review of: Solstice Canyon Park
(1 of 1 review)

Thousand Oaks, CA

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web site:
http://www.parklinkshuttle.com/

category:		parks & playgrounds
recommended for:		all ages
cost:		free
keywords:		easy, hike
photos:

This little park is right off the Pacific Coast Highway Just east of Point Dume in the Malibu Hills (not Thousand Oaks). It is one "pearl" in a necklace of parks that are strung around the Santa Monica Mountains. We chose this park over the others for a couple of reasons; we weren't interested in serious hiking as we were traveling with a two and a half year old and a four month old and we wanted something small with a picnic area - which it has. I should point out that there are more adventurous paths to blaze up to the summit; we chose the easiest one for obvious reasons.

The parking is free - which is nice. The other parks in and around the Santa Monica Mountains generally charge around $8. And the best part is that this park is linked to the others with a free (air conditioned) shuttle service to all the other parks and beaches! The shuttles come around every half hour. The next time we go here we will definitely be taking advantage of the shuttle service which goes to Malibu Creek, Malibu Lagoon, Backbone Trail and Paramount Ranch.

We worked off our picnic lunch (they have tables and restrooms) by hiking most of the way up the one mile trail. I will admit we would have made it all the way up but our timing was less than perfect in that my oldest son's nap time (inadvertently) happened mid-hike and I ended up carrying him up and down the mountain - a good workout, indeed. In retrospect, if you have one of those jogger strollers it would definitely do you good on these trails. Regardless, a good time was had by all.

Helpful Tip: bring the bug spray if you plan on having a picnic, the hornets were not shy, I'll just say that much.

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