corral Canyon is lush and green and cool, which was a nice respite from the sun. From here, the trail yo-yo's up to a saddle between Corral Canyon and Latigo Canyon, down into Latigo Canyon, back up to cross Latigo Road, and then down into the canyon for the final stretch to Kanan Road where my wife picked us back up around 4 p.m.
Total mileage: 40.42
Total elevation: 7335
P.S.- I had more pics I could have posted but I think I hit the Tapatalk max so this is all you're gonna get. Lol.