Point Mugu State Park

Last updated
Point Mugu State Park
Point Mugu September 2013 007.jpg
Mugu Rock, Point Mugu State Park
Relief map of California.png
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp relief location map.png
Red pog.svg
Nearest city Malibu, California
Coordinates 34°6′N119°0′W / 34.100°N 119.000°W / 34.100; -119.000 Coordinates: 34°6′N119°0′W / 34.100°N 119.000°W / 34.100; -119.000
Governing body California Department of Parks and Recreation

Point Mugu State Park is a state park located in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in Southern California. The rugged, nearly impassible shoreline of the western Santa Monica Mountains gives way to tidal lagoons and coastal sand dunes at Mugu Rock. The western edge of the park adjoins Mugu Lagoon which is a protected area within Naval Air Station Point Mugu.

Contents

Point Mugu SP consists of distinct landside and beachside areas with different ecosystems and their own parking lots, separated by the Pacific Coast Highway. During low tide, the parks are joined by a walkway under an adjoining bridge. The park may be accessed from the eastern part of the Santa Monica Mountains from a National Park Service park, Rancho Sierra Vista in Newbury Park, CA that includes the Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center, and from the western part of the Santa Monica Mountains by the Pacific Coast Highway.

Features

Point Mugu State Park features 5 mi (8.0 km) of oceanfront beaches, palisades, chaparral-covered mountains, two major canyons with seasonal rivers, grassy valleys highlighted with oaks, sycamores, and the occasional native walnuts trees. A major landmark, the Boney Mountain State Wilderness Area features pinnacles visible from many areas of the park.

Recreation

Entrance to Thornhill Broome Campground Thornhill Broome Campground entrance 2016-08-29.jpg
Entrance to Thornhill Broome Campground

Opportunities for camping, hiking, swimming, mountain biking, picnicking, wildlife viewing, and horseback riding exist within the park. Horseback riding is available from the National Park Service entrance. Like all California State Parks, dogs are permitted when leashed in campsite areas. No dogs are allowed whether on or off-leash on the backcountry trails, i.e., any trail that is not paved. The western terminus of the Backbone Trail, a multi-use long-distance trail extending nearly 70 mi (110 km) across the Santa Monica Mountains, is the Ray Miller trailhead at La Jolla Canyon in Point Mugu State Park. Sycamore Cove, La Jolla Beach and Mugu Beach have parking and sandy beaches. [1] Views of dolphins, seals, pelicans, and whales are possible all along Pacific Coast Highway. No fishing as of 2011.

Geography

View of the Pacific Ocean in Point Mugu State Park Point Mugu September 2013 006.jpg
View of the Pacific Ocean in Point Mugu State Park

Canyons/Valleys

Mountains

See also

Related Research Articles

Malibu, California City in California, United States

Malibu is a beach city in western Los Angeles County, California, situated about 30 miles (48 km) west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its 21-mile (34 km) strip of the Malibu coast, incorporated in 1991 into the City of Malibu. The area is known for being the home of Hollywood movie stars, people in the entertainment industry, and other affluent residents; yet some residents are middle class. Most Malibu residents live within a few hundred yards of Pacific Coast Highway, which traverses the city, with some residents living up to a mile away from the beach up narrow canyons. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 12,645.

Santa Monica Mountains mountain range in Southern California, United States

The Santa Monica Mountains is a coastal mountain range in Southern California, paralleling the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. Because of its proximity to densely populated regions, it is one of the most visited natural areas in California. Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is located in this mountain range.

Santa Susana Mountains mountain range in Southern California, United States

The Santa Susana Mountains are a transverse range of mountains in Southern California, north of the city of Los Angeles, in the United States. The range runs east-west, separating the San Fernando Valley and Simi Valley on its south from the Santa Clara River Valley to the north and the Santa Clarita Valley to the northeast. The Oxnard Plain is to the west of the Santa Susana Mountains.

Malibu Creek State Park Wilderness park in Santa Monica Mountains of southern California

Malibu Creek State Park is a state park of California, United States, preserving the Malibu Creek canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains. The 8,215-acre (3,324 ha) park was established in 1974. Opened to the public in 1976, the park is also a component of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

Point Mugu unincorporated community in California

Point Mugu, California is a cape or promontory within Point Mugu State Park on the Pacific Coast in Ventura County, near the city of Port Hueneme and the city of Oxnard. The name is believed to be derived from the Chumash Indian term "Muwu", meaning "beach", which was first mentioned by Cabrillo in his journals in 1542. Mugu Lagoon is a salt marsh just upcoast from the promontory within the Naval Base Ventura County formerly called the Naval Air Station Point Mugu.

Newbury Park, California Community in Ventura County, California, United States

Newbury Park is a town located mostly within the western Thousand Oaks city limits in Ventura County, California, United States. It makes up all of ZIP code 91320, and is within area code 805. Lying within the Conejo Valley in the northwestern part of the Greater Los Angeles Area, Newbury Park abuts the Santa Monica Mountains. It is approximately 35 miles (56 km) from Downtown Los Angeles and less than 7 mi (11 km) from the Los Angeles County border in Westlake Village. The closest coastal city is Malibu, 22 mi (35 km) from Newbury Park, which may be reached through winding roads or hiking trails crossing the Santa Monica Mountains. About 28,000 of Thousand Oaks' 110,000 residents reside in Newbury Park. Newbury Park makes up around 40 percent of Thousand Oaks' total land area.

Gaviota State Park

Gaviota State Park is a state park of California, USA. It is located in southern Santa Barbara County, California, about 33 miles (53 km) west of the city of Santa Barbara. It extends from the Pacific coast to the crest of the Santa Ynez Mountains, and is adjacent to Los Padres National Forest. The 2,787-acre (1,128 ha) park was established in 1953.

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area protected area in Southern California, USA

The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is a United States National Recreation Area containing many individual parks and open space preserves, located primarily in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. The SMMNRA is located within the greater Los Angeles region, with two thirds of the parklands in northwest Los Angeles County, and the remaining third, including a Simi Hills extension, in southeastern Ventura County.

Boney Peak mountain in United States of America

Boney Mountain in Ventura County, California is one of the highest peaks in the Santa Monica Mountains. The prominent mountain visible from Newbury Park, California is 2,825 feet (861 m). It is also known as Boney Peak. The mountain contains four of the highest peaks in the coastal range of the Santa Monica Mountains: Boney Peak, Sandstone Peak, Exchange Peak, and Tri Peaks. The highest summit in the Santa Monica Mountains is Sandstone Peak, situated less than a mile northeast of Boney Peak along the same ridge of volcanic rock. It is the top section of a mass of volcanic rock which solidified around 15 million years ago, and was later uplifted to its dominant position, overshadowing western Conejo Valley. The Chumash Native Americans have a long and deeply spiritual history of interaction at and near the mountain, and the peak is considered a sacred mountain to the Chumash people.

Backbone Trail Long-distance hiking trail in the United States

The Backbone Trail is a long distance trail extending 67.79 miles (109.10 km) across the length of the Santa Monica Mountains in the U.S. state of California. Its western terminus is Point Mugu State Park and its eastern terminus is Will Rogers State Historic Park in Pacific Palisades. The trail is open to hikers throughout its length; dogs, mountain bicyclists and horseback riders are allowed on portions of the trail as posted.

Rancho Guadalasca

Rancho Guadalasca was a 30,594-acre (123.81 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day Ventura County, California given in 1836 by Governor Mariano Chico to Ysabel Yorba. The grant was in the southern part of the county, bordering on Los Angeles County. The grant extended along the Pacific coast near Point Mugu for about eight miles, and extending into the interior along Guadalasca Creek in the Santa Monica Mountains for about ten miles.

Rancho Sierra Vista

Rancho Sierra Vista is one of the last intact ranches from the first half of the twentieth century in the Santa Monica Mountains. The majority of the landscape is much as it was 100 years ago. The area is now owned by the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park System.

