Topanga

For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Topanga as a census-designated place (CDP). The ZIP code is 90290 and the area code is primarily 310, with 818 only at the north end of the canyon. It is in the 3rd County Supervisorial district. The largest unincorporated area in Los Angeles County by area, although a majority of it is undeveloped. The 2025 Palisades Fire had a severe impact on the community with the devastation of structures destroyed, forcing evacuations, and multiple road closures.

• Name — Topanga, California • Native Name — Topaa'nga • Type — Unincorporated community Census-designated place • Named For — Topaa'nga, a Tongva word perhaps meaning "where the mountain meets the sea" or "the place above" • Image Map — LA County Incorporated Areas Topanga highlighted.svg • Map Size — 250x200px • Map Caption — Location of Topanga in California and Los Angeles County • Pushpin Label — Topanga • Pushpin Map — USA#California#Los Angeles • Pushpin Caption — Location in the United States • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — United States • Subdivision Type1 — State • Subdivision Name1 — California • Subdivision Type2 — County • Subdivision Name2 — Los Angeles • Leader Title1 — Senate • Leader Title2 — Assembly • Leader Title3 — U. S. Congress • Unit Pref — US • Area Total Sq Mi — 19.134 • Area Land Sq Mi — 19.127 • Area Water Sq Mi — 0.008 • Area Total Km2 — 49.558 • Area Land Km2 — 49.538 • Area Water Km2 — 0.020 • Area Water Percent — 0.04 • Population As Of — 2020 • Population Total — 8560 • Population Density Sq Mi — auto • Time Zone — PST • Utc Offset — -8 • Time Zone Dst — PDT • Utc Offset Dst — -7 • Elevation Ft — 1084 • Postal Code Type — ZIP code • Postal Code — 90290 • Area Codes — 310/424, 747/818 • Custom Label Sec1 — GNIS feature ID • Custom Data Sec1 — 2583164 • Custom Label1 Sec1 — FIPS code • Custom Data1 Sec1 — 06-78960 Topanga (Tongva: Topaa'nga) is an unincorporated community in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located in the Santa Monica Mountains, the community exists in Topanga Canyon and the surrounding hills. The narrow southern portion of Topanga at the coast is between the city of Malibu and the Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacific Palisades. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Topanga as a census-designated place (CDP). As of the 2020 census the population of the Topanga CDP was 8,560. The ZIP code is 90290 and the area code is primarily 310, with 818 only at the north end of the canyon. It is in the 3rd County Supervisorial district. Topanga is the largest unincorporated area in Los Angeles County by area, although a majority of it is undeveloped. The 2025 Palisades Fire had a severe impact on the community with the devastation of structures destroyed, forcing evacuations, and multiple road closures.

Topanga is the name given to the area by the local Tongva people, and may mean "where the mountain meets the sea" or "a place above". The name in the Tongva language, Topaa'nga, has a root, topaa'-, that likely comes from the Chumash language. It was the western border of their territory, abutting the Chumash tribe that occupied the coast from Malibu northward. Bedrock mortars are carved into rock outcroppings in many locations.

Topanga was colonized by the Spanish in 1839. In the 1920s, Topanga Canyon became a weekend getaway for Hollywood stars, with several cottages built for comfortable trips. The rolling hills and ample vegetation served to provide both privacy and attractive surroundings for the rich and famous. During the 1960s, Topanga Canyon also became a magnet to many young new artists. In 1965, Wallace Berman settled in the area. For a time, Neil Young lived in Topanga, first living with producer David Briggs, then buying his own house, where he would record most of After the Gold Rush (1970) in the basement studio. The convicted murderer and cult leader Charles Manson lived for a time in Topanga, where he briefly befriended Young and Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys. Members of the Manson Family cult began their killing spree on July 31, 1969, with the murder of Topanga resident Gary Hinman, a music teacher, whom had opened his home to anyone needing shelter.

On January 10, 2005, after heavy rains, a 25-foot, 300-ton boulder rolled down a hillside and landed directly on Topanga Canyon Blvd. Photos of the boulder made international news. The boulder blocked traffic on the road for around a week, cutting off thru traffic between the San Fernando Valley and the Pacific Coast Highway (CA State Route 1). Six-foot holes were drilled and low-yield explosives were used to partially implode the boulder. A previous attempt with dynamite failed due to heavy saturation by rain.

