Charmlee Park Blooms Tint Santa Monica Mountains

Charmlee, a country park perched in the Santa Monica Mountains above Malibu, often has outstanding spring wildflower displays. Most of the park is a large open meadow. This meadow burned in 1985, thus the flower display, given timely rainfall, is still quite good. Lupine, paintbrush, larkspur, Mariposa lily, penstemon and California peony bloom everywhere.

Stop at Charmlee’s nature center and inquire about what’s blooming where. Also pick up a copy of a brochure that explores the park’s Fire Ecology Trail. This nature trail interprets the important role of fire in Southern California’s chaparral communities.

Good views are another reason to visit Charmlee. The Santa Monica Mountains spread east to west, with the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains rising to the north. Down the coast you can see Zuma Beach and Point Dume and up the coast Sequit Point in Leo Carrillo State Park. Offshore, Catalina Island and two of the Channel Islands--Anacapa and Santa Cruz--can sometimes be seen.

Named for Two Owners

Beginning in the early 1800s, this Malibu meadowland was part of Rancho Topanga-Malibu-Sequit and was used to pasture cattle. For 1 1/2 centuries, various ranchers held the property. The last of these private landholders--Charmain and Leonard Swartz--combined their first names to give Charmlee its name. Los Angeles County acquired the Charmlee property in the late 1960s and eventually opened the 460-acre park in 1981.

For the hiker, Charmlee is one of the few parks, perhaps even the only park, that actually seems to have a surplus of trails. Quite a few paths and old ranch roads wind through the park, which is shaped like a big grassy bowl.

Because the park is mostly one big meadow fringed with oak trees, it’s easy to see where you’re going and improvise your own circle tour of Charmlee. Bring a kite and a picnic to this little-known park and take it easy.

Directions to the trailhead: From Pacific Coast Highway, about 12 miles up-coast from Malibu, head into the mountains on Encinal Canyon Road. Drive 4 1/2 miles to Charmlee Natural Area County Park.

The nature center is south of the parking lot. For more information about the park and its interpretive programs, call (213) 457-7247.

The hike: Walk through the park’s picnic area on a dirt road, which travels under the shade of coast live oaks. The trail crests at a low rise, offers a couple of side trails to the left to explore and soon arrives at a more distinct junction with a fire road leading downhill along the eastern edge of the meadow. This is a good route to take because it leads to fine ocean views.

Follow the road as it skirts the eastern edge of the meadow and heads south. Several ocean overlooks are encountered, but the official overlook is a rocky outcropping positioned on the far southern edge of the park. Contemplate the coast, then head west to the old ranch reservoir. A few hundred yards away is an oak grove, one of the park’s many picturesque picnic spots.

You may follow any of several trails back to the trailhead or join Fire Ecology Trail for a close-up look at how Southern California’s Mediterranean flora rises phoenixlike from the ashes.

Ocean Vista Trail

3-mile loop through Charmlee Natural Area County Park