Winding Way Trail - #WindingWayTrail

Socal - Los Angeles County - Malibu NickNames: #WindingWayTrail

Go North on Pacific Coast Hwy, about 3-5 miles North of Pepperdine University, until you get to Winding Way Rd. there will be a trail sign and parking lot right on the corner of Winding Way Rd. and PCH. No Parking on the trail! Ride up the road about 1/2 mile till you get to the fire access rd gate. Go thru the gate, down the fire access road until you get to the trail head sign says "Santa Monica Conseverancy" No dogs no fire etc...this is the trail head! Thomas Guide page 667 (H1)
This was kind of easy to miss if you aren't looking. Driving East on PCH, about 2-3 miles. There is a small sign displays the name Winding Way Trail. Turn left then right.

18 Review(s)Login

• Trail UpdateMountain Lion Alert-We keep late hours and were awake at 3 AM when we heard the a sound that for all the world did sound exactly like a mountain lion pouncing hard around on our deck just over the ceiling where we happened to be. We tiptoed upstairs (still inside the house!) in the dark to verify our suspicions, where we peeked out onto the dark deck beside our heated swimming pool. There to our shock was not ONE, but TWO large adolescent cougars (guess at about 60-80 lbs) playing on the deck, they appeared fascinated by our pool, which we had just heated that day. It's always a shock to come face to face with these guys - even when you have thick windows between you and them. We eventually turned on the lights and they ran. We have 6 ft steel fencing surrounding all of our property with both deer and rattlesnake protection added the fence. There was only one way for them to have arrived on our deck (built on the top floor, backing up to a hillside) and that is to have climbed the fence. We are not far from the Winding Way trail and have a fire trail at the end of our street (Sea Vista), which leads up to Latigo Canyon and that is used by many locals. These were healthy, energetic young lions and everyone on local trails should be on the alert for this pair.
  KTLee a 25 year old Weekend Warrior from Malibu

  Posted:05/10/2006

• Trail UpdateDead Yet?-That dog's gotta be dead since the last time I wrote about him 9 years ago
  Mark Scheib a 41 year old Weekend Warrior

  Posted:04/24/2006

• Trail UpdateImmortal Killer Dawg-Still there..still deadly!

  Posted:07/28/2005

• Trail UpdateTHE DOG STILL KILLS!!!!!!!-After what - 5 YEARS - that dog IS STILL THERE!
  Beware, you will have your peaceful trail
  experience SHATTERED by this out of control
  canine. He ran after me and nearly took a chunk off
  my Trek hardtail. CALL ANIMAL CONTROL. Drop a
  nuke on this mutt!

  Posted:01/19/2005

• Trail UpdateGPS Coordinates-The GPS coordinated are 34'01.57N, 118'46.809W at 105 ft.
  Ant Vance a 29 year old Weekend Warrior

  Posted:10/04/2003

• Trail UpdateWATCH OUT FOR THE DOG!AAAAHHHGH!-

  
  (This dog kills people and eats bikes!)

  Posted:11/04/2000

• Trail UpdateForget this ride if you live in Orange County. Winding Way is less fun and less technical than the Fullerton Loop (not that the Fullerton Loop is technical at all). It is also way too short of a ride if you just wanted to go to the waterfall. In any case, it is not a real waterfall but a runoff from all the septic tanks situated in the back lot of the hill top homes. It smells really bad when you reached the "waterfall". So, why bother with Winding Way when you can go ride the nearby Backbone singletrack.
  Ride rating: Beginner

  Posted:10/04/2000

• Trail Updatewow..that was some deep reading on the last update. I thought I was reading a wilderness novel. Now, what was the trail really like?
  abmtnbkr a 33 year old Weekend Warrior riding a cannondale from Orange County

