M*A*S*H Production Location

Augie McClenahan

Cool area to explore, not a hard walk. Can get hot in the summer, bring extra water.

Bernardo Ramirez

Great hike to the M.A.S.H film site. Although there is a trail named Lost Cabin trail near the film site, there is no lost cabin. Walked a mile and it was a dead end, so be aware before you go there.

Stuart Green

The 20th Century Fox Ranch, now known as Malibu Creek State Park, is a wonder of dramatic vistas that are different in every direction in which you might look. Which explains why it continues to be so popular as a movie filming location. Cary Grant, Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Elvis Presley and Paul Newman have worked on set here. The Malibu Creek park is possibly best known however for the M*A*S*H movie and television show where many of the exterior shots were filmed for over a decade. Follow the Crags Road trail for 2.4 miles and you'll be on the set yourself, complete with a restored ambulance, a replica signpost and two burned out vehicles that were used in the last season of the show. Be sure to look for the helipad area, just South of the former camp site. On the way you'll also pass by the site of the village from the Planet Of The Apes (1968) movie. The park has some great interpretive signs reminding you of this and other park facts. • Crags Road Trail | 5★ | 6.3mi | Easy | 367ft - The walk down the wide Crags Road is undemanding and flat, but with the dramatic landscapes to keep you entertained you'll hardly notice. At around the 1.6 mile mark things get a little harder where the creek has found its own path around what looks like something that was intended to be a bridge. To pass the creek you'll want to look around for the best way across - I saw people navigate a makeshift crossing of logs, but I chose to head to my left where I found a place that I could just stride across. From here the road narrows into a trail, snaking through the canyon to the M*A*S*H location. Some like to end their hike with the M*A*S*H filming location at the 2.4 mile mark, but if you have the energy we'd recommend continuing to the trail's end at the base of the Malibou Lake dam (sic). Although there's no way to see or access the lake itself, you do pass close by more of the local rocky terrain. The gorges in Malibu Creek park were formed from layers of sea-floor lava which became tilted and exposed to the air by compression between the North American and Pacific tectonic plates. Air bubbles were originally trapped in the seafloor lava as it rapidly cooled, and now exposed to the elements those odd holes in the rock now make great nesting places for the hundreds of white-throated swifts that flit around the canyon.

Helen Arens

Great hike! Mostly flat, about 5 miles round trip, although there is a stream crossing due to a washed out bridge, but relatively easy. A refurbished MASH ambulance is available to explore and take pictures in. There is even a phone holder on a pole so your whole group can get a picture in front of the iconic MASH cities sign.