The Cave of Munits

Do you live for adventure? Do you like hiking? Climbing? Well, imagine stepping out of your house and going to a nearby park that offers a variety of exciting climbing and exploring opportunities! If this sounds like something you can’t live without in your life, look up Bell Canyon Park and El Escorpion Park. Right where these two places meet in the middle, you’ll find the Cave of Munits.

I was inspired to make it out to the Cave of Munits after seeing a group of friends hike out that way. Let me say, this hike is VERY easy. It’s an extremely quick walk over to the cave from the parking location. The hardest part was finding the exact whereabouts of the cave since this one wasn’t on my hiking app.

First, the easiest place to park is directly off of Vanowen and Valley Circle Blvd out in West Hills, CA. Make a left onto Vanowen from Valley Circle Blvd if you are heading North and a right if you are heading South. You will see a park entrance with a trail to your left as you turn onto Vanowen. There should be plenty of street parking there.

As you get on the trial, just keep going straight down the path.

When you get to a fork in the path, go right! That should get you to the cave. You will basically be able to see it from a distance. While the hike to the cave is easy, the hike up to the cave entrance is pretty rough. It’s a very steep hill climb to reach the cave, and I would recommend wearing cleats, as the ground can slide beneath you. As we went up the hill that led to the cave entrance, we had no idea that we would need to really climb to get up in the cave.

So know this- once you get to the base of the cave, you will have to climb up a rock incline that is relatively steep in order to get up into the cave. It’s roughly a 50-foot climb to get into the cave, so it isn’t too extreme, but 50 feet can be intimidating if you don’t know what you’re doing. Once you are there, it is well worth it. The view is astounding. And climbing around in the cave is a lot of fun. But please, do so at your own risk!

This one is a fun, easy adventure if you’re willing to give up an hour or so of your day to walk to the cave. And climbing, well that’s just an extra bit of fun if you know what you’re doing.