Category Archives: running

A Trail That Doesn’t Go Anywhere

Coast redwood in Malibu Creek State Park scorched by the 2018 Woolsey Fire
Coast redwood scorched by the 2018 Woolsey Fire

Jogging east on the Forest Trail, I stopped to take in the sights and sounds of the early morning. A chorus of bird songs filled the canyon, oblivious to the roar of a passing jet. There was the familiar “honking” of Canada geese and the happy improvisations of a spotted towhee, but also several other birds I could not identify.

Curious to see what Merlin Bird ID would find, I started the app and watched as it matched the songs of a red-winged blackbird, yellow warbler, ash-throated flycatcher, northern house wren, and yellow-breasted chat.

Continuing along the trail, I rounded a corner where some fallen trees had been cleared and was surprised to see someone else hiking toward me.

“You know this trail doesn’t go anywhere,” He commented.

I told him I knew, but I just liked being on the trail.

Bush poppy along the Lake Vista Trail in Malibu Creek State Park. (thumbnail)
Bush poppy along the Lake Vista Trail

That’s the thing, a trail doesn’t have to “go somewhere.” If you are open to what it tells you, a trail can take you on a journey beyond its start and end. On a trail, you can explore and experience the wonders of Nature and all that is around you.

The Forest Trail is one of the special trails of Malibu Creek State Park. I often include it when doing more well-known and popular routes, such as the Bulldog Loop and Phantom Loop.

Earlier, I’d used the Cistern, Lookout, and Yearling Trails to run through Reagan Ranch to the parking area near Mulholland Hwy and Lake Vista Drive. Frost covered the grass near the top of the Cage Creek Trail. I’d dressed for what the temperature would be later in the morning, and my hands complained of the cold.

From the parking area off Lake Vista Drive, an indistinct trail leads south along a fence line and private property to a steep SCE service road. The dirt road can be followed to the western trailhead of the Lake Vista Trail. Once on the trail, it’s about a tenth of a mile up to a pretty overlook of Malibou Lake.

Parry's Phacelia along the Lake Vista Trail in Malibu Creek State Park. (thumbnail)
Parry’s Phacelia along the Lake Vista Trail

From the overlook, the Lake Vista Trail winds in and out of ravines on the north side of “Lake Vista Butte” as it descends to the Deer Leg Trail. This stretch of trail is home to one of the largest populations of hummingbird sage I have seen on a local trail. The aromatic, distinctly-colored, large-flowered member of the Mint Family stands out along the trail. Also blooming on the Lake Vista Trail were bush poppy, stinging lupine, and Parry’s Phacelia.

Back on the Forest Trail, I continued to count the coast redwoods that survived the 2011-2015 drought and the 2018 Woolsey Fire. In July 2016, I counted about sixteen redwoods, some of which were multi-trunked. At that time only one tree appeared to be dead. Today, I counted six surviving redwoods.

There are three solitary trees and three multi-trunked clusters of trees. Two of the solitary trees appear to be those originally planted in the Century Lake area more than 100 years ago. One old redwood is on the Crags Road Trail, near the start of the Forest Trail, and the other is on the north side of the Forest Trail, as it nears Century Lake.

A very young, naturally germinated redwood is found near the east end of the Forest Trail. The three multi-trunked family groups appear to be intermediate in age and could also be naturally germinated.

Some related posts:
Forest Run
Lake Vista Ridge, the Forest Trail, and September Wildflowers
Redwoods, Raptors, and the Phantom Loop
Malibu Creek State Park Redwoods: Fighting the Drought
The Malibu Creek State Park Redwoods Are Dying

The Best Trailhead for Trail Running in Malibu Creek State Park

Talepop Trail - Malibu Creek State Park

In a 2013 post, I suggested that the Cistern/Phantom Trailhead on Mulholland Highway might be the best trailhead to start the Bulldog Loop.

More than 10 years and a lot of trail running miles later, I still prefer to do the Bulldog Loop from that trailhead. More than that, most of the trail runs I do in Malibu Creek State Park are from the Cistern/Phantom Trailhead.

There are two key reasons — the scenery is spectacular and the route options endless. Over the past year, I’ve run from the Cistern/Phantom Trailhead a dozen times, on routes ranging from 2 to 23 miles.

