Exploring Topanga State Park's Stellar Views

Summertime sunsets are beautiful to behold anywhere in the Santa Monica Mountain region, but are especially vivid when seen from the pinnacle of the mountains themselves. For a sojourn to the setting sun that is both relaxing and invigorating, the Topanga East Fire Road ascending above Topanga is ideal.

After an initial brief and arduous climb uphill through the lush, at times even tropical, woods of Topanga State Park, one is transported to a place where the birds dwell.

Arriving at a lookout bench, a respite from the climb and a stunning view of mist-shrouded chaparral mountains to either side—which are green even at this time of year—the skinny trail pans out to a wide, flat fire road.

The road heads left and onward into the increasingly wild-feeling terrain fit for hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians.

Gone are the grassy trails shaded with foliage upon which numerous deer make their homes, or any semblance of the gentle rolling hills that are synonymous with the lower woodlands of the park. Wide open to the sun and high above Topanga Canyon Road, which winds far below like the wisp of a snake that is made even more ghostlike by the unremitting mists, the mountains are forever shrugging from their shoulders. These are the highlands where red-tail hawks soar.

Rambling along the dusty trail in the late afternoon hours when the rays of the sun stretch and drench sandstone walls with golden light are quail, light-footed feathered hoppers who come out to feed in the impending dusk.

Rabbits also may be seen bouncing along the edges of the path and like the quail, also seek shelter in the scrubby laurel sumac and buckwheat lining the cliff sides. The farther one goes, the likelihood of a coyote sighting becomes more probable but far and wide.

As the path—which stays wide and flat throughout the trek— winds gently upward, downward and around the mountain’s curves, a variety of landmarks come into view, including Eagle Rock to the left. Also located within the park is the the hulking stony stalwart, named for its beak-like shape as well as the circling and swooping visitors it draws to its dusty, cave-pocked quarters. It is easily distinguishable from other mountain crests, which spread out in the distance in layers of gray, green and lavender.

Looking ahead after finding Eagle Rock, one will see another object of appreciation and the source of the misty marine layer that both accumulates and dissipates in these mountain corridors—the Pacific Ocean.

Dangling above it are the Highlands of Pacific Palisades, although they seem like Mediumlands from the lofty vantage point of the quail. The marine layer’s emergence to the land below can be so dramatic that it appears like solid waves of clouds moving as swift as a waterfall as it plunges, encouraged by gravity, to the earth. Only these gravity-defying waves flow upward and disperse as they travel through Topanga Canyon’s twists and turns.

Up here, a setting sun kisses crests of faraway ranges before sliding behind one, silhouetting the distant summit and rendering the sky a glowing orange as it shrinks from the sky.

Sandstone walls are spectacularly rendered red, contrasting with nearby emerald mountainsides. Pink swirls into the blue and a vibrant moon assumes its luminescent reign in the twilight. Night falls quickly at these heights, but the way back is generally easier than the way up, although due to the rolling nature of the path, there are some hills to ascend.     

Since it is not a loop and the trail extends several miles, one should judge the distance they’re capable of making if setting out late. Of course, heading out on this trail early in the morning affords more flexibility as far as a time frame goes and will likely result in similar wildlife sightings, but early birds will miss out on a majestic sunset. And if setting out early, be careful of distance; coming back in the merciless noonday sun can be as challenging and dangerous as a night-time return.