Hiking in CIRCLE X RANCH
(Santa Monica Mountains)
Circle X Ranch:
We hiked this one of the most beautiful hikes in the Santa Monica Mountains
on July 1st, 2007. We started from Westlake Village (Westlake elementary
school parking lot) at 615AM and drove 12.5 miles on the curvy roads
of Westlake Blvd, Drucker Canyon, Mullholand than on Little Sycamore
Canyon road. We reached the trailhead about 7AM. There were nice photo
opportunities at lot of places. Split rock area is a nice place to bring
kids and family, and have picnic. After Split Rock area, do go on the
limited trail on the right hand side for around 5 to 10 minutes to get
a nice view of the Balanced Rock. Inspiration point and Sandstone pick
give you a great 360 degree view that included Pacific Ocean in the
South, Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park, Camarillo, Oxnard on the North and
West side. You can see that high-rise tall building in Oxnard in the
West and the twin tall building in Woodland Hills on the East (both
of them are around 35 miles apart. In the East, you can see the Lake
Sharewood, Triunfor Water Reservoir. We were not that lucky but you
can also see Channel Islands on a clear day.
We first started on the famous backbone trail and saw spectacular Echo
Cliffs, a balanced rock (must see it on the pictures below), skull faces
formed in big rocks on the top of hills, bonny mountains, a giant split
rock, stunning giant sandstone formations, and breathtaking views from
the top of Sandstone Peak and Inspiration point.
Trailhead:
The trailhead is 1 mile east of the Circle X Ranch, which is located 5
½ miles from Pacific Coast Highway on Yerba Buena Road in Malibu. Alternately,
from Westlake Village, exit on Westlake Blvd from the 101 Freeway, and
follow it south for several miles as it merges with Mulholland highway.
Turn right onto Little Sycamore Canyon and it will become Yerba Buena
Road as you cross the county line. Proceed on Yerba Buena Road for about
4 miles to trailhead (about a mike before you hit the Circle X Ranch Ranger
Station). (Lat:34.11161 Lon:-118.92643)
More details about Mishe Mowka loop can be found on famous Local Hikes
webiste at : http://www.localhikes.com/HikeData.asp?DispType=0&ActiveHike=1&GetHikesStateID=1&ID=4015
Trail map:
Here are some pictures to give you a virtual tour:
View of the Santa Monica Mountains while driving down to Circle X Ranch:
Balance Rock- House sized rock delicately balanced:
A Zoomed in picture of rock-walls below balanced rock (Can you see
hikers at the bottom of it?)
Split Rock- A large rock broken/split in 3 parts:
A close up of the balanced rock:
Skull faces formed on the top of hills:
A panoramic view from the Inspiration point: Look at the Pacific ocean
in the back ground
Top the Santa Monica Mountains: Sand Stone peak (3200 feet elevation).
Panoramic view from the Sandstone peak:
