Lottery to open for hikers who want to trek all 67 miles of Santa Monica Mountain’s Backbone Trail

The lottery will open soon for hikers who want to trek all 67 miles of Santa Monica Mountain’s Backbone Trail on eight Saturdays between January and April. The National Park Service will choose 28 hardy souls who want to see every inch of the through-trail that cuts across the Southern California coastal mountain range.

Guided hikes begin Jan. 13 on the trail’s western edge in Pt. Mugu State Park near the L.A.-Ventura county line and end April 28 at Will Rogers State Historic Park in Pacific Palisades.

In between, you’ll visit 3,111-foot Sandstone Peak, the highest point in the Santa Monica Mountains, craggy rock formations at Castro Crest, a slew of state parks with parts shaded by oaks and sycamores, and routes with wide-open ocean views.

Hikes are free, but you have to be able to go the distance and commit to the series of eight Saturday hikes plus an orientation. Each trail segment covers about of 8.5 miles with 3,200 feet of elevation gain or loss.

You can enter the lottery online for yourself and one other person starting Wednesday through Sept. 30. (Check out the park service’s online page, which will direct you to a 2018 application when it goes live.)

Want to know more? Drop in at a Backbone Trail Q&A from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the visitor center at 26876 Mulholland Highway in Calabasas.

If you don’t get lucky in the lottery, create your own DIY Backbone Trail hiking series. The trail is well-marked and has many points to enter and exit. You’ll find a map and details here.

Info: Santa Monica Mountain National Recreation Area’s Backbone Trail

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