Malibu / Santa Monica Mountains driving roads
18 roads and 126 mapped miles. Pick a road to see its route, character and access notes.
Compare Latigo, Piuma and Stunt for winding canyon roads, or look at Pacific Coast Highway for the coastal section. Tuna Canyon is the tightest of the ridge-to-coast drops, and it's permanently one-way toward PCH. Mulholland Highway and its Snake section have separate pages; they are distinct from Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills. Use the road pages to check the exact section and access notes.
Choose a road
- Corral Canyon RoadA steep dead-end climb from the Pacific Coast Highway up a Malibu ridge, with switchbacks and ocean views on both sides near the top.
- Decker Road · SR 23The coastal climb of SR 23 from the Pacific Coast Highway to Mulholland Highway, narrow and steep through the western Santa Monica Mountains.
- Deer Creek RoadThe steepest paved climb in the Santa Monica Mountains, rising narrow and fast from the coast at the Los Angeles and Ventura county line.
- Encinal Canyon RoadA western canyon connection inland from the Pacific Coast Highway to Mulholland Highway, more open than the canyons either side of it.
- Kanan Dume RoadA main connection from PCH into the western canyon network, with broad hillside sections and tighter bends.
- Las Flores Canyon RoadA narrow canyon climb inland from PCH. This trace follows Las Flores itself, without a gated Rambla Pacifico shortcut.
- Latigo Canyon RoadA tight canyon climb from the Pacific Coast Highway up to the Kanan Dume ridge, turning almost continuously through the coastal side of the Santa Monica Mountains.
- Malibu Canyon / Las VirgenesA winding coast-to-inland corridor through Malibu Canyon, continuing as Las Virgenes Road toward US 101.
- Mulholland Highway · Malibu mountainsThe western Mulholland Highway, linking the canyon roads between Decker Road and Kanan Dume Road across the ridge behind the Malibu coast.
- Mulholland Highway · The SnakeThe Snake is the winding Mulholland Highway corridor between Kanan Road and Sierra Creek Road, near the Rock Store in the Santa Monica Mountains. Tight bends and residential access share this short mountain section.
- Old Topanga Canyon RoadThe narrow older road through the eastern Santa Monica Mountains, running from Topanga Canyon Boulevard up to Mulholland Highway.
- Pacific Coast Highway · MalibuThe Malibu coast run of Highway 1, from Topanga Canyon Boulevard west toward Yerba Buena Road, through beach towns and open coastal stretches.
- Piuma RoadA ridge road above Malibu Canyon, climbing east toward Rambla Pacifico with the canyon falling away on one side.
- Schueren / Saddle Peak connectorThe connector that actually joins Stunt Road to the Piuma ridge, with a Saddle Peak branch running out toward Tuna Canyon.
- Stunt RoadA short mountain link from Mulholland Highway up to Schueren Road, climbing the ridge above Calabasas in close bends.
- Topanga Canyon Boulevard · SR 27The canyon corridor from PCH through Topanga village to Mulholland Drive. Village traffic and roadworks interrupt the mountain sections.
- Tuna Canyon RoadA steep, tight descent off the Saddle Peak ridge toward the coast, stacking dozens of bends into just over four miles. The lower section is one-way toward PCH, with a mandatory right turn onto the highway.
- Yerba Buena / Little SycamoreA winding western extension from the coast through Yerba Buena and Little Sycamore, crossing the Ventura County boundary.