National Parks:
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

Thousand Oaks, California -- Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is the nation’s largest urban national park, encompassing 153,000 acres of scenic mountains and coastline within Los Angeles and Ventura counties of southern California. In addition to historic landmarks like the Santa Monica pier and the Hollywood sign, the park features over 500 miles of recreation trails and 47 miles of beaches, all within easy access to a diverse metropolitan region of more than 17 million people. National, state, and local parks within the national recreation area draw over 33 million annual visitors. People of all ages and backgrounds visit to hike, horseback ride, bicycle, camp, surf, and escape the confines of urban living.

DID YOU KNOW

• Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) was authorized by an act of Congress in 1978.
• SMMNRA is managed through a cooperative partnership between federal, state, local, private, and nonprofit groups who share in the stewardship of the Santa Monica Mountains. This community of partners leverages operational resources and extends services to the public at significant cost savings.
• Parklands within SMMNRA include state parks, county parks, and beaches, municipal parks, and privately managed recreation sites.
• SMMNRA is home to a number of rare and endangered species, such as the Steelhead trout, and also provides habitat for over 450 vertebrate animal species, including mountain lion, coyotes, and bobcats.

DON'T MISS ATTRACTIONS

• Recreation opportunities abound in SMMNRA. Whether it’s hiking, horseback riding, bicycling, beach-going, or bird watching, visitors can go it alone, as a pair, or in groups. Try a drive down historic, world-famous Mulholland Highway from Los Angeles to the Pacific Ocean, or tour all of the park sites and discover the differences that make them unique.
• Over twelve hundred ranger or docent-led activities are offered every year. "Outdoors in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area" is available free to the public. This quarterly activity calendar lists a multitude of music concerts, exhibits, educational lectures, and campfire programs, silent movie screenings and more.
• American cinema plays a starring role in the cultural life of the United States and the world. In store for the traveler is Paramount Ranch, where Paramount Pictures practiced their craft and where television shows and movies are still filmed today. In 1927, Paramount Pictures purchased 2,400 acres of the old Rancho Las Virgenes for use as a "movie ranch." For 25 years, a veritable who’s who of Hollywood spent time there.
• Other park sites await, such as Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa, a sacred Chumash Native American Indian site, which offers the duel perspective of the ranching era and the history and traditions of all Indians of yesterday, today, and tomorrow; Castro Crest, where the rock outcroppings meet the sky and views of the ocean and canyons are breathtaking; Circle X Ranch, where one can hike from the highest peak to the canyon bottom to explore rock pools; Solstice Canyon, a place where natures greets you with the sights and sounds of a babbling brook set amidst towering alder and sycamore trees. These are but a few of the sites that await an adventuresome spirit.

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE PRIORITIES

President Bush visited Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to highlight the important work that is ongoing at this and other parks across the National Park System. As part of the President's National Parks Legacy Project, the National Park Service has engaged in a systematic effort to improve facilities and historic structures, maintain trails and roads, and protect natural resources at the national parks. This effort to is improving conditions in the parks and providing better services for the visiting public.

A critical component of the National Parks Legacy Project is a vigorous effort to bring state-of-the-art facilities management to the parks. To this end, SMMNRA was one of the first parks to implement the Asset Management Program. The Asset Management Program provides the tools and resources the park needs to inventory facilities, assess their condition, and plan and prioritize needed repairs. Using this process, a comprehensive inventory and condition assessment of all SMMNRA facilities was completed. While most facilities are in good condition, there exists a backlog of deficient or poor facility conditions resulting from deferred maintenance. SMMNRA is working to eliminate this maintenance backlog by restoring facilities to an average condition of fair or better. This work will allow SMMNRA to continue to provide high quality recreation facilities and programs to ensure visitors will have a safe and enjoyable park experience.

Source: National Park Service