Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is an area nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains just west of Griffith Park in Los Angeles County and to the east of the Oxnard Plain in Ventura County. To access the parks 156,000 acres of land, you can find the main entrance to the park by finding US 101 (more commonly called the Ventura Freeway) that borders the mountains on the north, and CA 1 (also called the Pacific Coast Highway) and the Pacific Ocean from the southern boundary. 

Once you get to the national recreational area, you will find several unique features. For example, you will see that there are over 580 miles of public trails that encompass four California State Parks. As such, management and protection of the national recreation area is a joint and cooperative effort of the federal, state, and local park agencies along with private preserves and landowners. 

The protected area in the park was established on November 10, 1978. Within the protected land, you will find an abundance of wildlife, a coastline with sandy beaches and rocky shores, canyons covered with chaparral, and rugged mountains. Besides enjoying nature in all of its glory, visitors can also get to experience recreational activities like swimming, hiking, camping, surfing, bicycling, horseback riding, fishing, boating, guided tours, and wildlife viewing. 

Some of the amenities in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area to facilitate these activities include a picnic area, campground, bicycle trail, visitor center, restrooms, Native American Indian cultural center, museum, and self-guided trails. Dogs are unquestionably allowed into the park albeit with some restrictions. 

For example, dogs should be kept from some regions of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area like park buildings, museums, and the visitor center. In areas of the park that dogs can access, their owners should always keep them on a leash. When the tail-wagger is not on a leash, then the dog should be secured in a safe container.