If it isn't the most popular attraction at Disney California Adventure in Anaheim and EPCOT in Florida -- wow, those lines are intensely long -- "Soarin' over California" is most definitely one of the most exciting. For those who haven't had the chance to ride, it's a hang glider simulation in an IMAX theatre, complete with redwood forest smells and wind. more ›

Millions of people live around the Santa Monica Mountains yet few know the range and the surrounding beaches -- even as far as the Santa Monica Pier -- are included in a federal designated National Recreation Area that is administrated by the National Park Service. One of their more fun outreach tools has been Facebook, where Ranger Mike posts mystery photos from field and asks fans to identify them before he chimes in to confirm or correct guesses. For fun, below are a handful from the past year. more ›

Now here's a reason for L.A. politicians to finally pay attention to the unfinished Core Trail plan, which would giver hikers and equestrians the right-of-way along Mulholland Drive through the city (are you listening Sierra Club member Paul Koretz?). A report released today by the National Parks Conservation Association says visitors drawn to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area--it spans 153,000 acres from Runyon Canyon to the Santa Monica Pier and Point Mugu--spent more than $17 million in 2008. more ›

The largest urban national park is partly within Los Angeles, yet so many don't know it. Perhaps one of the reasons can be blamed on where the National Park Service set up its visitor center and headquarters 11 years ago this week: in Thousand Oaks. Take a look at the over 153,000 acres that make up the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, which basically spans the range from Runyon Canyon in Hollywood to the beaches of Malibu, and you'll see that the suburban Conejo Valley floor is not ideal. more ›

Tucked at the southern end of the Franklin Canyon on a dead-end road is Franklin Ranch, home to picnicking area, a small bench area for outdoor classes and a nice 2.3-mile loop trail known as the Hastain Trail. more ›

We're big fans of looking at nature photos taken in and around Los Angeles. We've seen bobcats, mountain lions, waterfalls, scenic views through the lenses of photographers who really haven't traveled that far, sometimes only minutes from Hollywood. It's just some of the best delicious eye candy of Southern California in our opinion. more ›

Joshua Tree, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Yosemite, Death Valley. These National Parks have captured the hearts of Californians and millions of others. Channel Islands, Mojave, Pinnacles, Cabrillo. They're lesser known in Southern and Central California, but sometimes just as beautiful, if not equally. And closer to home here in Los Angeles and heading west into Ventura County are a collection of National Park units hardly spoken about by the millions who live here (and will not be talked about in Ken Burns' 12-hour epic documentary, which debuted last night on PBS). more ›

About 30 people gathered yesterday to assist the National Park Service and other regional parks agencies in developing a new interagency headquarters, centrally located in the Santa Monica Mountains at King Gillette Ranch, just outside of Calabasas. more ›

In 2016, the National Park System will enter its second century. With that, come a new set of problems--population, development, global warming--that did not exist when the series of public lands were dedicated nearly 100 years ago. more ›

In 2007, a collaboration of parks agencies--local to federal--purchased King Gillette Ranch (if you're thinking shaving razors, you're on the right track) with plans to open an interagency visitor center for for the Santa Monica Mountains. Currently, the National Park Service, which manages the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, has a visitor center and headquarters in Thousand Oaks, far off the beaten path for many in the immediate Los Angeles region. King Gillette Ranch sits in the heart of the mountain rage, off Las Virgenes Road between Calabasas and Malibu, which is much closer to trails and nature than the suburban mall and sprawl setting of Thousand Oaks. more ›

In less than a months time, rangers with the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area area have captured and placed a GPS collar on a second mountain lion. Found Saturday morning in a trap set by National Park Service scientists around Malibu Springs, the approximately 2-year-old lion became the 14th to wear a tracking collar around its neck. At the end of July, a female with a similar age was found and collared. P14 and P13, respectively, have blood samples being analyzed by researchers at UCLA to determine connections, if any, to other lions studied in mountains. more ›

It's no Mount Whitney, but hiking to the top of Sandstone Peak is truly satisfying. Your journey to the top, elevation 3,111 feet, has sights and sounds different than the Santa Monica Mountains we know closer to Los Angeles. Forget the city noise below Runyon Canyon or the families splashing about at Malibu Creek--the trails of Circle X Ranch on the western part of the range are mostly quiet with lone birds heard echoing through the canyons and the sights of sheer cliffs dropping off into deep canyons is exhilarating. more ›

Well, she may not be the newest or youngest in our local mountains, but she is the most recent cougar to be trapped, tagged and released by the National Park Service, who has been conducting a study with them over the past seven years. P-13 (they are named in the order they are caught) was captured on July 31st in the Hidden Valley region, which is the northwest sector of the mountains south of Newbury Park. She is now the third active GPS collar being tracked. more ›

A Grand Canyon-bound tour helicopter from Las Vegas made an emergency landing at Lake Mead yesterday after a large bird crashing into the windshield. The pilot suffered a face laceration, but there no injuries to the six tourists from London aboard. The Cormorant bird strike happened around 5:40 p.m. as the helicopter was over the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. more ›