The January 2025 Southern California wildfires, particularly the Palisades Fire, ravaged through Topanga State Canyon and parts of the community during extremely high drought conditions and very severe Santa Ana Winds. The Palisades Fire devastated the lower portion of the community, with most homes near the Topanga State Beach destroyed, along with Topanga Ranch Motel and Topanga State Park. The entirety of Topanga was put under an evacuation order.

• Illustration — 1915 road map of Los Angeles to Topanga Canyon & Return • Illustration — Photograph of Topanga Summit, made in 1922 Topanga Creek drains Topanga Canyon and is the third-largest watershed entering the Santa Monica Bay. The creek is one of the area's few remaining undammed waterways, and is a spawning ground for steelhead trout. The area averages about 22 in of rain annually. Topanga Beach lies on the coast at the outlet of Topanga Creek. Topanga Canyon Boulevard, State Route 27, is the principal thoroughfare, connecting the Ventura Freeway (US 101) to the north with Pacific Coast Highway (SR 1) on the south. The southern portion of the boulevard largely follows Topanga Creek. North of the Old Topanga Canyon Road intersection, the boulevard traverses the Santa Monica Mountains. • Illustration — Panorama from Viewpoint Trail in Topanga State Park Topanga Canyon contains lands of Topanga State Park, the largest park in the Santa Monica Mountains and one of the world's largest open space preserves surrounded by a city, as well as the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. It is part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. It primarily represents a California coastal sage and chaparral ecoregion, with large areas of the California oak woodland plant community and a variety of California native plants.

This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Topanga has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.

Topanga first appeared as a census designated place (CDP) in the 2010 U.S. census.

As of the 2020 census, Topanga had a population of 8,560. The population density was 447.5 PD/sqmi. The census reported that 99.7% of the population lived in households, 0.3% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized. 73.8% of residents lived in urban areas, while 26.2% lived in rural areas. There were 3,474 households, out of which 26.5% included children under the age of 18, 50.3% were married-couple households, 7.4% were cohabiting couple households, 24.6% had a female householder with no partner present, and 17.7% had a male householder with no partner present. 25.4% of households were one person, and 10.7% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.46. There were 2,314 families (66.6% of all households). The age distribution was 18.2% under the age of 18, 5.4% aged 18 to 24, 22.1% aged 25 to 44, 33.1% aged 45 to 64, and 21.1% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 47.9years. For every 100 females, there were 94.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.1 males age 18 and over. There were 3,758 housing units at an average density of 196.5 /mi2. Of all housing units, 7.6% were vacant. Of occupied units, 76.0% were owner-occupied and 24.0% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.1% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.4%. • Illustration — Topanga, California, as viewed from the Topanga Overlook

From the 1920s through the early 2000s, lower Topanga Canyon (where the canyon meets Pacific Coast Highway and Topanga State Beach) was owned by the Los Angeles Athletic Club, a wealthy private club in downtown Los Angeles. The 1659 acre parcel was rented out to various businesses and residents for decades at relatively low rents, considering that it borders Malibu. Lower Topanga became unique as one of the last outposts of the classic Topanga Canyon bohemian hippie lifestyle. The Chumash people considered Lower Topanga a sacred, economic, and cultural meeting place for tribes all along the coast. One of the main neighborhoods, the "Rodeo Grounds", takes its name from a rodeo arena that existed there on a Mexican ranch in the 1800s. In the early 1900s, Lower Topanga was a Japanese fishing village. William Randolph Hearst owned the property for a time and turned it into a weekend getaway spot with beach shacks for his and Marion Davies's guests. In the '60s, a lively community of artists and surfers sprang up in Lower Topanga. They maintained their houses without assistance, sometimes digging them out of the mud after floods or setting backfires to prevent a spreading wildfire from burning down the neighborhood. The roads remained unpaved. In 2001, Lower Topanga was sold to California State Parks. The Lower Topanga community occupied less than 2% of the total purchased land. State Parks relocated residents and bulldozed their houses. (State Parks had already evicted residents who lived directly on Topanga Beach in the late '70s). A group of 10 Lower Topanga poets calling themselves the "Idlers of the Bamboo Grove" published a book of the same name in 2002, celebrating their community and lamenting the prospect of having to leave. Their publisher, Brass Tacks Press, continued publishing works about Lower Topanga, as well as maintaining an online Lower Topanga Photo Archive. Even though Lower Topanga residents were given money to leave, some fought bitterly against their relocation in court. The last holdouts were forced off the land in March 2006. TreePeople and Mountains Restoration Trust are working to restore the area to its condition before development.

