Hondo Canyon of the Backbone Ridge Trail

This is one of my favorite canyon, the scenery changes a lot so it makes it interesting.

Hondo Canyon was actually our meeting point for a hike up Zuma Canyon, but there isn’t a business on Unilocal,perhaps it’s a good thing as hiking Zuma Canyon is not for just any hiker. Hiking Zuma Canyon is for those hikers that are… well…normal, but not by Webster’s definition. This hike is for those non-​trail hikers, where getting waist deep, or higher, in murky moss covered river rock water, rock climbing without harness’, crawling under bush, and over trees, and crawling on all fours up a 35 – 40 degree canyon of a loose dirt, or the alternative, use a hope to scale a 10 – 15 foot rock. If the rope is the preferred escape route, better bring something to tie it to because there isn’t anything at the top that will hold weight. We were fortunate, one of our fellow hikers acted as our belay.
Distance: 5.3 miles
Elevation Gain: 1400 feet
The Trail: Single track, rock & boulder hopping, scrambling, trailblazing and some bushwhacking, and poison oak (PO) and ticks run rampant. I know this because the last time I did this hike, although fully clothed with long sleeves and pants, I suffered the worst break out of PO, up to that point. It involves BUSHWHACKING and mostly CLIMBING OVER BOULDERS. Good balance and rock climbing skills are helpful. Also, depending on water flow, you can count on getting your feet wet.
Time: 5 – 7 hours
I agree, the mileage versus time does not compute. However, taking in all the factors above, this hike is not about distance, it’s about getting out safely before dark. This is a beautiful, very RUGGED and STRENUOUS hike through Lower Zuma Canyon, Upper Zuma Canyon, and Newton Canyon. There is PO everywhere in this canyon so you’ll be determining how sensitive you are to it if you don’t already know. I strongly recommend a thorough post hike scrubbing with one of the many PO products on the market. I have found that Tecnu used on trail, as well as post-​hike, prior to getting in the car, followed by a cool water sponge bath on the edge of the bathtub with Dawn, yes, the dish washing liquid… it cuts the grease). Hot water opens the pores and allows the poison to get into the skin.
As mentioned above, Hondo Canyon was actually our meeting point because this is a car shuttle (one-​way) hike where we start the hike near PCH and end up about 4 miles north of PCH on Kanan Dume Rd.
The hike begins around open fields, sycamore trees and laurel sumac bushes. The canyon then narrows and there are oaks and eucalyptus trees along a creek. A good portion of the hike is BOULDERING and some CLIMBING over huge sandstone boulders along Zuma Creek. While the trail up to this point will have been a bit of a challenge this is really where the fun starts. Towards the end of the hike, there’s a steep hill to climb (possibly crawl) up, or the alternative for those who have the upper body strength to pull themselves up the rock.
After completing this the first time, about three-​ish years ago, I swore I’d never do it again. It was one of my first hikes of this caliber and, although I wore pants, long sleeves, gloves, wool socks, and lug-​sole boots, I was still not properly dressed. The amount of PO I got and the severity of the breakout was so unbearable, I ended up calling my doctor for some relieve. In addition, I got attacked by a tick. Once I realized the side of my torso was being head butted by a tick I kind of freaked. I say kind of because when I turned around and asked my fellow peeps (gents) to help out they all shrieked like girls. One of girlfriends bulldozed her way up to me and asked what the holdup was, I showed her and as she pulled it out, she said, oh a tick. She had just pulled a ton of ticks out of her four legged fur ball, so she was quite the expert.
Anyway, I digress. After much convincing by my fellow hikers over the years, I finally caved. Only this time I was prepared. I had adopted ‘the prepare for the worst, hope for the best attitude’, plus, I’ve had many PO breakouts worse than the first time I hiked Zuma.
DISCLAIMER:
Hiking is not something that can be taken lightly. It can be life-​threatening as you see and hear on the news, people die or get lost all time. Please, if you are going to hike, never go alone and prepare for the worst, hope for the best. Remember when going for a hike, no matter how short you think it may be, always be prepared. Carry at least two liters of water for every five miles (more if the weather is warm), protein bar, nuts, and electrolytes. Wear sturdy lug sole shoes and protective clothing. Some areas the weather can change quicker than a fireman can put on his gear. It is also very important, always always always let a family member or friend know where you are going and when you expect to be back. Lastly, have fun when you hike it up.