  Posted:09/30/2000

• Trail UpdateThe Heart Of Dogness-Going up that trail was like traveling back to the
  earliest beginnings of the world, when vegetation
  rioted on the earth and the big trees were kings. An
  empty stream, a great silence, an impenetrable forest.
  The air was warm, thick, heavy, sluggish. There was no
  joy in the brilliance of sunshine. The long stretches
  of the waterway ran on, deserted, into the gloom of
  over- shadowed distances. On silvery sandbanks
  slamanders and toads sunned themselves side by side.
  The broadening waters flowed through a small mob of
  wooded islands; you lost your way on that river as you
  would in a desert, and butted all day long against
  shoals, trying to find the waterfall, till you thought
  yourself bewitched and cut off for ever from everything
  you had known once--some where--far away--in another
  existence perhaps. There were moments when one's past
  came back to one, as it will sometimes when you have
  not a moment to spare to yourself; but it came in the
  shape of an unrestful and noisy dream, remembered with
  wonder amongst the overwhelming realities of this
  strange world of plants, and water, and silence. And
  this stillness of life did not in the least resemble a
  peace. It was the stillness of an implacable force
  brooding over an inscrutable intention. It looked at
  you with a vengeful aspect. I got used to it
  afterwards; I did not see it any more; I had no time. I
  had to keep guessing at the path; I had to discern,
  mostly by inspiration, the signs of the hidden trail; I
  watched for sunken stones; I was learning to clap my
  teeth smartly before my heart flew out, when I shaved
  by a fluke some infernal sly old hell dog that would
  have ripped the life out of the thin-framed mountain
  bikes and drowned all the riders; I had to keep a
  look-out for the signs of dreaded animal. When you have
  to attend to things of that sort, to the mere incidents
  of the surface, the reality--the reality, I tell
  you--fades. The inner truth is hidden--luckily,
  luckily. But I felt it all the same; I felt often its
  mysterious stillness watching me. Watching

  Posted:09/29/2000

• Trail UpdateWinding Way Terrorrrrrrrr Dog-I never knew/seen or heard any owners of a dog to be vicious as there dog. We were enjoying our first five minutes, then all of sudden "TERROR DOG" comes out from out of nowwhere trying to take chunks of my leg and company. The owner was yelling "Get'em boy, get a piece fur me"; I do not mean any rudeness, but damn hicks put that dog to sleep. Imagine a dog foaming & blood-shot eyes trying to eat you, while you are trying to enjoy your Sunday (I am just glad my kids weren't with me). My brother said "HELPPPPPPPPPPPP!" I thought everyone was kidding about Cujo Sr., now I know. If you are curious, please take extra (I mean it) precautions. After the dog ordeal, the view is breathtaking.
  Ride rating: Expert
  Raven a 30 year old Downhiller riding a GT Timberline MTB from Downey

  Posted:09/26/2000

• Trail UpdateHELL DOG!!!!AIEEEE!!!-Her bit at the tire of my bike as I passed! Honest to
  god, someone needs to look into getting this horrible
  animal put to sleep. Either that or close this trail.

  Posted:08/12/2000

• Trail UpdateWinding Way HORROR DOG-Not even the M80 would deter this creature from hell. Foaming, snarling, howling like all the devils in hell, he chased us for several miles, his blood-red eyes glowing, his otherworldly howls filling the air. Once when he got close I saw the remains of a Shimano derailleur in his teeth. Beware.

  Posted:09/03/1999

• Trail UpdateThat damn dog ate my shoe! It fell off and he ate it! I'm going back next weekend and I'm bringing sixteen sedative capsules, a cup of crisco, a stick with a dart tied to the end, an M-80, and an igniter.
  Hopefully he won't be bothering us much longer.