Circle X Ranch park in the United States of America

Circle X Ranch is a park unit located in the Triunfo Pass within the southwestern Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, in Ventura County, California. It is located in the western Santa Monica Mountains.

County Line Beach, Malibu Beach park in Ventura County, California

County Line Beach is beach park located in Solromar, an unincorporated community of Ventura County. This stretch of sandy beach is easily accessible from the adjacent Pacific Coast Highway. This popular surf spot is administered as part of Leo Carrillo State Park. The beach lies within the south coast portion of the Ventura County amidst a mostly rugged coastline that is some of the most striking and diverse coastal terrain in the County. The beach lies at the mouth of a canyon in the Santa Monica Mountains that hug the shore along the Ventura County's south coast.

Arroyo Conejo Creek in the Conejo Valley, California

Arroyo Conejo is the longest creek in the Conejo Valley, sprawling over the cities of Thousand Oaks and Camarillo, and the communities of Newbury Park, Casa Conejo and Santa Rosa Valley. Arroyo Conejo is the primary drainage for the City of Thousand Oaks. Its watershed covers 57 square miles (150 km2) of which 43 square miles (110 km2) are in the Conejo Valley and 14 square miles (36 km2) in the Santa Rosa Valley.

Satwiwa was a former Chumash village in the Santa Monica Mountains of Newbury Park, California. The current Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center is operated by the National Park Service in cooperation with the Friends of Satwiwa. Satwiwa has been inhabited by Chumash Indians for over 10,000 years. It is situated at the foothills of Boney Mountain, a sacred mountain for the Chumash.

Big Sycamore Canyon

Big Sycamore Canyon, often shortened to Sycamore Canyon, is a major feature of Point Mugu State Park, in Ventura County, California, United States. Sycamore Canyon is situated in the northernmost region of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area below the 3,000 feet (910 m) peaks of the Boney Mountain State Wilderness Area. The canyon begins on the north slope of Boney Mountain and heads north down the slope. The canyon then heads southwest past Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa to Sycamore Cove on the coastline.

Hill Canyon

Hill Canyon is a deep canyon in the western Simi Hills and within northern Newbury Park and Thousand Oaks, in Ventura County, southern California.

Dos Vientos Open Space 1,216 acres (492 ha) parkland in Ventura County, California with more than 41 miles of trails

Dos Vientos Open Space is a 1,216 acres (492 ha) open space area in western Newbury Park, California. It contains more than 41 miles (66 km) of trails used for cycling, hiking and equestrians. Originally a part of the Rancho Guadalasca Spanish Land Grant of 1836, the area is now an important wildlife movement corridor into the Santa Monica Mountains through the Point Mugu State Park. It provides a habitat for a variety of wildlife, including bobcats, mule deer, coyotes, eagles, hawks, barn owls, mountain lions, and more. It provides regional and internal trail connections, many trails offering panoramic views of the Conejo Valley, Oxnard Plain, Topatopa Mountains, Channel Islands, and the Pacific Ocean. Some of the endangered plant species found here include Conejo buckwheat, Verity's liveforever, and Conejo dudleya. The landscape is undeveloped, and dominated by coastal sage scrub, grassy hillsides, oak woodlands, and chaparral habitats.

Ventu Park Open Space

Ventu Park Open Space is a 141-acre open space area in Newbury Park, California. Its primary features are the Rosewood Trail leading to Angel Vista, a 1,603 ft peak in the Santa Monica Mountains. Parking for the Rosewood Trail is located at the Stagecoach Inn Park, across Lynn Road from the primary trailhead. The Rosewood Trail begins with oak woodland and crosses a creek at the canyon floor, before climbing up towards the steep Angel Vista Point. There are 360-degree panoramic views of the Conejo Valley, the Oxnard Plain, the California Channel Islands, Pacific Ocean, Point Mugu, Hidden Valley, as well as the Santa Monica-, Santa Susana- and Topa Topa Mountains.

References

  1. Plascencia, Anthony (August 9, 2018). "Your guide to Ventura County beaches". Ventura County Star . Archived from the original on 2019-07-18. Retrieved 21 August 2018.