RECREATION : NO MADDING CROWDS HERE : Solitude, Beauty Can Be Found in Nearby Campground by Those Willing to Hike to It

Camping at Valley-area campgrounds has its drawbacks, especially now in peak season when rows of motor homes blot out the sky and babies howl through the night. It’s enough to make you think seriously about incorporating sleeping in motels into life in the great outdoors.

But wait. There’s a campground with everything--peace and quiet, solitude, beauty, clean bathrooms--that’s even closer than such local favorites as Sycamore Canyon and McGrath State Beach. It’s in Topanga State Park, which is only seven miles south of the Ventura Freeway, and here’s the best part: Virtually nobody uses it.

Why? Because it’s not convenience camping. You have to hike over a hilly, often-steep trail for a mile before reaching the eight campsites. Without camping gear, it’s an easy trek, but with cooler, tent, down sleeping bag and cappuccino-maker, the journey has all the prospects of a major disaster.

“If we’re lucky, we get one family a week up there,” says Doralise Machado-Liddell, a state ranger based in the 10,000-acre park.

Camping purists will like the pristine setting and abundant hiking trails but no doubt will feel shortchanged by the ban on open fires. But the threat of a conflagration on the parched land has forced rangers to restrict cooking to propane stoves, which add another few pounds to the backpack.

Those hearty enough to make the hike will find the campground at the base of a hill high in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Ringed by a split-rail fence, the campsites sit under tall eucalyptus trees and look out over a rolling canyon. Amenities include a drinking fountain, electric outlet and restrooms but no showers.

The easiest way to get to the campground is on horseback, letting the animals pack the gear. The campground is one of the few sites in Los Angeles set up expressly for horses, with metal stalls and a water trough only a few yards from the campsites. Unfortunately, rental horses aren’t available anywhere in the vicinity of the park.

The campground is situated on the Musch Trail--named for the last private owners of the land--and is an ideal base from which to explore the park. The trail leads to numerous other trails and fire roads that can take a hiker all the way to Will Rogers State Park, nearly 10 miles to the west. A less ambitious hike from the campground is a one-mile, uphill trek to Eagle Rock, a giant sandstone outcropping that provides spectacular ocean views on clear days.

The most popular destination at the park is a waterfall about a half-mile off the Santa Ynez Trail. It’s so popular with teens that the rangers have banned alcohol at the site, but getting there from the campground is difficult and probably not worth the effort this time of year. The waterfall, like all the creek beds in the park, is dry.

For campers who like privacy, the campground, which is virtually on the Musch Trail, can be a problem on weekends, when a steady stream of hikers and horses passes within feet of tents and picnic tables. That’s not to say Topanga is a high-usage park; rangers say it’s one of the least-used, used and least-known.

“There are people who’ve lived in the Valley for 30 years and never heard of Topanga Park,” Machado-Liddell says.

But for those who have discovered it, the park is a friendly, almost child-proof place. Unlike the Angeles National Forest, Topanga has trails that are clearly marked. The Musch Trail--part of a 32-mile, well-maintained system--is soft and sandy, making a day hike to the campground easy on the feet.

“I’ve done it barefoot,” says Felice Dunas, who was hiking recently with her young daughter Elannah.

Dunas, who lives on land adjacent to the park, often picnics at the campground with her children. “It’s a special place,” she says. “In the spring, little irises and daffodils come up, and it’s so pretty.”

Topanga State Park, 20825 Entrada Road, Topanga. $3 per vehicle to enter, $2 a person to camp. The campground trail head is just off a fire road near the parking lot at the entrance to the park. Follow the Musch Trail for a mile. Camping is on a first-come, first-served basis.