| Malibu Creek State Park | |
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 Malibu Creek State Park, with theGoat Buttes in the background | |
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| Location | Los Angeles County, California, United States |
| Nearest city | Calabasas, California |
| Coordinates | landmark34°6′3″N118°42′40″W / 34.10083°N 118.71111°W /34.10083; -118.71111 |
| Area | 8,215 acres (33.24 km2) |
| Established | 1974 |
| Governing body | California Department of Parks and Recreation |
Malibu Creek State Park is astate park ofCalifornia, United States, preserving theMalibu Creek canyon in theSanta Monica Mountains. The 8,215-acre (3,324 ha) park was established in 1974.[1] Opened to the public in 1976, the park is also a component ofSanta Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
Malibu Creek State Park stretches from belowMalibou Lake in the west to Piuma Road in the east. It follows the creek down to thePacific Ocean and includes theAdamson House and creek's mouth in the Malibu Lagoon at the beach. Tapia Park has recently been incorporated as a subunit of the park.[when?] The park includes three natural preserves: 730-acre (300 ha) Liberty Canyon, 300-acre (120 ha) Udell Gorge, and 1,920-acre (780 ha) Kaslow Preserve.
The land that is now Malibu Creek State Park was inhabited by nativeChumash people for millennia. The site of a village calledTalepop has been uncovered by archaeologists in the northeast corner of the park. The Chumash were most famous for their wood plank canoes, which they used to travel the coastline for hundreds of miles.[2] By the 1860s a few homesteads existed, including the Sepulveda Adobe, which still stands.
In 1900 a group of wealthyLos Angeles businessmen created theCrags Country Club and purchased 2,000 acres (800 ha) along Malibu Creek. In 1903 the 50-foot-high (15 m)Century Dam was built nearby, creating a 7-acre (2.8 ha) lake that was later purchased by20th Century Fox and named Century Lake. The three-level, 7,500-square-foot (700 m2) Crags Club Lodge was completed in 1910.Redwood trees were planted near the lake that same year.[3] Also within park boundaries is theRindge Dam in Malibu Canyon, built in 1926. The Crags Country Club ceased operations in 1936 and the lodge was torn down in 1955.
The majority of the park's lands were donated by entertainerBob Hope.[4] Other parts of the park, added later, were previously owned byParamount Pictures and 20th Century Fox formovie ranches. Part of the former 20th Century Fox Ranch had been purchased in 1966 fromRonald Reagan.[5] The Reagan ranch, known as "Yearling Row", was owned by the future president from 1951 to 1966 (Reagan earlier owned another ranch also called Yearling Row inNorthridge, California). It was sold by the Reagans to pay campaign debts from the 1966 California governor's campaign.[6] Additional parcels have been connected by theSanta Monica Mountains Conservancy and Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.[7]
In 2014, adjacent Cameron Nature Preserve in Puerco Canyon was acquired by the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority.[8] This created a contiguous block of public parkland from this park toCorral Canyon Park and will provide a path for theCoastal Slope Trail. The 703-acre property (284 ha) was purchased from Oscar-winning directorJames Cameron.[9]
In 2018 substantial portions of the park, including the Reagan ranch and the Fox Ranch location for many films and television shows, were burned and destroyed by theWoolsey Fire.[10]
Most recently an area was annexed to the park known as theKing Gillette Ranch, with a landmarkSpanish Colonial Revival style residence and estate buildings designed by renowned architectWallace Neff in the 1920s for ownerKing C. Gillette, the early-20th-century inventor and manufacturer of theGillette disposable razor. It was later used by the CatholicClaretian Order asClaretville in the 1950s–60s,[11] then by several other spiritual groups, and finally bySoka University in the 1990s until the recent purchase for the park. The new visitor center for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is located here in the historic Stables compound.
The Sepúlveda Adobe, a 19th-century ranch house, was built by theSepúlveda family of California, a prominentCalifornio family of Southern California, is located within the park.
When owned by 20th Century Fox, the park was known as the Fox Ranch, which was a remotebacklot for their movie productions for decades. The park was a key filming location for the filmM*A*S*H (1970) and the subsequenttelevision series (1972–83). The landscape was particularly seen in the opening credits for the show as helicopters carrying wounded approach the hospital with the recognizableGoat Buttes in the background.[12]
Other television programs that used the park to pass for a post-apocalyptic Earth werePlanet of the Apes and the children's programArk II. This was also a location forRobin Hood: Men in Tights where the Goat Buttes are seen in the background of the final wedding scene.[13] While the park continues to be used for occasional filming, it has been a location in dozens of films, beginning with a number ofTarzan movies:
Recreation activities in the park includehorseback riding,bird watching,hiking,mountain biking,rock climbing,fishing, andpicnicking. Ranger led programs and hikes are also offered.[14]
TheBackbone Trail, a multi-uselong-distance trail spanning the Santa Monica Mountains, passes through Malibu Creek State Park. Another long distance trail, the Coastal Slope Trail, is under construction and will pass through the remote southern tip of the park.[15]
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