  Posted:08/28/1998

• Trail UpdateWinding Way Trail-This is undoubtedly one of the worst rides I have ever been on. It is definitely not an intermediate trail, as noted by previous reviewers. I would rate it "beyond expert", in fact, let's just say, if you enjoy being poked in the eyballs with sharp sticks or swallowing battery acid, then this is the trail for you.
  First of all, the dog. Cujo is nothing compared to this dog. Cujo would flee this dog in fear, as we did. As any sane person would. We were not more than five minutes on the paved road, when this demented, otherworldly creature burst from his lair and set upon us like a hound from hell, snarling, yowlping, foaming at the mouth, and snapping at us with rows of razor-sharp, slashing teeth. From behind grimy windows, his owners shouted encouragement as if to spur him on to newer, more bloodthirsty heights. "Sic 'em Duke! Git 'them bikin' bastids!" they hooted. The only escape from the crazed canine was to steer off the pavement at the highest speed possible, into a steep ditch lined with pricker bushes, effectively discouraging him from following us into the patch of stinging nettles.
  Soon we came upon the trail itself, or what was left of it. A constant stream of desperate stragglers coming from the opposite direction tried to warn us off. "Go back" they wheezed, "while you still can". We pressed on, ignoring their pleas. Dirty water seeped through deep ruts in the loose dirt trail, alternating with layers of thick, foul smelling mud and menacingly sharp rocks. Volkswagen- sized boulders littered the trail every few feet. Fallen trees criss-crossed our path, daring us to go on. It was clear that El Nino rains had taken thier toll here, leaving horror, devastation, and discouragement in their path.
  The stream crossings were the worst. The normally small creek that gently dampens the trail had now swollen to tidal wave proportions, carrying away crops and small farm animals, as well as several unlucky hikers. The only way across it was to plunge into the waist-deep, icy cold deluge and drag the bikes across in a deftly-executed series of highly technical maneuvers with the aid of some swift-water-river-rescue equipment we had packed for just such an eventuality.
  Several such nip-and-tuck water crossing adventures left us soaked to the skin and shivering in the cool afternoon air. The sun was near to setting as we reached the raging waterfall. A grey, wet haze hung in the air, surrounding the small pool where frigid, awful torrents cascaded down in front of us. For several hikers, both this journey and its conclusion was too much to bear. They lay in heaps around the waterfall, stunned and inert.
  I am sure there were many beautiful views to be had on the trails above, but we didn't see any, nor did we compose any musical odes to honor the spirit of this site. It was enough to get back to the trailhead before the darkness came, utterly exhausted, barely alive. Joe from Burbank, CA

  Posted:03/08/1998

• Trail UpdateLSabal-This was a pretty quick ride. I don't think we completed the trail. After pedaling up a nice incline. Paved fireroad. WATCH for the big yellow dog. Matt says the dog barked at him on both the climb up and back. We rode past the meadow hilled areas very pretty. Rode into the Santa Monica Conservatory. Mostly a decline. Nice woodsy area. When we reached the end of the road there were jagged rocks at the end.
  (NO WATERFALL!!) It was a very, very, hot so you may want to ride either very early or very late. Probably the reason for no Waterfall.
  Dirt Road=40% Paved Path=60%
  L.Sabal a 36 year old Die-hard Enthusiast riding a Aluminum CADEX w/front roc shox from W LA

  Posted:09/06/1997

• Trail UpdateThe beautiful waterfall at the end of the trail is called Escondido Falls. It is actually the largest waterfall in the Santa Monica Mountains. The uppermost section has graceful tufa shelves that have built up on the sandstone cliff over the centuries. Upon these shelves grow moss and ferns and wildflowers. I wrote a song to honor the spirit of this place.
  Jon Sherman URL:Escondido Falls lyrics

  Posted:07/24/1997

• Trail UpdateRe: Winding Way Trail-I rode this trail last weekend. Great ride. Very easy. Can play on the motocross trail about halfway to the end if there are no motor-heads around. The stream crossings finally got some mud on my new bike. Looks much better now. One word of caution. About halfway up the street which takes you to the trail exists a large yellow dog who must be a close relative of Cujo. He lives behind a fence of a large home, but there are only three sides to the fence. He begins chasing you as you begin an uphill grade. Keep an eye out.
  Mark Scheib a 32 year old riding a Cannondale Super V Active 700 from Burbank, CA

  Posted:07/24/1997

• Trail UpdateWinding Way Trail/Malibu Cayon WATERFALL-Nice trail, easy ride for beginners thru intermediate... creek crossings, moto cross playground, shaded tree canopies, and you will see a beautiful Malibu Cayon WATERFALL! xcellent picture taking.
  On the back to the parking lot 80% downhill/on the way up lite to moderate hill climbing! Beautiful trail. Caution when it rains!
  Wes

  Posted:07/24/1997