Santa Monica Mountains 67-Mile Backbone Trail Finally (Almost) Complete
It took 53 years for Angelenos to hop on a train to Santa Monica, but it finally happened. Now, another historic connection for LA is about to take place, one that also took 50 years to complete -- a 67-mile trek of the Santa Monica Mountains known as the Backbone Trail.
Running from Point Magu State Park to Will Rogers State Historic Park, the trail will finally reach completion. According to the LA Times, the National Park Service recently closed escrow on a 40-acre donation by former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and fitness pioneer Betty Weider, and within 10 days the agency expects escrow to close on two remaining parcels along a fire road known as the Etz Meloy Motorway.
Over the years, public funding and private donations have pieced together this uninterrupted trail that follows sandstone peaks with views of the Pacific, chaparral-covered hillsides, oak woodlands, creeks and lilac-covered valleys. These last three properties needed to complete the trail were among 180 tracts that have been purchased since the project started in the 1960s.
The National Park Service will commemorate completion of the trail at a ceremony at Will Rogers state park on Saturday, June 4, National Trails Day.
See maps of the Backbone Trail patched together through the years.
