Hike & Ride

In the Santa Moinca Mountains

When my time is limited and there's much to see in a particular area, I jump at the chance of taking a one-way hike. So I was delighted to learn about the ParkLink Shuttle, a bus service that transports you to parks and trailheads in the Santa Monica Mountains. With the shuttle schedule in hand, you can plan a one-way walk, knowing you can bus back to where you started your hike.

I've enjoyed taking one-way hikes with the help of shuttle buses in other national parks such as Zion, Bryce Canyon and Yosemite and used the public bus service in and around the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. There's something very special about arriving at or departing from a trailhead by bus: meeting other visitors, the sense of embarking on special adventure, and simply a break from the same-old-same-old drive to the trailhead, get out of your car and do an out-and-back hike routine.

Richard Clinton, www.richardclinton.com

I tried out the ParkLink Shuttle on a solo adventure and liked it so much I decided to bring my KPCC Hiking Club to the Santa Monica Mountains and see if they, too, would enjoy hiking and shuttling I.

Indeed, they did. We made a one-way jaunt from Paramount Ranch, a national park site, to Malibu Creek State Park. We learned a lot about movie and TV show locations as we hiked from an old Western town film set to the M*A*S*H site. It was an easy to moderate hike, a bit more than 6 miles in length, with very little elevation gain. We concluded our hike at the main parking lot at Malibu Creek State Park. Here we boarded a ParkLink shuttle bus for the ten-minute ride back to Paramount Ranch and the trailhead. The buses run very conveniently and the cost is only $1 per ride.

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Richard Clinton, www.richardclinton.com

The shuttle bus system currently runs on the weekends from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on some holidays. Destinations along the coast include Zuma Beach, Solstice Canyon, Corral Canyon, Malibu Beach, and Malibu Village. The shuttle travels Malibu Canyon Road with stops at Malibu Creek State Park and Tapia Park; along Mulholland with stops at Paramount Ranch and Peter Strauss Ranch; and along Kanan Dume Road with a stop at one of the Backbone Trailheads.

The shuttle is sponsored by the National Park Service, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, California State Parks and Los Angeles County Beaches and Harbors. For more ParkLink Shuttle information, call 1-888-734-2323, or visit www.parklinkshuttle.com.

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