Featured in movies and TV shows, including M*A*S*H, Malibu Creek State Park sprawls over 7,000 acres in the Santa Monica Mountains. More than 15 miles of trail amble along the creek for which the park is named and its tributary streams, shaded by oaks and sycamores. Choose from 62 tent campsites or one of four RV sites where you can enjoy the convenience of a picnic table and fire pit. Hot solar showers and flush toilets are available at the campground. You can drive to the beach in approximately 10 minutes, or hike trails that take you to the old M*A*S*H set or connect you with the 55-mile Backbone Trail through the Santa Monica Mountains.
Two state beaches in Malibu provide areas where you can set up camp. Point Mugu State Park offers five miles of shoreline flanked by sand dunes and rocky bluffs with 70 miles of hiking trails leading into the Boney Mountain State Wilderness Area. Leo Carrillo State Beach stretches along 1.5 miles of Pacific Ocean where you can swim, surf and windsurf. Tide pools, reefs and caves provide plenty of opportunity to explore along the coast. Both campgrounds provide sites suitable for tents or self-contained RVs, with flush toilets and hot showers conveniently situated in the campgrounds.
Unlike many long-distance trails, the 55-mile Backbone Trail through the Santa Monica Mountains does not provide trailside shelters or allow dispersed camping along the way. You can access the Musch Trail Camp at Topanga State Park, where you can set up a tent with a per-person fee. The campground is open on Friday and Saturday and does not allow fires during peak fire season. Point Mugu State Park's group campground, Danielson Ranch, lies along the trail and can be reserved through California State Parks. The National Park Service provides a group campground for 10 to 50 people at its Circle X Ranch facility with water and pit toilets available. You can also access the campground at Malibu Creek State Park via a 1.5-mile side trail that is rated as "strenuous" by the park.
While pets are allowed in all state and national campgrounds in the Santa Monica Mountains, only trails within the Santa Monica National Recreation Area allow your pet to join you on the trail. Your dog can be off its leash as long as it can be summoned by your command, but you are required to carry the leash along in the event the dog needs to be restrained. Poison oak proliferates along the trails, often towering wall-like along the trails or poking tiny leaves unnoticed through the trail surface. Keep your pet leashed in areas where poison oak is present, or the itch-inducing oil clinging to its fur can be transferred.
