Park Hides Its Charms From All but Dedicated

Finding Topanga State Park can be a stern test of woodsmanship.

For the first-time visitor, it’s a tough place to get to, and park officials haven’t gone out of their way to help.

Topanga Canyon Boulevard, the nearest thoroughfare to the entrance, has no signs directing visitors to park headquarters off narrow, winding Entrada Road south of Woodland Hills. Moreover, the park’s telephone number is listed neither in the telephone book nor with directory assistance.

Jill Swift, a Tarzana resident who leads hikes into the 9,000-acre park from the southern end of the San Fernando Valley, says state park officials have kept the 10-year-old park “a secret, I believe, for quite some time.”

Kirk Wallace, deputy regional director for the state Department of Parks and Recreation, said the lack of signs on Topanga Canyon Boulevard is in part a concession to park neighbors. “The community, of course, feels that to have additional signs is blight,” he said. Wallace also cited the park’s modest facilities as a reason not to promote it.

The park has limited toilet facilities and only a few picnic tables. There are hiking and horse trails, but little else to attract a wider range of visitors.

“If we put out signs and marketed Topanga State Park, we better have something to market,” Wallace said. “You don’t draw a lot of people in when you don’t have the ability to service them.”