Solstice Canyon, January 8, 2026

Hiking in Solstice Canyon. Photo Nancy Beverly.

March 1, 2026

Outings Reports

Photo Nancy Beverly

Led by Tom Molloy and Jeff Johnson

By Jeff Johnson

If you have been a local L.A. hiker, you have probably been to Solstice Canyon in Malibu several times. You probably remember the road/trail from the parking lot to the Roberts House, designed by Paul Williams, built in 1952 and burned in 1982. GLS has had many hikes there over the years, starting or ending there. Jeff Cuevas’ provisional hike there was on Halloween 2009. Twenty-five people showed up that day, some in hiking costume, some in Halloween costume. While the Roberts House lasted only 30 years as a house, it’s been a hiking destination longer than that. Some of you reading this probably visited the ruins there more than 30 years ago.

This recent hike in Solstice Canyon was partly a test whether a weekday hike would bring as many hikers as weekend hikes do. Many GLS hikers are retired now and would probably rather avoid weekend traffic. Despite a last minute hitch (discovering that the planned trail to Nicholas Flats was closed, so Tom switched to nearby Solstice Canyon), six retired hikers and one not-working-on-Thursday hiker showed up. So that seems like a success for weekday hikes.

The stream in Solstice Canyon is a perennial stream but was really rushing on January 8 after the recent heavy rain. After a snack break at the Roberts House, the daring but still just-spry-enough retirees leapt across the high water in the stream to take the Rising Sun Trail up the other side of the canyon to an outlook over the ocean, and then back down to the parking lot. Along the way we pondered why a trail on the east side of a canyon, facing west, is called the Rising Sun Trail.

We had a very pleasant hike, and look forward to the rescheduled Nicholas Flats hike later in the Spring.

The Keller Stone House, which you pass on the way to the Roberts house — descriptive text (found on site) below. Photo Jeff Johnson.
What the Roberts House looked like when the Roberts lived there. Photo Jeff Johnson.
Looking down the steps from the Roberts House terrace toward the stream and snacking hikers. Photo Jeff Johnson.
The waterfall just upstream from the Roberts House. Photo Jeff Johnson.
Some of the old plumbing that carried water down to the Roberts House. Photo Jeff Johnson.
Warning sign by the stream in Solstice Canyon about the tiny invasive New Zealand Mudsnails found in the stream that, if you wade there, can stick to your shoes and then when you wade through some other stream you can spread them there. Photo Nancy Beverly.
Only a few early wildflowers were out when we hiked, like these Canyon Sunflowers (Venegasia carpesioides). Photo Jeff Johnson.
There were few puddles in the trails despite the recent heavy rains. Photo Jeff Johnson.
On the Rising Sun Trail back to the trailhead. Photo Jeff Johnson.

Roberts House Chimneys

The most noticeable relics of the Roberts House fire are these chimneys, the parts of the house that weren’t destroyed in the 1982 fire.

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