Mulholland Highway gets day in the sun

DEDICATION—Assemblymember Fran Pavley, surrounded by friends and supporters, celebrates the designation of portions of Mulholland Highway as an official L.A. County scenic highway. Pavley authored the legislation that launched the project.

Mulholland Highway has been officially dedicated as a Los Angeles County Scenic Highway along two designated stretches in the local Santa Monica Mountains.

Driving east from Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, the designation continues for 13 miles to Kanan Dume Road and then resumes at Cornell Road for another six miles, past Malibu Canyon Road eastward to Cold Canyon Road.

The landscapes and views along Mulholland Highway are familiar backdrops in films and TV shows, including “Roots,” “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” “M*A*S*H” and many others.

Mulholland passes through a series of rural valleys and oakstudded hillsides, and provides access to many public parks and trails, including the newly acquired Historic King Gillette Ranch operated by Soka University, Malibu Creek State Park, Paramount Ranch, Rocky Oaks and Arroyo Sequit. The highway provides overlooks of the Santa Monica Mountains and Pacific Ocean before terminating at Leo Carrillo State Park at the beach.

“I was very pleased to author the legislation that got this project started,” said Assemblymember Fran Pavley. “Mulholland traverses the heart of the Santa Monicas east to west, and is truly deserving of formal scenic status. Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky has been an extraordinary steward of the mountains and quickly took action to get a unanimous resolution of support from the board of supervisors for the designation.”

Malibu Canyon/Las Virgenes Road through the mountains

north to south was declared a scenic highway from Calabasas to Pacific Coast Highway in 2002.

California Poppy signs will mark the nearly 20 miles of designated highway.