Community Corner
Temescal Canyon Association Makes Strides in Protecting Environment
The group goes on weekly hikes to explore the local mountains and also helps protect them.
For almost 40 years, members of the Temescal Canyon Association (TCA) have met to go on hikes in the Santa Monica Mountains.
“We’ve been doing these evening hikes since the association started,” said TCA President Carol Leacock, 75. “I think everyone enjoys it. It’s a way to enjoy nature and it’s also a social event.”
But the TCA is much more than just a social club. The organization was founded in 1972 to prevent the sale of the land that became Temescal Gateway Park to a developer with plans for a golf driving range. Over the years, the TCA has helped preserve the canyon from a variety of threats and in the mid-1970s the group was instrumental in creating a plan for what is now Topanga State Park.
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“We hike, but we’re also into saving the canyon and helping the environment,” said Jackie Berman, a TCA member for about 30 years.
During the late spring and summer, the group meets for hikes at 6 p.m. every Tuesday at Temescal Gateway Park. In the winter months, it hikes one Sunday a month starting at 9 a.m. Membership is not necessary to join the hikes and children accompanied by adults are welcome.
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“I enjoy just getting out there. You can be up in the mountains and still be so close to the city,” Berman said. “A lot of the people who hike with us are up in years, so it’s amazing to see people in their 80s out hiking and being active.”
Tuesday’s hike took the group through the Castellammare neighborhood looking for the area’s hidden stairways. Richard G. Cohen is on the TCA board and has been hiking with the group for about 10 years.
“It’s always a lovely group, always very sociable,” Cohen said. “Everyone is always welcome and the pace is always moderate so no one feels bad or gets left behind.”
The hikes are a great way for casual hikers to enjoy the Santa Monica Mountains, he said.
“On many of the hikes we see deer, especially when we hike at sunset,” Cohen said. “Also, one of our board members is an expert on the local flora, so he points out all of the wildflowers for us.”
Membership dues are $5 a year and include a hiking map of the local mountains, the TCA newsletter, a reusable shopping bag and hike schedules.
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