Went here today for a hike and it was so much fun. It is about 3.5 miles. Very peaceful and smooth walk/​hike trail good for bikes and horses as well as on feet hiking.
Might see some horse crap on the trails. But a great trail! I would recomend going here with family.

At the beginning of this trail you can take a detour to the left and find the top of the waterfall. I love to sit at the top and look down on the foliage when I need somewhere quiet to reflect. More people have begun coming here, even some new agey spiritual people. You can come in the early summer and see the tadpoles that hatched.

Incredibly boring. The views MIGHT make you say «that’s kinda cool» once or twice, but if you’ve hiked anything almost anywhere else, you’ll be utterly underwhelmed. You start off on a road… end up (uneventfully) on another road, and then walk back a little confused. About the most interesting thing is if you follow the road up a little ways, you end up at the big graffiti-​covered lookout tower thing. Which loses its novelty within about half a second of arriving. Luckily no crowds and easy to find parking very close to the trailhead, but I’d find somewhere else to hike if you don’t want to be bored for a couple hours.

I was originally looking for the Newton Canyon Trail which I found on my go to hikes Web site:
, but we all ended up meeting at the trail head for the Backbone Trail. I don’t know if the Newton Canyon Trail is the same as the Backbone Trail but they sure did have the same specs.
Elevation gain: 400 feet — minimal and very doable for any hiking rookie
Mileage: 2.6 miles one way
It’s an out and back trail. Parking is on Kanan Road on the intersection of Kanan and Newton Canyon Rd. Google will tell you to take the 101 if you’re coming from Los Angeles. However, I took the 10 to the 1 HWY and found it pretty easily. On PCH once you make a right onto Kanan you will pass the first tunnel and almost immediately find the parking lot to the left of the road.
This is definitely a family friendly hike that rambunctious kids would enjoy. My friend’s six-​year-​old joined us and he loved every minute of it.
Dogs are allowed and you will have to share the trail with cyclists. The cyclists were cool and yelled a loud «BIKE!» every time they were approaching.
Bring gloves if you’re doing this hike during the colder months. The trail is well shaded and it gets pretty darn cold in those spots, so much so that the frosty ice had not melted off the vegetation by 11 am.
Enjoy!

This is a fairly moderate out and back hike (it can be done other ways like a point-​to-​point with a car shuttle). The trail as of late 2011/​early 2012 is well-​maintained and easy to follow. There is a tree that came down in the path partway up but you can easily see where to walk around. It’s 3.6 miles from the bottom of the canyon to the junction where the trail hits the road and where you can turn and take Fossil Ridge on up. There are some neat rocks with fossil imprints along the trail. Out and back is 7.2 miles if you just make it to that junction and takes a little less than 3 hours to do assuming you keep a good pace and maybe 10-​minutes worth of total stopping time.
The majority of the hike is shaded by a plethora of trees which makes all those switchbacks up not as painful on warmer days. Parking can be a pain if the pullout is full, but that doesn’t seem to happen on week days.
I would suggest being aware of your footing coming back downhill as there are a couple of spots where I have slipped a little due to loose dirt and rocks. It’s not a huge deal, but if your balance isn’t very good and you end up rolling an ankle it might make the hike back somewhat unpleasant.

This is a moderate hike that A & I completed in March 2010. This can be a point to point hike (you will need to cars, leave one at the end then drive to the trailhead— don’t forget the keys!) but we did it as an out & back. We hiked 3.6 mi. of Backbone Ridge of the Santa Monica Mountains then an additional 0.7 to Ewen Overlook.
I am not a fan of tall wild grass. It means there will be an obligatory tick check before stepping into the car. I did find the sedimentary rock quite impressive.
We came across two older grandmother-​aged women with large packs & trekking poles. They didn’t speak much English but we tried to help them find the trail. I wonder if they were planning to hike the full 70 miles of the Backbone Trail.
I somehow hurt my inner knee on the return route & refused to let A carry me down. As I was hobbling back to the car, I really wished we had hiked it as a point to point!
The trail is a bit overgrown and not as well-​maintained as most hikes. Ewen Overlook was just okay. I liked the signage that let you know what you’re looking at but I didn’t find the vistas that spectacular.
The drive up Old Topanga Canyon Road is also rather windy so drive slowly if you have anyone in the car who is prone to motion sickness. We parked on the side of the road so parking was free. Look for the Backbone Ridge sign.