To complete the 10-mile circuit, head south on Fire Road No. 25, which follows the ridge separating Sullivan ­Canyon on your right and Mandeville Canyon on your left. It's a pleasant, mostly downhill four-mile walk with almost continuous views south to the Santa Monica pier and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. When you reach Westridge Trailhead - conveniently spelled out on a metal gate - follow the sidewalk along Westridge Road to Bayliss Road. Take a right on Bayliss and follow it back to where the loop began.

Santa Ynez Waterfall
The car trip to Trippet Ranch - the trailhead for numerous hikes throughout Topanga State Park - is a worthwhile journey in itself. From Santa Monica, take the Pacific Coast Highway north, past the newly refurbished and reopened Getty Villa, to Topanga Canyon Boulevard. Driving through Topanga Canyon is dramatic: Much of it is undeveloped, and at points the road is bordered by steep cliffs and sharp drops into the canyon below. After passing through the small town center of Topanga - which retains a hippie-commune feel despite skyrocketing real estate prices - look for Entrada Road on the right, which leads to Trippet Ranch, described as once being a "gentleman's ranch" built as a getaway for city slickers.

Beginning at the ranch, a favorite six-mile round-trip hike is to follow the well-marked route down into Santa Ynez Canyon to an 18-foot waterfall that's always peaceful and occasionally dramatic, if there's been a lot of rain. The hike begins on the Eagle Springs fire road, passing wide-open meadows, which, in spring, are filled with colorful wildflowers. Soon, you leave the fire road and begin a descent - steep enough at times to make you dread the return trip - along a narrow trail over rock formations that give the landscape a lunar feel.