Blooms Round Out Nicholas Flat

“Nicholas Flat is one of the best areas in the Santa Monica Mountains for spring wildflowers,” says naturalist Milt McAuley.

When it comes to what’s blooming where, McAuley speaks with considerable authority. He is the author of “Wildflowers of the Santa Monica Mountains” (Canyon Publishing Co., $19.95).

I kept company with McAuley, author of half a dozen hiking guides to the Santa Monica Mountains, on a recent 8 1/2-mile jaunt to Nicholas Flat.

“Nicholas Flat has so much blooming because it’s a meeting place for four different plant communities,” McAuley explained. “The chaparral, grassland, coastal scrub and oak woodland all converge near the flat.”

For a memorable Santa Monica Mountains adventure, take a hike across the Leo Carrillo back country down to the beach.

Families with children, and those looking for a mellow day in the mountains, should start from the Decker School Road trail head and meander the three-quarter-mile to Nicholas Flat.

Experienced hikers will relish the challenge of the rough route up from Mulholland Highway. Beware of the first two miles of Malibu Springs Trail--a very steep accent.

Directions to trail head: Leo Carrillo State Beach is just off Pacific Coast Highway, about 25 miles north of Santa Monica on the Los Angeles/Ventura county line. Free parking is available along the coast highway or for a $6 day use fee at the state beach.

For the easy hike to Nicholas Flat: From Pacific Coast Highway, turn inland on Decker Road (California 23) and drive 2 1/2 miles north to a fork. Bear left on Decker School Road and drive about a mile to its end at a parking area.

For the more difficult hike to Nicholas Flat: From California 1, just north of the entrance to the state beach, turn inland on Mulholland Highway and drive three miles to a very small turnout and unsigned trail head on your right.

The hike: Join the old dirt road ascending east. The narrow road is trail-like because so much vegetation crowds it. On our hike, Milt McAuley pointed out mule fat, purple nightshade, canyon sunflower, bush lupine, miner’s lettuce, sage brush, yucca, golden yarrow, brickle bush and fuchsia-flowered gooseberry.

Reward for the stiff climb comes in the form of excellent vistas of Boney Mountain and the dramatic canyon cut by Arroyo Sequit. At a state park boundary sign the trail tops out, and you arrive at an intersection. If you turn right here, you’ll follow a switchbacking trail that leads southeast through open grassland to a saddle, then west. The path descends to an old road, where you can then head left half a mile to Nicholas Flat Pond.

Perhaps a better way to go is to veer left at this junction and walk a quarter-mile through a lovely meadow to Decker School Road. Turn right and walk a few hundred yards to a parking area and trail head for Nicholas Flat.

Follow the oak-shaded dirt road to a meadow and then to Nicholas Pond. Then follow the trail uphill, bearing left at a fork, and winding south, then west downhill. A mile from the beach, the trail forks. The left branch leads along Willow Creek and offers ocean views; the right fork descends the steep slopes above the campground.

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Malibu Springs, Nicholas Flat Trails

WHERE: Leo Carrillo State Beach

DISTANCE: From Mulholland Highway to Leo Carrillo State Beach via Nicholas Flat is 8 1/2 miles one way with a 1,400-foot elevation gain and 1,800-foot lose; from Decker School Road to Leo Carrillo State Beach is 4 miles one way with a 1,300-foot lose.

TERRAIN: Steep coastal slopes.

HIGHLIGHTS: Restful Nicholas Pond, spring wildflowers, mountain and shoreline vistas.

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: Moderate from Decker School Road; strenuous from Mulholland.

PRECAUTIONS: Poison oak.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Mountain Parks Information (800) 533-PARK or California Department of Parks and Recreation (818) 880-0350.