Scenic Spot Gets a New Look

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.

The popular lookout three miles south of Ventura Boulevard recently received a face-lift that not only makes it safer but more appealing. Gone is the gravel lot with its potholes and precarious entrance off the busy, two-lane road.

Now, visitors drive into a paved, 16-space parking lot where they can use picnic tables, benches, a drinking fountain, handicapped-accessible 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 locate her Warner Center condo from the overlook. “It renews me.”

Targosz was on her way to the beach this week with her visiting sister and brother-in-law when they spotted the place, 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 into an oasis. Federal transportation grants provided $375,000, and $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 nine-acre parcel in 1994.

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

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

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

Probably not, said Concoff.

“We’re an environmental organization, so you get the environmental part with the environment.”

The park has extended hours from sunrise to 9 p.m. to accommodate the additional visitors the conservancy is expecting because of the improvements.

The area is patrolled overnight by rangers from the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, a sister agency of the conservancy.