This short hike offers a nice variety of canyon and ocean scenery, and is not as well traveled as some of the other trails in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains.
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We’ll enjoy a great “lollipop” outing in the northeastern corner of Topanga State Park starting at the Viewridge Trailhead for Santa Maria Canyon. We’ll connect up with The Summer Hill Ranch Trail — a short and easy loop that curves around a low-rising hill dotted with coastal live oak trees.
🧺We’ll break at a picnic bench overlooking the canyon. Bring snacks and drink to share.
Here is a slide show from a previous hike
Highlights during this stroll through a wooded canyon include ocean views and a sturdy bridge that will take us across Santa Maria Canyon.
After crossing the bridge we’ll take Summer Hill Ranch trail to the Canyon Overlook. Here, either at a picnic table or atop a sandstone outcrop, you can enjoy excellent views of Topanga Canyon’s trademark geology and of Santa Maria Creek. For the rock scramblers there are caves and crevices to explore (while us chickens watch from the picnic bench).
🧺We’ll break at a picnic bench overlooking the canyon. Bring snacks and drink to share.
Directions
From Highway 101: drive south on Topanga Canyon Blvd for 3.7 miles. Turn left on Viewridge and drive 0.5 miles to the end of the road.
From Pacific Coast Highway: head north on Topanga Canyon Blvd. for 9 miles and turn right on Viewridge.
Park by end of street. There is plenty of street parking