Two of those runs were this March. One was on March 9. I’d done the Bulldog Loop several times recently, so the idea was to do a Bulldog-length run, without doing the Bulldog Loop. It was a “follow my nose” run that included Reagan Ranch, Malibou Lake overlook, Crags Road, Tapia Spur Trail, Grasslands Trail, Talepop Trail, Las Virgenes Trail, Liberty Canyon Trail, and Phantom Trail. It turned out to be about 17 miles, with an elevation gain/loss of about 2400′.

I enjoyed that run so much, I came back a week later and did a similar run. But this time the route included the Bulldog Loop. The idea was to use established trails and do the longest loop I could in Malibu Creek State Park, without repeating any part of the route. The run turned out to be about 23 miles, with around 4200′ gain/loss.

It was an outstanding run, with a delicate creek crossing, eye-catching halo, green hills, Spring wildflowers, and an unusual encounter with a Great Blue Heron (video).

Here’s an interactive, 3-D terrain view of the 23-mile loop in Malibu Creek State Park, and a few photos from the run.

Some related posts:
Best Trailhead to Start the Bulldog Loop?
Bulldog Loop Plus the Phantom Loop
Reagan Ranch at Sunrise
Wandering Around Malibu Creek State Park
Spring Fever Running the Phantom Loop in Malibu Creek State Park
Late Start on the Bulldog Loop

If Running at Ahmanson Could Always Be Like This…

Green hills and clouds in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve

Cool weather, light winds, picturesque clouds, and Dales-green hills… If running in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (Ahmanson Ranch) could always be like this.

Here are a few more photos from the run.

Some related posts:
After the Kenneth Fire: The Theme is Green
Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (Ahmanson Ranch) After the 2025 Kenneth Fire

After the Kenneth Fire: The Theme is Green

Green hills in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (Ahmanson Ranch), nearly two months after the Kenneth Fire.

The theme is green in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (Ahmanson Ranch), nearly two months after the Kenneth Fire.

This photo contrasts unburned and burned terrain along a firebreak and containment line in East Las Virgenes Canyon.

Some related posts:
Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve (Ahmanson Ranch) After the 2025 Kenneth Fire
Mountain Lion Tracks in Upper Las Virgenes Canyon
2025 Kenneth Fire Perimeter and Some Area Trails

Missing Wildflowers, More Mountain Lion Tracks, and the Serrano Canyon Landslide

Cirrus clouds and Boney Mountain's western rim from the Old Boney Trail

As I worked up the Old Boney Trail, I looked for anything blooming. The empty seed pods from last year’s bigpod Ceanothus bloom were still present on many plants, but not a flower was in sight.

Lack of rain will do that. Although today’s run was after Southern California finally received some rain, the first few months of the rain season had been ridiculously dry. From July 1, 2024, to January 24,2025, Downtown Los Angeles recorded only 0.16 inch of rain — tying 1962-1963 for the driest start to the Rain Year on record.

Purple nightshade along the Old Boney Trail (thumbnail)
Purple nightshade – just about the only early bloomer on 20+ miles of trail.

Over the 20+ miles of trail that I would run today, the only conspicuous wildflower was this purple nightshade along the Old Boney Trail. Ceanothus, paintbrush, milkmaids, phlox, poppy, and other early-blooming species might be seen in normal or wet years.

Very early in the run, I came across some disturbing tracks on the Old Boney Trail. I first saw them on Danielson Road, and they continued on Old Boney all the way to Blue Canyon. From the tracks, I could see they powered directly up the hills and sped through the straightaways.

Usually, when I do the long climb out of Upper Sycamore on the Old Boney Trail, it’s to do the Western Ridge (Mountaineer’s Route) on Boney Mountain. This morning, the combination of crags, clouds, and early morning light on Boney Mountain looked especially inviting. I almost turned up the use trail that ascends the ridge. Resisting the impulse, I continued on the Old Boney Trail — past the Fossil, Blue Canyon, and Chamberlain Trails — to the Serrano Valley Trail and Serrano Valley.

Serrano Valley - February 2025 (thumbnail)
Serrano Valley – February 2025

It had been over a year since I’d been to Serrano Valley. It is one of the prettiest spots in the Santa Monica Mountains. It has a “big sky” feel that I always enjoy. When combined with a run down Serrano Canyon, the experience is exceptional.

One of the interesting things to see in Serrano Canyon is a large landslide scar on the north side of the canyon, about a half-mile from Sycamore Canyon. The trail goes over the foot of the slide. Some boulders near the trail contain fossils, similar to those found on the Fossil Trail.

As the landslide scar came into view, something had changed — there was a “new” rockslide in the middle of the old landslide scar. When I stopped to take a photo, I could hear rocks and debris trickling down the slope. This suggested the slide was still active and might be very recent. When did it happen?

New rockslide on an old landslide scar in Serrano Canyon (thumbnail)
New rockslide on an old landslide scar in Serrano Canyon.

The last time I’d photographed the landslide scar was in February 2022. At that time, this new rockslide hadn’t occurred. I also checked Google Earth. The most recent Google Earth imagery of the landslide scar was from April 21, 2023. It didn’t show the rockslide. Then I checked Sentinel 2 satellite imagery, but that wasn’t high enough resolution to determine the date of the rockslide. High resolution imagery of a relatively small, non-urban area would be required, and it would need to have been taken after April 21, 2023.

After failing to find a suitable image using various services that provide free or low cost imagery, I contacted the Vexcel Data Program. They were kind enough to provide an answer — the new rockslide was not in imagery from September 23, 2023, but was present in an image from October 12, 2023.

The new rockslide occurred about 16 months ago, a month or two after Tropical Storm Hilary  passed through Southern California. For the 24-hour period  ending at noon on August 21, 2023, the weather station at nearby Circle X Ranch recorded  about 3.9 inches of rain.

While searching for imagery of the landslide scar, I stumbled onto UCSB Library’s collection of aerial photography. It contains more than 2.5 million images dating back to the 1920s. Curious to see the quality of the photos, I picked a 1:12,000 scale image from November 1936 that was more or less centered on the landslide scar. The quality of the image is excellent — but where was the landslide? I had assumed the Serrano Canyon Landslide to be an ancient feature. How old is it?

Serrano Canyon Landslide 1947 and 1961 (thumbnail)
Serrano Canyon before the landslide (1947) compared to after (1961). Click!

The most recent image I could find without the landslide was from August 1947. The most recent image of the landslide was from October 1959 but it doesn’t show the landslide clearly. The oldest the landslide could be is about 77 years!

The event did not go unnoticed. This 1:16,000 scale aerial photo from February 1961 shows a well-used road going to the landslide. Vehicles are parked at the end of the road and there is activity at the landslide. Here is a before and after comparison of the 1947 and 1961 photos.

Continuing down Serrano Canyon, I stopped at Sycamore Canyon to get some water and decide where I was headed next. Option A was to turn south on Sycamore Canyon Road, go up the Fireline Trail to Overlook Fire Road, and then return to Wendy Drive via Hell Hill, Wood Canyon, Two Foxes, Sycamore Canyon, and Upper Sycamore. Including what I’d already done, that would be about 24 miles. Option B was to turn north on Sycamore Canyon Road and go directly to the Two Foxes Trail, etc. That would be about 20 miles.

Mountain lion tracks along Sycamore Canyon Fire Road, Pt Mugu State Park (thumbnail)
Mountain lion tracks along Sycamore Canyon Fire Road

Today, I opted for Option B. That turned out to be an exciting choice. Just before the turn onto Wood Canyon, there was a sequence of mountain lion tracks along the east side of Sycamore Canyon Road. To better show its size, I superimposed the track on top of my shoe. The shoe is about 4.5 inches wide at the center of the track. There were also deer tracks along the road.

Here is a high resolution, interactive, 3D terrain view of the Old Boney – Serrano Valley Loop from Wendy Drive. Two options are shown. The map can be zoomed, tilted, rotated, and panned. To change the view, use the control on the upper right side of the screen. Track and placename locations are approximate and subject to errors. Poor weather, and other conditions may make this route unsuitable for this activity.

Some related posts:
Back on the Old Boney and Serrano Valley Trails
Old Boney to Serrano Valley, Plus Fireline and Overlook

Boney Mountain Rocks and Clouds

Boney Mountain Rocks and Clouds

Emerging from the clouds on a recent run from Wendy Drive that included climbing Boney Mountain’s Western Ridge — aka the Mountaineer’s Route.

Once up the ridge, the run continued to Sandstone Peak, and then returned to the Wendy Drive Trailhead via the Backbone Trail, Sycamore Canyon, and the Upper Sycamore Trail.

Here’s a high resolution, interactive, 3D-terrain view of a GPS track of the route, along with some variations.

Some related posts:
Looking for Boney Mountain
Sunrise Over Boney Mountain
Not So Busy Sandstone Peak
Tri-Peaks, Sandstone Peak and the Backbone Trail