Topanga is known as a bohemian enclave attracting artists, musicians, filmmakers, and others. Many music festivals have been organized in the canyon, including the Topanga Days Festival and Topanga Earth Day. The Topanga Film Institute hosts the annual Topanga Film Festival. In the 1950s, blacklisted actor Will Geer sold his large Santa Monica home and moved his family to a small plot in the canyon, where they could grow their own produce. Geer's friend Woody Guthrie had a small shack on the property. They unintentionally founded what became an artists' colony. Since its founding in 1973, the Geer family has continued to operate the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum. It has grown into an Equity theater, and occupies a natural outdoor amphitheater. It features Shakespearean plays, modern classics, original productions, and concerts. Performers have included Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Della Reese, and Burl Ives. Odetta was part of the early music scene in the 1960s. A famous venue in the canyon was the Elysium Institute, also known as Elysium Fields, a nudist club started by Ed Lange in 1967. After surviving extended battles with county officials the 9 acre property was sold in 2002 by Lange's heirs. Every Memorial Day weekend on the grounds of the Topanga Community House, Topanga has a fair and parade called Topanga Days. Topanga Days Country Fair features music, belly dancing, over 80 unique craft vendors, and a variety of food from Cajun to Mexican to vegan. A parade is held on Memorial Day. Topanga Canyon also hosts an annual reggae festival, Reggae on the Mountain, that has become one of the area's biggest events. Like Topanga Days, it serves as a fundraiser for the Topanga Community Club. The Topanga Film Institute presents the Topanga Film Festival each July. The festival endeavors to bridge cultures, create and expand community, and provide cultural exchange and networking opportunities. Two outdoor shopping centers featuring local businesses form the hub of local commerce. Topanga has no hotels, motels, gas stations, or chain or big-box stores. Topanga's location in the Santa Monica Mountains makes the natural surroundings an important part of the culture. Streams, waterfalls, cliffs of exposed bedrock, landmark rock outcroppings, and overlooks with panoramic views of the mountains, Pacific Ocean, and Los Angeles are attractions. There are many trails for short walks, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, birdwatching, and rock climbing, all of which are important parts of the local community.

The County of Los Angeles Public Library operates the Topanga Library, at 122 N Topanga Canyon Blvd. The Los Angeles County Fire Department operates Fire Station No. 69 in Topanga as a part of Battalion 5. During the 1960s and '70s, "problematic firefighters" were placed here under the supervision of James O. Page. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) operates the Malibu/Lost Hills Station in Calabasas, serving Topanga. The United States Postal Service Topanga Post Office is at 101 S Topanga Canyon Blvd. The California Highway Patrol, West Valley Area, handles the traffic on the State Route and in the unincorporated areas. The Topanga Coalition for Emergency Preparedness (T-CEP) operates an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) near the Topanga Town Center.

• Illustration — Palisades Charter High School • Illustration — William Howard Taft High School Most Topanga residents are zoned to schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. LAUSD schools with attendance boundaries including most of Topanga include: • Topanga Elementary School • A 1998 Los Angeles Magazine article reported that a teacher said that the fact that many of the students' parents are creative professionals contributes to the school's high test scores. As of 1998 many parents conduct music and art lessons at the school, as Topanga itself is an artists' colony. • A choice between Revere Charter Middle School or Woodland Hills Academy (formerly Parkman Middle School) • A choice between Palisades Charter High School and Taft High School The area is in Board District 4. As of 2025, Nick Melvoin represents the district. Some portions are in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD), zoned to Webster Elementary School and Malibu High School. Some are in the Las Virgenes Unified School District. Private schools: • Manzanita School at Big Rock Ranch • Viewpoint School in Calabasas The County of Los Angeles Public Library operates the Topanga Library.