WARNING: We've heard that it is illegal / restricted now. So please proceed at your own risk. If you do go, never jump off directly from the dam (curved cement) area, that is where everyone dies! It's also a challenging journey, so please take at your own risk :)
The squad visited the most amazing place the other week: Rindge Dam, a 100' tall dam about 3 miles from the Coast of Malibu. You can see a partial view of it on the south side of the tunnel on Malibu Road.
I remember reading an article about it (silly me, always researches things) when I first heard about it, and reading about how there was a rescue mission out there because some people got stuck down there when night fall came. The rescue team was saying how it was the first time in his 40-something odd years of service that they were able to rescue live people (meaning the rest of the time, it was recovering dead bodies @___@). So ya know..that scared me a bit. But the other day it was SOOO HOT in LA, I just had to go explore some cold water! Anyways, back to the interesting part:
FROM LOS ANGELES
1-405 North to Santa Monica Fwy Exit
Keep left at the fork, follow sings for Interstate 10W/Santa Monica and merge onto 1-10 W/Santa Monica FWY
Continue onto CA-1 North
Turn right onto Malibu Canyon Road
Mesa Peak Tractor Way will be on your left.
How to get there:
The closest place to park is at Mesa Peak Tractor Way. I think there is a $10 parking fee. No biggies. From here you will walk back (away from Malibu Creek) onto the Malibu Canyon Road for about 1.2 miles. Just be cautious since you'll be walking alongside cars. At one point you'll also be walking through a tunnel.
Keep walking until you hit the 1.86 marker. This will also be obvious because apparently there is a huge sign right next to it now that says "RESTRICTED". Once you're at this sign, you'll see a path that descends down. You're basically free climbing about a mile down. Please be aware of poison ivy / oak since there's tons of it. You keep going down until you get to the flat area, you'll also see a old rusted car filled with trash. From here, find a trail onto the dam! Bring a lot of water (MORE THAN YOU THINK YOU NEED), its quite challenging.
I drew some instructions to help you out :)
You sort of have to try to get to the top of the dam, and you will climb some metal rebar to go down and cross the spillway. Here's a picture our friend Keith took while he was there (Check him out, he has super cool photos!). Make sure to have a good grip, we wouldn't want anyone to fall..
Once you cross all the rebar, its just a matter of crossing the actual dam part (you can walk along the top of it) and then take a moment to chill here and enjoy the view. This is also the area where you SHOULD NOT be jumping from. YOU WILL DIE. SERIOUSLY, DONT!!
From here, you can find a path down the mountain until you hit the water. This is where you can get into the nice, cold water and take a nice swim. You can also swim from shore to the cement landing (where the squad is standing on) if you want to jump off it :) It's about a 15'-20' drop. Of course, always always always make sure the water is deep enough before you jump in!
Overall, it was a really nice relaxing day :) Please make sure to allot yourselves enough times to get back up onto Malibu Road. We basically started heading back past sunset (BIG MISTAKE) so we were really hustling against the darkness! We got to the top a couple of minutes before it became pitch black. I could see how we would be in big trouble if we were stuck down there..Holyshiz!