Into the Woodlands

Take a hike! After all, it’s easy to do in a region that has hundreds of miles of scenic trails within a short driving distance. And most are free to the public.

Problem is, the sweltering Valley temperatures may discourage most sane folks from hitting the trails during the summer. Why sweat to near death when you can take in a movie or hang out at a mall with cranked-up air conditioning?

Well, don’t give up so easily on the outdoors. Here’s a list of hiking trails that will help you keep cool, despite the weather. All are within the 60,000-acre Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, which stretches from Griffith Park in the Hollywood Hills to Point Mugu at the Pacific Ocean.

Recreation areas offer a variety of organized moonlight, nature and bird-watching hikes throughout the summer. Or you can hike any time without overheating at the locations listed below.

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Topanga State Park, off Topanga Boulevard:

Its 10,000 acres have 32 miles of roads and trails, which feature high, boulder-studded ridges, canyons clothed in dense chaparral and hidden stream-side forests.

Many of the trails are shaded, but probably one of the coolest is the 1.5-mile Santa Ynez Canyon trail.

It runs from the east Topanga fire road down to the canyon bottom, then 1.1 miles up the fern-lined canyon, shaded by oaks and sycamores, to a stone alcove carved by a 15-foot waterfall.

A variety of special, docent-led hikes are offered throughout the summer, including a children’s hike to discover crawling creatures, animals, bugs and plants. The park is open 24 hours. Information: (310) 455-2465.

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Malibu Creek State Park, off Las Virgenes Road:

In its 7,000 acres are 35 miles of scenic trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding. They include hidden waterfalls and a lake, sheer rocky cliffs, forests, broad meadows and pastoral oak woodlands. There’s also fresh-water fishing and swimming.

The spectacular Gorge trail leads to the famous rock pool. Giant sycamores and exotic Deodar cedars on the way shade good picnic sites.

Malibu Creek flows into the pool via a boulder-choked passage through the gorge of Triunfo Canyon. Swimming is allowed, but there is no lifeguard.

Several group hikes are offered from July through August. Among them is a bird walk to identify and learn how birds live, and a creek campfire program to learn about park wildlife under the stars.

The park is open 24 hours. Information: (818) 880-0367.

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Cold Creek Canyon/Valley Preserve, off Stunt Road:

This is an ecological treasure with a huge variety of native plants and animals in its 700-acre area.

Cold Creek has its headwaters here, rising from springs in a cool, moist basin studded with giant sandstone boulders and cliffs. The water is so pure it’s used as a benchmark for measuring degradation in other Santa Monica Mountains streams.

A 1.6-mile trail descends the shaded north slope from Stunt Road near Saddle Peak to the lower gate near the falls. It passes through mixed chaparral and oak forests with an occasional breakout into dry sage scrub. Good flower displays can be expected from March through September.

Deeper in the canyon, weeping boulders harbor gardens of ferns and red flower spikes decorate openings near oaks and bays.

Along the banks of Cold Creek, big-leaf maples, California bay leaves, sycamores and coast oaks arch over the stream. This area is also known for having gray and ring-tailed fox, raccoons and bobcats.

Because Cold Creek Canyon is a refuge for rare and sensitive plants and animals, access is limited to 25 persons per day and reservations are required. There are also weekend and moonlight hikes throughout the summer. Information: (310) 456-5625.

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Solstice Canyon Park, off Pacific Coast Highway:

This is one of the very few canyons along the Santa Monica Mountains coast that harbors a perennial stream.

Hikers can experience the transition from ocean to mountains by following an uninterrupted creek-side trail from Corral/Dan Blocker State Beach to the Solstice Canyon parking lot off Corral Canyon Road.

A variety of trees hang over the stream. Away from the water, mixed chaparral, black walnut and live oak stands alternate with grassy meadows offering excellent wild flowers.

There is a place called Tropical Terrace, available for picnicking, and it has a view of the grotto waterfalls with their series of cascades, rock pools and the ruins of stone stairs.

Park hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Information: (310) 456-5046.

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Leo Carrillo State Park, off Pacific Coast Highway:

A lot of the area consists of steep, chaparral-covered hillsides sliced by intermittent streams lined with lush growths of willows, California bay trees, sycamores and black walnuts.

The Yellow Hill trail is the easier of the two main trails. It begins west of Mulholland Highway near Pacific Coast Highway, climbs up a ridge and includes excellent ocean views.

The steeper Nicholas Flat trail goes through grasslands to an ocean vista then travels along the slope of Willow Creek to isolated Nicholas Flat, a series of small grasslands and oak forests at 1,700 feet above sea level.

A narrow, rocky ridge topped with oaks separates a small pond from a wild abyss. Bird-watching along the shore is excellent, and there is an abundance of toads and frogs in a wet spring.

Organized nature walks through tide pools, beach bluffs and streams and a ranger-led campfire program are offered throughout the summer. So are evening hikes in the flats. The park and beach are open 24 hours. Information: (805) 986-8591.

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Zuma Canyon, off Pacific Coast Highway:

This is for the adventurous hiker willing to climb rocks and tread through territory with no trails. But the reward is a spectacular view of a riparian forest that ends in a series of clear pools at the base of a rocky cliff.

Sheer rock faces and several waterfalls await the determined hiker in the upper reaches of Zuma Canyon.

The steep gorge of neighboring Trancas Canyon to the west offers great waterfalls, and Zuma Ridge trail offers outstanding views of the Pacific and wild canyons.

Zuma Canyon is open 24 hours. Information: (310) 597-9192, Ext. 201.

* For more information and a complete list of events this summer, contact the National Park Service Visitor Center in Agoura Hills at (818) 597-9192, Ext. 201.