Overnight Camp trip in Los Angeles' Topanga Canyon

It may feel like you need to travel hours out of Los Angeles to camp, but there are plenty of green spaces within and near the LA area. Topanga Canyon and Malibu Creek State Park are not too far, depending on what part of LA you’re coming from. They are great choices for a quick overnight camping trip with fun stops along the way. Don't forget to pack your ComplEAT Cook Set from Gerber Gear so that you'll have everything you need to whip up some delicious and nutritious meals for yourself while you're out there!

Day 1

We started our Friday morning by heading to Little Barn Coffee House in Glassell Park with our reusable cups to grab coffee and breakfast. From there, we made one more stop at RE_Grocery in Highland Park, a refill grocery store, to pick up ingredients for our camp meals. When camping, I always aim to keep it as low-waste as possible, so buying in bulk and bringing reusables like the Gerber Gear CompIEAT cook set are essential. RE_Grocery has a few locations around the LA area that you can visit before your trip.

Then it was time to head to Topanga Canyon. We especially wanted to include this stop in our trip because the small businesses in Topanga were hit hard due to the heavy rains LA received earlier this year. The storms caused a landslide that closed the road connecting them to PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) for months. 

Our first stop in this beautiful canyon was the Topanga farmers market where we were able to get a few ingredients that we needed for our meals at camp. Farmers markets help keep our trips low-waste, as many items are usually loose, and we can use our reusable bags! What I really enjoyed about this market was seeing the Santa Monica Mountains in the background.

Need to know: The Topanga Farmers Market is every Friday, from 9am-1pm. You can park along Topanga Canyon Rd, but you will have to walk up a steep hill, or you can pay $5 cash to park nearby and avoid the walk. I regretted the walk up, but on our way back, we enjoyed the mountain views.

From there, we drove about 2 miles down Topanga Cyn road to Pine Tree Circle, a retail center with different small businesses. First, we visited The Well Refill, a home goods refill shop, where I picked up some seeds for my garden and a vintage jacket. A few doors down is Canyon Market, where they have a good selection of wine. We picked up a bottle for our camp dinner.

It was finally time to head to camp! Taking Topanga Canyon road gives more mountain views and beautiful blooms along the way. 

Pro tip: If you have some extra time, plan to visit Red Rock Canyon Park on your way there!

By the time we arrived at Malibu Creek State Park Campground, it was afternoon, so we quickly set up some shelter because we were in full sun. After we set up camp, we made a quick snack to hold us over until dinner. 

Since I didn’t have a sink, and we needed to wash the fruits and veggies we got from the farmers market for our camp meals, the mixing bowl from the ComplEAT Tableware Set came in handy! I filled the bowl with veggies, water, and some vinegar to clean them. Then we cut up some bread, spread it with hummus, and topped it with the veggies for the perfect camp snack. 

Since it was hot and we were a bit tired from packing, driving, and the multiple stops, we decided to rest in the shade until it was time to prep dinner.

For dinner, we planned to make a vegan pasta salad with hot dogs. We started cooking the macaroni we had picked up at the refill shop in the 5.6-quart stock pot from the Cook Set. The strainer holes on the pot and the silicone hot pad that comes with the set made it super easy to drain the pasta. In the past, I have forgotten to pack a strainer, or the strainer was too small, so this pot and hot pad made camp cooking much more streamlined.

Once cooked, I put the pasta into the mixing bowl to cool down. It's ideal to transfer the pasta into a different bowl from the pot you cooked it in so it has a chance to cool down as much as possible before you put together the rest of the salad, and it was awesome to have a bowl big enough to hold all of the pasta that was in the pot!

In the meantime, we took out the ComplEAT Sauté Pan to start cooking the hot dogs, sautéed onions, and bell peppers. The toppings went into the pan first, and then the hot dogs. Once ready, we plated them onto the plates from the tableware set, and enjoyed them by the campfire!

Day 2

The next morning, we took our time getting up and then made a savory breakfast. We planned to make a tofu scramble with kale, plus some croissants we had picked up at Little Barn Coffee House on the way up. 

We used the sauté pan to cook this breakfast, and it came out so well. What I loved most was that the tofu didn’t stick to the pan, which has been a common issue for us in the past.

After breakfast, we cleaned up and headed out for a short hike on the nearby trail by the campground. We saw a creek, some blooms, and mountain views. It was a great way to wrap up our time there!

Once we left the park, we headed over to PCH in Malibu. We grabed a quick lunch at the Whole Foods salad bar in the Malibu Colony Plaza, and then got back on the road towards home! We enjoy taking this route home because of all the ocean views in Malibu and Santa Monica. If you have more time, there are areas along PCH where you can pull over right near the ocean - I’d recommend adding that on to your trip, and making a quick lunch while you're at it with the help of the ComplEAT Cook Set from Gerber Gear!

Can't-Forget Packing list:

1) Gerber Gear's ComplEAT Cook Set (as well as the rest of their Camp Kitchen Collection)
2) Shade shelter for your campsite.
3) Camp chairs
4) Hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen.
5) Reusable bags and jars for camp groceries
6) Cooler to store condiments, veggies + leftovers
7) Camp stove + refillable propane tank
8) Water jug + water bottle (especially in LA in the summer!)
9) Bottle of wine to pair with your camp dinner
10) Camp sleep system

To follow along with more of Cindy's adventures, follow her on Instagram at @CeroWasteCindy