Backbone Trail: From Start to Finish

Go on an epic 67-mile hike through the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. This video breaks down the trip into seven segments that all can be done as day-hikes.

Directions to trailheads:
Section One—Fortunately, this is easy. Just plug "Will Rogers State Historic Park" or "Trippet Ranch, Topanga Canyon" into your phone's map app, and away you go.
The parking fee for both trailheads is $9 for the entire day. If you get there early enough, there's usually some free parking on the shoulder of the road just outside the park entrances. Keep in mind, the parks close at sunset which means if you get delayed, your car might get locked inside overnight.
Section Two—Plug "Trippet Ranch, Topanga Canyon" or "Lois Ewen Overlook" into your phone's map app, and away you go.
The parking fee at Trippet Ranch is $9 for the entire day. If you get there early enough, there's usually some free parking on the shoulder of the road just outside the park entrance. The Lois Ewen Overlook is free, but on weekends there can be a lot of cars. Keep in mind that Trippet Ranch closes at sunset, and if you're delayed getting back there, your car could end up being locked away overnight.
Section Three—For the beginning, simply search for "Lois Ewen Overlook" on your phone's map app. Easy.
For the Piuma Road parking area, search for Las Virgenes Road on your map app. If you're coming from the 101 Freeway, take Las Virgenes headed west off the freeway and drive to Piuma Road where you turn left at the signal. The parking area is immediately after you turn at the corner on your right. If you're coming from the Malibu area, the app will direct you to Malibu Canyon Road. Take that going east until you get to Piuma Road. Turn right. The parking area is there on the corner of the two roads.
Section Four—For the starting parking area, search for Las Virgenes Road on your map app. If you're coming from the 101 Freeway, take Las Virgenes headed west off the freeway. At Piuma Road, the name of the road changes to Malibu Canyon Road. Continue for about a tenth of a mile. The parking area is on the right. There's a parking fee of $8.

For the Latigo Canyon parking, it gets a little tricky. Plug in Latigo Canyon Road into your map app. If you're coming from the 101 Freeway, this will take you to Kanan Road from where you will turn left onto Latigo Canyon Road (just past Mulhulland). Drive for about 3.2 miles, slow down and look for a small parking area on the left, which isn't really visible until you've almost passed it. If you're coming from the coast, the app might direct you directly to Latigo Canyon Road. Drive 7.2 miles and look for the parking area on the right.
Section Five—The hike starts at the Latigo Canyon parking, which is a little tricky to find. Plug in Latigo Canyon Road into your map app. If you're coming from the 101 Freeway, this will take you to Kanan Road from where you will turn left onto Latigo Canyon Road (just past Mulhulland). Drive for about 3.2 miles, slow down and look for a small parking area on the left, which isn't really visible until you've almost passed it. If you're coming from the coast, the app might direct you directly to Latigo Canyon Road. Drive 7.2 miles and look for the parking area on the right.

The Encinol Canyon parking lot is much easier. Just plug in "Encinol Canyon Backbone Trailhead" into your map app, and it will show you the way.
Section Six—Both trailheads are easy to find using your map app. Just plug in "Encinol Canyon Backbone Trailhead" for the start and "Mishi Mokwa trailhead" for the end. The map will show you the way.
Section Seven—This is easy. Search for “Mishe Mokwa Trailhead” and “Ray Miller Trailhead” on your map app. There is a $7 parking fee at the Ray Miller Trailhead, avoidable if you park off the highway near the entrance road. When you finish the hike, turn left at the trailhead and walk out toward the ocean and Highway 1. Because this hike is so long, I suggest setting up your car shuttle as early as possible.

Option for Splitting the Hike in Half:
If hiking 17 miles sounds like too much, you can set up your car shuttle so you walk a little more than 12 miles instead, taking you to Danielson Ranch the first day, and then continue from there to the Ray Miller Trailhead on the next day, another 12 miles or so. Here’s how:

First Day—Leave one car at the Sycamore Canyon Campground parking lot (directions for it will be on your map app) and the other at Mishe Mokwa Trailhead. When you come to the Danielson Multi-Use area and Big Sycamore Canyon Road, turn left and hike the road about four miles to your car.

Second Day—Leave one car at the Ray Miller Trailhead and another at Sycamore Canyon Campground. Hike four miles back up the Big Sycamore Canyon Road to the Wood Canyon Vista Trail (just past a shaded picnic table) and turn left onto the path.
Yeah, it’s still a lot of hiking.