Malibu Creek State Park

Malibu Creek State Park, with the Goat Buttes in the background.

Coordinates: 34°06′03″N 118°42′40″W / 34.100725°N 118.711112°W / 34.100725; -118.711112

Malibu Creek State Park is a California state park near Malibu, in Calabasas. It opened to the public in 1976.

The bulk of the park is made up of land donated by Bob Hope. Other parts of the park, added later, were previously owned by Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox. Part of the 20th Century Fox property had been purchased in 1966 from Ronald Reagan. The Reagan Ranch, known as Yearling Row, was owned by the future president from 1951 to 1966. It was sold by Reagan to pay off campaign debts after winning the California governor's race in 1966. The high taxes on this property molded Reagan's view of government and was used to develop his cowboy persona which he used to great effect in the 1966 gubernatorial race. Most recently an area formerly used by Soka University was annexed to the park. It is known as Gillette Ranch because the buildings were erected by the original owner Gillette (the razor manufacturer).

Malibu Creek State Park stretches from below Malibu Lake in the west to Piuma Road in the east. It follows the creek down to the Pacific Ocean and includes the Adamson House on the beach. Tapia Park has recently been incorporated as a subunit of the park. The park includes three natural preserves:

• Liberty Canyon 730 acres (3 km²);
• Udell Gorge 300 acres (1.2 km²); and
• Kaslow Preserve 1920 acres (8 km²).

The area is habitat for mountain lions, bobcats, mule deer, golden eagles, and southern steelhead. In order to promote steelhead runs, the obsolete Rindge Dam is slated to be removed from Malibu Creek.

In addition, the park is home to several culturally significant areas, including the remains of Reagan Ranch (which once belonged to the former US president), the Sepulveda Adobe, and the ruins of Mott Adobe.

The park, known as the Fox Ranch and Century Ranch during its ownership by 20th Century Fox, has been used as a location in dozens of films, starting with a number of Tarzan movies:

• Tarzan Escapes (1936), Tarzan's Revenge (1938), Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939)
• Blockade (1938)
• Full Confession (1939)
• How Green Was My Valley (1941)
• My Friend Flicka (1943)
• Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)
• Viva Zapata! (1952)
• Between Heaven and Hell (1956)
• The Defiant Ones (1958)
• The Second Time Around (1961)
• Posse from Hell (1961)
• The Sand Pebbles (1966)
• Planet of the Apes (1968), Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
• The Towering Inferno (1974) For miniature exteriors of a fictitious skyscraper.
• Logan's Run (1976)
• The Masters of the Universe (1987)
• Pleasantville (1998)
• The Hunter's Moon (1999)
• Secretary (2002)

The park was also a key filming location for the M*A*S*H series, both for the the feature film and the subsequent television series. The landscape was particularly seen in the opening credits for the show as helicopters carrying wounded approach the hospital with the recognizable Goat Buttes in the background. The exact location of the site is 34 05'47.43" N 118 44'39.39" W.

Other television programs that used the park to pass for a post-apocalyptic earth were Planet of the Apes and the children's program Ark II.

The park is still used for occasional filming.

Recreation activities in the park include: bird watching, hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, fishing, and picnicking. The Backbone Trail System, a multi-use long-distance trail spanning the Santa Monica Mountains, passes through Malibu Creek State Park.

See also

• List of California state parks
• Castro Peak

External links

• Website for the park
• Jerry Schneider's page on the parks history and filmography
• Plant list for the park
• Mountain Bike Trails
• Website for the Malibu Creek Docents, the California Cooperative Association intrepreting Malibu Creek State Park
• [1] History, images and video of the Reagan Ranch.