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Malibu Creek State Park

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Malibu Creek State Park, with the Goat Buttes in the background.

Malibu Creek State Park is a state park in Malibu, California that preserves more than 7,000 acres of the Santa Monica Mountains. Opened to the public in 1976, the park includes areas of Malibou Lake, Calabasas, and Malibu Canyon.

Contents

Location

Malibu Creek State Park stretches from below Malibou Lake in the west to Piuma Road in the east. It follows the creek down to the Pacific Ocean and includes the Adamson House and creek's mouth in the Malibu Lagoon at the beach and Pacific Ocean. Tapia Park has recently been incorporated as a subunit of the park. The park includes three natural preserves:

  • Liberty Canyon 730 acres (3 km²);
  • Udell Gorge 300 acres (1.2 km²); and
  • Kaslow Preserve 1920 acres (8 km²).

History

The land that is now Malibu Creek State Park was inhabited by native Chumash Indians for millennia. The site of a village called Talepop has been uncovered by archaeologists in the northeast corner of the park. By the 1860s, a few homesteads existed, including the Sepulveda Adobe, which still stands.[1]

In 1900, a group of wealthy Los Angeles businessmen created the Crags Country Club and purchased 2,000 acres along Malibu Creek. In 1903, a 50-foot-high dam was built nearby, creating a seven-acre lake which was later purchased by 20th Century Fox and named Century Lake. The three-level, 7,500-square-foot Crags Club lodge was completed in 1910. Redwood trees were planted near the lake that same year, and today stand as the southernmost specimens in California. [2] Also within park boundaries is the Rindge Dam in Malibu Canyon, built in 1926. The Crags Country Club ceased operations in 1936 and the lodge was torn down in 1955.

The majority of the park's lands were donated by Bob Hope. [3] Other parts of the park, added later, were previously owned by Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox for movie ranches. Part of the former 20th Century Fox Ranch had been purchased in 1966 from Ronald Reagan. The second Reagan Ranch, known as 'Yearling Row,' was owned by the future president from 1951 to 1966 (Reagan's first Yearling Row was in Northridge, CA). It was sold by the Reagans to pay campaign debts from the 1966 California governor's campaign. Additional parcels have been connected by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.[4]

King Gillette Ranch

Most recently an area was annexed to the park known as the King Gillette Ranch, with a landmark Spanish Colonial Revival style residence and estate buildings designed by renowned architect Wallace Neff in the 1920s for owner King Gillette, the early 20th century inventor and manufacturer of the disposable razor. It was later used by the Catholic Claretian Order as 'Claretville' in the 1950s-60s,[5] then several other spiritual groups, and finally by Soka University in the 1990s until the recent purchase for the park. The new Visitors Center for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area will be relocated here in the historic Stables compound.

Movie ranch

When owned by 20th Century Fox, the park was a movie ranch, and has been the location in dozens of films, beginning with a number of Tarzan movies:

The park was also a key filming location for the M*A*S*H series, both for the feature film and the subsequent television series. The landscape was particularly seen in the opening credits for the show as helicopters carrying wounded approach the hospital with the recognizable Goat Buttes in the background. The exact location of the site is .

Other television programs that used the park to pass for a post-apocalyptic earth were Planet of the Apes and the children's program Ark II. This was also a location for Robin Hood: Men in Tights where the Goat Buttes are seen in the background of the final wedding scene.[6]

The park is still used for occasional filming.

Activities

Recreation activities in the park include: bird watching, hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, fishing, and picnicking. Ranger led programs and hikes are also offered.[7]

The Backbone Trail, a multi-use long-distance trail spanning the Santa Monica Mountains, passes through Malibu Creek State Park.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/614/files/malibuCreekcampmapJH.pdf
  2. ^ http://www.malibucreekstatepark.org/ANIMALS.html
  3. ^ http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=25212
  4. ^ http://www.nps.gov/samo/parkmgmt/king-gillette-ranch-planning.htm
  5. ^ [1] Claretville
  6. ^ Los Angeles Scenic Drives, http://www.bidontravel.com/travel/ladrives1b.html
  7. ^ http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=614

External links