Overlook with Great View of the Valley Gets Face Lift

Since the early 1920s, people have been stopping at the top of Topanga Canyon Boulevard to take in the spectacular view of the San Fernando Valley.

But gone are the potholes and the gravel lot. The popular lookout three miles south of Ventura Boulevard recently got a face lift.

Now, visitors drive into a paved, 16-space parking lot. There are new picnic tables, benches, a drinking fountain, modern restrooms and a display of historical photos.

“I feel the same excitement I felt when I first came here,” said visitor Cynthia Targosz, who was trying to spot her Warner Center condo. “It renews me.”

She was on her way to the beach with her visiting sister and brother-in-law, she said.

“Where I live, everything is flat for the most part,” said Targosz’s sister, Anne Lerini of Dearborn Heights, Mich. “This is gorgeous.”

It took four months and $425,000 to transform the gravel lot. Federal transportation grants provided $375,000, and another $50,000 came from county Proposition A park money, said Reva Concoff, chief of special projects for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, which bought the 9-acre parcel in 1994.

“We tried to create a balance between park space and parking,” Concoff said. “We’re really pleased.”

North Hills resident Floyd Sare stopped by with his wife, Jeanette, on a day when the temperature hit 90. Both admired the view but stayed only a few minutes because there was no shade.

“It’s too hot up here,” said Jeanette Sare, prompting her husband to wonder aloud if the conservancy planned to erect tents for the summer.

Probably not. “We’re an environmental organization, so you get the environmental part with the environment,” Concoff said.

The park has extended hours from sunrise to 9 p.m. to accommodate the additional visitors the conservancy expects.

The area is patrolled overnight by rangers from the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority.