Last night, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority happily announced they had acquired a 703-acre plot of privately owned land in Puerco Canyon – the largest remaining privately-owned space in the Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles County.
The land was purchased from director James Cameron and lies just northwest of Pepperdine University, bordering Malibu Creek State Park and the Corral Canyon Open Space. The new Cameron Nature Preserve will connect those coastal parklands with trails from the Pacific Coast Highway as well as allow trailbuilders to connect a significant portion of the planned Coastal Slope Trail – a 70 mile route that will stretch from Malibu Lagoon to the Los Liones Trail.
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The parkland is more than a little chunk of connector space between existing parks – it includes drainages from three central watersheds including the headwaters of Puerco Canyon, as well as providing connection hubs for the movement of mountain lions, bobcats, mule deer, and gray foxes. It’s also a prime example of our rare Mediterranean biome with several different plant communities – including chaparral, costal sage scrub, native grassland, and oak woodland.
The Cameron Nature Preserve is expected to open to the public this fall with several miles of new trails.
Tags: cameron nature preserve, mountains recreation and conservation authority, new parkland, Santa Monica Mountains
