Zuma Zuma Zuma (Make My Heart Go Boom Boom)
Name: Zuma Canyon Trail
Address: 5721 Bonsall Dr, Malibu, CA 90265
Date of Hike: Saturday, January 19th
Duration: 1.5 hours
Distance: 1.5 miles round trip
Difficulty: Medium
Parking: Free parking lot, free street parking
✅Closed Loop ✅Ocean Views ✅Panoramic Views
🚫Shade🚫Picnic Area🚫Probably Best Not to a Bring a Dog
Probably need a disclaimer here... this trail is a sort of... "enter at your own risk?" kind of deal...
We pretty much hit the trifecta going to a place that had a fire that year, days after a massive rainstorm, DURING the government shut down. I would not be in good conscience if I didn't lay out that we knowingly took on the liability of entering this trail.
That said, this was an incredibly interesting experience seeing the effects of the Malibu fires.
Here is the picnic area at the start of this trail. Just entire tables burned to pieces.
There really wasn't a tree that was safe on this hike. It was like walking through a graveyard, ominous and somber.
We took the Zuma Loop Trail because it headed up a hill and we thought we'd get a better view of the area.
But we knew the hike was short and we had already driven an hour to get here. So the trail takes you up the left side of a valley where you ascend some hills. We weren't sure if we would get ocean views, but I ventured off the trail a bit to climb a large hill to get a glimpse of the water through Malibu.
This picture shows what every tree looked like. Hundreds of them in the field below the hill, completely black and still standing. I can't help but think that Zuma Canyon is going to look like this for years to come, although a lot of the grass had grown back which did provide an interesting contrast.
Plus it had just rained. Did I mention there was several inches of wet mud covering the flat valley between the mountains? The return loop of the hike took us through this desolate landscape, our hiking boots leaving inches-deep footprints as we slogged through.
This is the trail on the way back (although technically it could be done as flat area first, then hillside trek). A creek meandered through this area, creating pits of mud along its path. It felt like the scene right before the hyenas show up in Lion King.
There you have it. You can see the entirety of Zuma Canyon from up here, in all its haunting glory. A stark reminder of the violent power of nature, but also the potential for regrowth and new beginnings. I won't forget this one for a long time.
Address: 5721 Bonsall Dr, Malibu, CA 90265
Date of Hike: Saturday, January 19th
Duration: 1.5 hours
Distance: 1.5 miles round trip
Difficulty: Medium
Parking: Free parking lot, free street parking
✅Closed Loop ✅Ocean Views ✅Panoramic Views
🚫Shade🚫Picnic Area🚫Probably Best Not to a Bring a Dog
We pretty much hit the trifecta going to a place that had a fire that year, days after a massive rainstorm, DURING the government shut down. I would not be in good conscience if I didn't lay out that we knowingly took on the liability of entering this trail.
That said, this was an incredibly interesting experience seeing the effects of the Malibu fires.
Here is the picnic area at the start of this trail. Just entire tables burned to pieces.
There really wasn't a tree that was safe on this hike. It was like walking through a graveyard, ominous and somber.
We took the Zuma Loop Trail because it headed up a hill and we thought we'd get a better view of the area.
There was no denying that we probably shouldn't have been there during the government shutdown. We were one of a few cars parked on the street outside the trailhead, and the parking lot gate was closed.
A burned trail sign overlooking the view of charred hillsides
But we knew the hike was short and we had already driven an hour to get here. So the trail takes you up the left side of a valley where you ascend some hills. We weren't sure if we would get ocean views, but I ventured off the trail a bit to climb a large hill to get a glimpse of the water through Malibu.
This picture shows what every tree looked like. Hundreds of them in the field below the hill, completely black and still standing. I can't help but think that Zuma Canyon is going to look like this for years to come, although a lot of the grass had grown back which did provide an interesting contrast.
Plus it had just rained. Did I mention there was several inches of wet mud covering the flat valley between the mountains? The return loop of the hike took us through this desolate landscape, our hiking boots leaving inches-deep footprints as we slogged through.
This is the trail on the way back (although technically it could be done as flat area first, then hillside trek). A creek meandered through this area, creating pits of mud along its path. It felt like the scene right before the hyenas show up in Lion King.
There you have it. You can see the entirety of Zuma Canyon from up here, in all its haunting glory. A stark reminder of the violent power of nature, but also the potential for regrowth and new beginnings. I won't forget this one for a long time.
Comments
Post a Comment