Los Angeles is a pleasure driver’s nightmare, with its extensive, boring interstate system and gridlocked traffic.
Just to the west, though, the Santa Monica Mountains are a pleasure driver’s paradise – a paradise full of tight curves and switchbacks, rising elevations and impressive views.
Stunt Road is a four-mile connector in the Santa Monica Mountains between Mulholland Highway and Schueren/Saddle Peak Road.
While Stunt Road is a less technical drive than many of the mountain roads that surround it, it does sport some impressive curves, dips, and vistas that make the drive worthwhile.
How to Access Stunt Road in Calabasas
Stunt Road can be accessed from Mulholland Highway or Schueren Road. Mulholland Highway is the low access point, Schueren Road the peak.
While Stunt Road is worth driving either up or down, driving down it is arguably the far superior way to go. Not only will you feel the grade on the descent, but the vistas pop going downward much more noticeably than on the drive up, the trees opening up to giving you sweeping views of the Santa Monica Mountains.
Stunt Road Attractions
Saddle Peak/Topanga Lookout/Backbone Trails
Most of the people you’ll meet driving on Stunt Road are on their way to or from a hike on the numerous trails in the area
The Saddle Peak and Topanga Lookout trailheads are right off of Stunt Road, with several other trails, including the extensive Backbone Trail, accessible from Stunt Road.
We know you’re there for the driving, not the hiking, but if you want to get the most out of your ride up Stunt Road and do a little on-foot exploration, Topanga Lookout is your quickest hiking option, an easy two miles roundtrip.
Lois Ewen Overlook
Right at the top of Stunt Road, where it meets Schueren/Saddle Peak Road, the Lois Ewen Overlook provides both parking spaces for the Topanga Lookout and Backbone Trails and a nice stop-off for sightseers.
Turn left at the stop sign when you reach Schueren Road (you’ll know you’re there, because it’s the first stop sign you’ll see) to access the overlook parking lot, and you’ll have a sweeping view of the Santa Monica Mountains on the overlook side of the road and Malibu and the Pacific Ocean on the other side of the road.
If the vistas really matter to you, try to make this drive after a good rain. Even up in the mountains, the notorious L.A. smog can make these views less than stellar.
Where to Go Next
When you exit Stunt Road, regardless of the direction you take, you’ve got a lot of options for continuing your drive through the mountains.
If you turn right at the top of Stunt Road onto Schueren Road, you can take another right onto Piuma Road when you reach the dead end.
Piuma is a winding drive with some seriously sexy switchbacks that will take you past the stunning Malibu Canyon Overlook.
If you turn left at the dead end, you’ll be on Rambla Pacifico Street, which connects you to Las Flores Canyon Road.
Las Flores Canyon Road is home to one of the most impressive and unexpected switchbacks in the mountains and a series of snake curves that will definitely have you feeling some sort of way.
If you drive down Stunt Road, take a left on Mulholland Highway.
Mulholland Highway takes you through an expansive portion of the mountain range, and passes through many of the towns in the Santa Monica Mountains, before dead-ending into the Pacific Coast Highway near Leo Carrillo State Beach. Just turn left to get back to Malibu.
Whichever route you take from Stunt Road, you’re going to see a fair amount of the Santa Monica Mountains (if you want true immersion, Mulholland Highway is the way to go) and encounter some serious curves.
Driving through the hills of L.A. is a great break when the city traffic starts to get on your nerves (and it will), and absolutely worth scheduling in as a tourist who loves to get behind the wheel to experience the local landscape.