A 50-year-old man who jumped into Lake Mohave on Sunday is presumed drowned after rescue personnel suspended a search as night fell. The Lawndale man, whose identity has not been released, jumped into the water without a life jacket to retrieve a lost hat. "He went underwater and has not been seen since," according to a statement from the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, a popular destination for Southern Californians. Two Californians have died already this year at the area managed by the National Park Service. On Memorial weekend, an El Monte man drowned followed by another California man in late June. more ›

When a bald eagles disappear from the Channel Islands allowing room for Golden Eagles, who eat really cute little foxes, to take over, everyone freaks out (got 20 mins? Watch this amazing short documentary). When a pretty flowering Spanish Broom begins to grow, not many take notice despite it being one of the top invasive and harmful-to-the-ecosystem plants found in the Santa Monica Mountains. Now, that might start to change. more ›

For the second time this year, a California man has died at Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Claude Finney, 48, jumped into the water to swim without a personal safety device, according to National Park Service officials, who say he was treading water for about a minute before he began to call for help. Friends tried to throw him life-rings, but he disappeared below water before they reached him. Search and Rescue teams have yet to find his body and are presuming this is a drowning. "The heat and the boat's motion can take a lot out of you. You just don't realize it until its too late. You jump in the water to cool off and fatigue hits you from no where and you can't keep yourself afloat." said Andrew Muñoz spokesman for Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Over Memorial Day weekend, a man from El Monte drowned when he jumped into the water without any safety floatation devices. more ›

Since 2002, the National Park Service has been tracking Mountain Lions in the Santa Monica Mountains, studying their movements, pinpointing their ranges and observing how human development impacts their population. Twelve have been tracked in that time with some remarkable finds. more ›

The state parks that are proposed to be cut are quite beautiful and very popular--still, if they close, it's not like there's nothing left. State parks make up 23% of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, leaving a good amount of acreage to the National Park Service and another state park agency local to Los Angeles, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (note that there is a considerable amount of private land within the Nat. Rec. Area, too). more ›

Remember right before Labor Day weekend, officials at Lake Mohave were puzzled at why hundreds of dead carp were all of the sudden washing up on shore dead? Scientists have finally figured out the probable cause: Koi Herpes Virus (KHV). Good thing it poses no threats to human health. To fish, however, it's a different story, according to the Arizona Game and Fish Department via the Lake Mead National Recreation Area: "The virus, which can impact carp as water temperatures warm, affects gill function and can lead to suffocation and secondary infections. While there were bacterial issues, lab tests show KHV as the primary cause of the die-off." Dead fish continue to line the around 200 miles of beachfront on both Nevada and Arizona sides and warn fishers to avoid carp and for recreation users to be patient in finding a beach area. Otherwise, the lake water, although lower than usual, is deemed to be safe. more ›

John Silva was last seen jumping off a boat into the water to cool off yesterday afternoon. But soon after entering the water without a life jacket, the 42-year-old El Monte resident began to struggle to stay afloat, prompting a friend to dive in for an attempted rescue. However, Silver went underwater before he could be reached and is presume drowned after a two-hour searched, to be continued tomorrow, provided no results. more ›

The Lake Mead National Recreation Area is warning travelers this weekend that , which is within its boundaries, is experiencing an unpleasant odor and dead carp washed up on the beaches. There are no known human heath risks associated with the suspected cause of the carp deaths, but visitors are advised not to handle the dead fish. The cause is unknown, but biologists are performing tests with results due back next week. Nearby Lake Mead seems to be fine (except the lower water levels). more ›

As the feds try to acquire a large chunk of Malibu real estate to protect it from development, Pepperdine University has donated 72 acres of pristine Santa Monica Mountains habitat above Pacific Coast Highway to the state. The newly obtained Little Las Flores Canyon will connect to Tuna Canyon Park and will provide a continuos wildlife corridor to Topanga State Park. "It features a deep canyon system formed by Little Las Flores Creek, massive sandstone outcrops with numerous ledges and pinnacles for roosting and nesting of owls, hawks, eagles, and ravens, and various reptiles," reads a description from County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavky's Office. "The terrain also includes coastal Southern California plant communities including sycamore riparian woodland, coastal sage scrub and native grasslands." more ›

As part of the stimulus bill, $750 million was committed to National Parks across the country and California gets 13% of those funds, $10 million of which that will go locally for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, which extends from Runyon Canyon in Hollywood to the Pacific Ocean in Malibu (read LAist's dossier of the area here). more ›

"We're not a travelogue, we're not a nature fim, we're not a recomendation on which lodge to stay in. It's the story how this place got started," a zealous Ken Burns said of his upcoming twelve hour documentary on the National Parks. He and his crew have spent what many dream about: six years of traveling the country from National Park to National Park exploring some of the country's most beautiful and historically and culturally significant places. more ›

For twenty-four hours starting tomorrow at noon, 120 scientists, 1,400 LAUSD students and community members will embark on the 2nd National Geographic BioBlitz in the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area (though some say it's essentially a National Park), which stretches from the ocean to Cahuenga Pass at the 101 Freeway. Together they will comb the area, as well as Griffith Park, observing and recording as many plant and animal species as possible in 24 hours. Think of it as part scientific endeavor, part festival and part outdoor classroom. more ›