Point Dume State Beach
There’s a special place just a few miles up the coast, where whales, dolphins, and sea lions swim close to shore, where you can watch the sun or the moon rise and set, where there are golden flowers in...
Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority Land Acquisition
It was described as an ecological disaster. It became the flashpoint for a new grassroots movement. Now, the former site of a proposed 217,000-square-foot development on the corner of Cornell Road and Agoura Road in Agoura Hills is about...
Pacific Palisades: Utopia by the Sea
Pacific Palisades is celebrating its centennial this year. However, when the first Founders Day was celebrated on January 14, 1922, this area already had a long and colorful history. The first officially recognized archeological site in Los Angeles County...
Cheap Labor and an Expensive Hobby Helped Build Topanga’s Roads
I stopped on a Topanga road the other day to wait for a chicken to cross. It gave me a moment to reflect that before asking why it crossed the road, it might be helpful to know why the road...
Planting Natives
The rainy season arrived late this year, but not too late for local gardeners to add some native plants to their gardens. Planting native plants at the start of the rainy season—even when the rainy season arrives late and...
Pumped: The Toxic History of South Coast Oil
The Elly Platform oil spill at Huntington Beach has refocused attention on the hazards and history of offshore oil drilling on the Southern California coast. The Chumash took advantage of natural petroleum seeps, using the tar they collected to...
Pioneering Women Homesteaders Left Their Mark on Topanga
Before they could vote or have equal protection under law, before there were roads or electricity or running water, a handful of women staked a claim for land in the Santa Monica Mountains. Their determination made a mark not...
Finding Our Routes: The Backbone Trail
“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” —J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring Anyone...
The Devil Wind
This year’s continuous Santa Ana wind conditions have created a season of extremes: warm days, cold nights, fiery sunsets, and an ocean pressed so smooth and flat by the relentless wind that it looks like watered silk. There’s a...
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