It's something of an anomaly: the world's largest urban national park, but not even in the top 100 list of most-visited parks. Less than an hour's drive from the second most-populated city in the US (Los Angeles), yet home to over 450 different animal species and 1,000 plant species. Do you know it?
It's the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. If you bike, bird, camp, hike, horseback ride, or photograph, you're in good company. Outdoor enthusiasts will find plenty to love in the region. And the scenic variety? Oceans, canyons, valleys, plains. Not only natural wonders, cultural history: Over 1,000 pictographs from ancient peoples exist in the area.
It's not just a single park, per se, the National Recreation Area covers over 154,000 acres, ranging through the Santa Monica Mountains between the Pacific Ocean and the valleys inland. the National Park Service maintains general oversight of the Area, controlling some 21,500 acres, while California State Parks own 42,000 acres. The balance of this huge area are tied up in other ownerships, but much accessible to the public.
Learn more on the NPS website.
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