in the fall season before the heavy rains set in. The stream may have shrunk to isolated pools by then, and you’ll step mostly on dry rocks with good traction. Winter flooding can render the canyon impassable, but such episodes are rare and short-lived. During spring, the stream flows heartily and there’s plenty of greenery and wildflowers; at the same time there’s an increased threat of exposure to poison oak (which grows in fair abundance along the banks), and you’re likely to surprise a rattlesnake. Summer days are usually too oppressively warm and humid for such a difficult hike. Whatever the season, take along plenty of water; the water in the canyon is not potable. Expect to get your feet wet, and bring sandals or a change of socks.
To Reach the Trailhead: A good starting place is the north end of Bonsall Drive, in the Point Dume area of Malibu. From the intersection of Kanan Dume Road and Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) at mile marker 001 LA 54.00, drive 0.9 mile west on the highway to Bonsall Drive, turn right, and continue 1 mile to where Bonsall Drive ends at a trailhead for the Zuma Canyon trail system.
Description: From the end of Bonsall Drive, walk north on the Zuma Canyon Trail following the canyon’s winter-wet, summer-dry creek. Several trails branch off along either side, but stay on the mail trail up the canyon bottom. You pass statuesque sycamores, tall laurel sumac bushes, and scattered wildflowers in season. This is a promising area for spotting wildlife anytime—squirrels, rabbits, and coyotes are commonly seen, deer and bobcats less so.
After about a mile’s walk along the creek or dry canyon bottom, the canyon walls close in tighter, oaks appear in greater numbers, and you notice a small grove of eucalyptus trees on a little terrace. The path abruptly ends at a pile of sandstone boulders, 1.3 miles from the start. During the dry months, surface water may get only this far down the canyon. Often, however, the water trickles or tumbles past here, disappearing at some point downstream into the porous substrate of the canyon floor.
Now you begin a nearly 2-mile stretch of boulder-hopping (and possibly wading), 2 or 3 hours’ worth depending on the conditions. Other than a few rusting pieces of pipeline from an old dam and irrigation system, you may find that the canyon is completely litter-free; please keep it that way.
The great variety of rocks that have been washed down the stream or have fallen from the canyon walls says a lot about the geologic complexity of the Santa Monicas. You’ll scramble over finegrained siltstones and sandstones, conglomerates that look like poorly mixed aggregate concrete, and volcanic rocks of the sort that make up Saddle Rock (a local landmark near the head of Zuma Canyon) and the Goat Buttes of nearby Malibu Creek State Park. Some of the larger boulders attain the dimensions of mid-sized trucks, presenting an obstacle course that you must negotiate by moderate climbing with your hands and feet.
In another 1.3 miles, pass directly under a set of high-voltage transmission lines—so high they’re hard to spot. These lines, plus the graded road built to give access to the towers, represent the major incursion of civilization into Zuma Canyon. If you can ignore them, however, it’s easy to imagine what all the large canyons in the Santa Monicas were like only a century ago.
When you finally reach the Zuma Edison Road, turn left and follow it 2 miles to the top of the west ridge. From there, turn left on the Zuma Ridge Trail (another dirt road) and follow its lazily curving, downhill course toward the coastal plain, enjoying clear-air vistas of the vast Pacific Ocean much of the way. On a fine day, you can see all the way from San Jacinto, Santiago Peak, and the Palos Verdes Hills to Catalina, San Clemente, Anacapa, and Santa Cruz Islands. This and many other utility service roads in the Santa Monicas are closed to unauthorized motorized vehicles and are popular among hikers and mountain bikers.
Pool in Zuma Canyon
When you reach the bottom of the Zuma Ridge Trail in 2.6 miles, where Busch Drive and Cuthbert Road meet, take the path across the hillside to your left (east). You lose about 300 feet of elevation over 0.6 mile as you zigzag down to the bottom of the Zuma Canyon floodplain. Turn right when you reach the main Zuma Canyon Trail, and walk the final 0.2 mile over to where you began your hike.
HIKE 8
Point Dume to Paradise Cove
Location: Malibu coast
Highlights: Panoramic ocean vistas and superb intertidal exploration
Distance: 2.1 miles (one way)
Total Elevation Gain/Loss: 200'/200'
Hiking Time: 1½ hours
Optional Maps: Trails Illustrated Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area or USGS 7.5-minute Point Dume
Best Times: All year (passable during low tide)
Agency: SMMNRA
Difficulty: Moderate
Trail Use: Good for kids
Like the armored bow of an icebreaker, flat-topped Point Dume juts into the Pacific about 20 miles west of Santa Monica. Just east of the point itself, an unbroken cliff wall shelters a secluded beach from the sights and sounds of the civilized world. Below the sometimes-narrow stretch of sand east of Point Dume, a strip of rocky coastline harbors tidepools and a mind-boggling array of plant and animal life.
A pleasant walk anytime the tide is low, this trip is doubly rewarding when the tide dips as low as negative 2 feet. Some of the tidepool inhabitants include: limpets, periwinkles, chitons, tube snails, sandcastle worms, sculpins, mussels, shore and hermit crabs, green and aggregating anemones, three kinds of barnacles, and two kinds of sea stars. Extremely low tides occur during the afternoon two or three times each month from October through March. During the summer, you’ll have to get up early to catch the rare negative tides. Consult tide tables to find out exactly when.
To Reach the Trailhead: From the Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) on Malibu’s west side, 0.4 mile west of mile marker 001 LA 54.5, turn south onto Westward Beach Road. Drive down Westward Beach Road to the road’s end at Westward Beach (which is open daylight hours and charges a parking fee). Alternatively, you may park for free along the roadside before reaching the pay station, and then stroll 0.7 mile southeast along the beach to Point Dume.
Description: Starting out at Westward Beach, you have a choice between two routes: over the top of the point or around the end of the point at sea level. The shorter, much easier route (and the only practical alternative during all but extremely low tides) is the first one, the trail slanting left up the cliff. On top is an area popular for sighting gray whales during their southward migration in winter and a state historic monument. Point Dume, you’ll learn, was christened by British naval commander George Vancouver, who sailed by in 1793.
As you stand on Point Dume’s apex, note the marked contrast between the lighter sedimentary rock exposed on the cliff faces both east and west and the darker volcanic rock just below. This unusually tough mass of volcanic rock has thus far resisted the onslaught of the ocean swells. After you descend from the apex, some metal stairs will take you down to crescent-shaped Dume Cove.
The alternate route is for skilled climbers only (and definitely inappropriate for small children). During the very lowest tides, you round the point itself, making your way by hand-and-toe climbing in a couple of spots over huge, angular shards of volcanic rock along the base of the cliffs. The tidepools here and to the east along Dume Cove’s shoreline have some of the best displays of intertidal marine life in Southern California. This visual feast will remain for others to enjoy if you refrain from taking or disturbing in any way the organisms that live there. (Warning: Exploring the lower intertidal zones can be hazardous. Be very cautious when traveling over slippery rocks, and always be aware of the incoming swells. Don’t let a rogue wave catch you by surprise.)
The going is easy once you’re on Dume Cove’s ribbon of sand. Signs posted here warn against nude bathing and sunning. This was once a popular nude beach, much to the chagrin of some of those living in the cliffside mansions overlooking the