Best Equestrian Camping near Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

Musch Camp is an easy one mile hike from from the Trippet Ranch Parking Lot in Topanga State Park. If you want a longer hike you can hike up the East Topanga Fire Road and then drop down into Musch Camp on the Backbone Trail from Eagle Junction. This will add a few more miles to your hike and allow you to make a loop by hiking back to Trippet Ranch via the one mile Musch Trail.

The cost is $7 per person per night. You can pay at the Entrance Station at the Trippet Ranch Parking Lot or the Iron Ranger at the camp. If you are parking your vehicle overnight in the parking lot please leave a note on your dashboard so that the Rangers are aware that you are camping at Musch Camp.

The campground has around 6 campsites in two sections surrounded by fencing. Each site has a picnic table.  FIRES ARE NOT ALLOWED. There is also a restroom with flush toilets' and sinks as well as a water spigot. There are also horse corrals across the trail from the campground. Some of the sites have shade.

There are meadows down the trail on either side of the campground. There is limited cell service at the campground.

The first thing you should know about Tapo Canyon Park is that for actual tent camping, you will be in either decomposed granite or concrete. The second thing is that there is no cell service and no phone landlines there. 

The park is very nice, and very well maintained. There is a large grass area with an upgraded playground, ample covered picnic area for large groups, and an archery range (private, but open to the public on Saturdays).

The archery range is one of the best in California. There is a members area and the original range is open to the public on Saturdays from 9-1, with a nominal $5 fee.

The campsites are designed for RVs. I have camped here in a tent and there is no way to drive a stake into the ground. The sites are fairly large and well spread out for an RV lot. 

Each site has a fireplace, picnic table, and full hook ups. There is not much shade. The sites are very well maintained daily by the camp host Terri. 

At night you can hear the coyotes calling as they roam the rugged hills, but don't worry it's a very safe park.

I would give the park 4 stars for camping in an RV, 2 stars for tent camping, the facility as a whole is probably a 4.

The campground is pretty standard and the surrounding environment isn't particularly special. I would recommend the late fall through early spring months, when the creek actually has water in it. It gets very dry in the summer months. While I wouldn't call this park the most beautiful of the many SoCal options, there are many interesting activities. The backbone trail goes through here, and is great for hiking. Awesome climbing options. There is some sightseeing of old movie sets, with some of the infrastructure left from Plant of the Apes movie set and the tv show MASH. The most recent movie filmed here was Anchorman (2004).

I came here during the summer and it was extremely HOT. Typically during the summer season, I like to find campgrounds that have a lot of lush trees so we can be under the canopies and stay cool, but Malibu Creek State Park is so convenient to LA. There isn't much shade on the actual campgrounds, but a few sites do have partial shade. There are some decent hiking trails nearby if you can bear the heat, but all the creeks are dried up so you can't really take a dip. It's much nicer and greener during the Spring or Fall. 

The campsites are pretty standard, but they are spacious and have some privacy from neighboring sites. They come with a picnic table and there are coin-operated showers nearby. This isn't my favorite campground, but I love that it is local to me.