Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

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Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
IUCN Category V (Protected Landscape/Seascape)

Location:	Southern California, USA
Nearest city:	Malibu, California
Coordinates:	34°06′14″N, 118°36′09″W
Area:	154,095 acres (623.6 km²)
Established:	November 10, 1978
Total Visitation:	447,190 (in 2005)
Governing body:	National Park Service along with other state and local agencies.

The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is a U.S. National Recreation Area, administered by the National Park Service, located in Los Angeles, California. The park divides Los Angeles in two—it is the only city in the world divided by a mountain range, the Santa Monica Mountains. The recreation area also preserves one of the best examples of a Mediterranean climate in the world.

Santa Monica Mountains NRA contains 154,095 acres (623.6 km²), California State Parks own 42,000 acres (170 km²), the National Park Service controls 21,500 acres (87 km²), and the rest are local parklands and private property. In size, Santa Monica Mountains NRA is the largest urban national park in the United States. The park was established November 10, 1978 after a long campaign for the area by local conservationists. The park is intended as an extension of Channel Islands National Park, which is just the underwater portion of the Santa Monica Mountains immediately to the west.

Recreational opportunities abound, including biking, birding, camping, hiking, and horseback riding.

Westward Beach at Point Dume

Sea Oats along Pacific Coast Highway

The following California State Parks are located within Santa Monica Mountains NRA:

Entertainer Bob Hope caused controversy in the early 1990s when he proposed to sell 5,900 acres (23.9 km²) of neighboring land to the federal government in exchange for 59 acres (0.24 km²) of federal parkland in the nearby Cheeseboro Canyon section of Santa Monica Mountains NRA in order to build an access road serving a new golf course and housing development.[1] The land swap was never completed.