Point Mugu
Promontory within Point Mugu State Park in Ventura County, California
title: "Point Mugu" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["geography-of-oxnard,-california", "headlands-of-california", "landforms-of-ventura-county,-california", "rock-formations-of-california", "santa-monica-mountains", "chumash-populated-places", "skimboarding-locations-in-california"] description: "Promontory within Point Mugu State Park in Ventura County, California" topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Mugu" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Promontory within Point Mugu State Park in Ventura County, California ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox landform"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Point Mugu |
| type | Cape |
| photo | Point Mugu September 2013 013.jpg |
| photo_caption | Pacific Ocean at Point Mugu |
| map | USA California |
| map_caption | Location within California |
| relief | 1 |
| label | Point Mugu |
| location | Point Mugu State Park, Ventura County, California |
| coordinates | |
| water_bodies | Pacific Ocean |
| elevation_ft | 46 |
| elevation_ref | |
| free_label_1 | GNIS feature ID |
| free_data_1 | 247643 |
| :: |
| name = Point Mugu | type = Cape | photo = Point Mugu September 2013 013.jpg | photo_width = | photo_alt = | photo_caption = Pacific Ocean at Point Mugu | map = USA California | map_width = | map_caption = Location within California | map_alt = | relief = 1 | label = Point Mugu | label_position = | mark = | marker_size = | location = Point Mugu State Park, Ventura County, California | coordinates = | water_bodies = Pacific Ocean | elevation_ft = 46 | elevation_ref = | free_label_1 = GNIS feature ID | free_data_1 = 247643
Point Mugu (, Chumash: Muwu){{Cite book | edition = Revised | publisher = EZ Nature Books | isbn = 0936784156 | last1 = McCall | first1 = Lynne | last2 = Perry | first2 = Rosalind | title = California’s Chumash Indians : a project of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Education Center | location = San Luis Obispo, Calif | year = 2002 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/californiaschuma00mcca
History
The name derives from Muwu (Ventureño: "Beach"), which was the name of a Chumash village at Point Mugu during pre-colonial times. The village of Muwu (CA-VEN-11) had the highest population of any coastal Chumash settlements along the Santa Monica Mountains. Muwu was a ceremonial center and the ancient capital of Lulapin, a major political unit of Chumash territory which stretched from modern day Los Angeles County to Santa Barbara in the north. The territory stretched for 60. mi along the coast, and at least half as far inland. Mission records indicate that 191 inhabitants were baptized in Muwu, more than any other Chumash village by the Santa Monica Mountains. The last chief of Muwu, Mariano Wataitset, son of Halashu (Big Chief of Muwu), was baptized at Mission San Buenaventura in 1802.
On January 31, 2000, Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crashed off of Point Mugu, killing all 88 people on board the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 operating the flight.
Mugu Rock
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Point_Mugu_September_2013_010.jpg" caption="Mugu Rock, seen from the northwest"] ::
Mugu Rock is a distinctive feature of the coastal headland promontory that has been featured in many film shoots and television commercials. This igneous dike marks the western end of the Santa Monica Mountains, and the Rancho Guadalasca boundary. The rock was formed when the roadway was cut through the near-vertical ridge of resistant volcanic rock in 1937. A route had been blasted out around the promontory in 1923–24 to complete Pacific Coast Highway between Malibu and the Oxnard Plain. This replaced a narrow path around the rock and much of that roadway has since eroded away.
The site is a popular but dangerous place for fishing, sightseeing, cliff diving, and rock climbing up the sheer sides of the rock. On Thanksgiving Day 2008, three young men from Oxnard were swept to sea and killed by a rogue wave while surf watching from Mugu Rock.
Directly east of Mugu Rock is Point Mugu State Beach Campsite. The park has 5 mi of shoreline and more than 70 mi of hiking trails.
References
References
- {{gnis. 247643. Point Mugu
- [http://www.sepcopublishing.com/Ventura/NavyMagu1.html Navy Pt Magu] {{webarchive. link. (February 12, 2005 {{cbignore)
- Polakovic, Gary. (September 11, 1998). "Point Mugu Navy Base Gets OK to Fortify Against Natural Foe". [[Los Angeles Times]].
- Green, Mitchell (2017). ''The Rock Formations of California''. Lulu, Inc. Page 55. {{ISBN. 9781387146758.
- Lockeretz, David (2010). ''The Nobody Hikes in L.A. Guidebook''. Lulu, Inc., p. 15; {{ISBN. 9780557880256.
- Gamble, Lynn H. (2011). ''The Chumash World at European Contact: Power, Trade, and Feasting Among Complex Hunter-Gatherers''. University of California Press, p. 108; {{ISBN. 9780520271241.
- Fowler, William R. (1991). ''The Formation of Complex Society in Southeastern Mesoamerica''. CRC Press, p. 103; {{ISBN. 9780849388316.
- Gamble, Lynn H. (2011). ''The Chumash World at European Contact: Power, Trade, and Feasting Among Complex Hunter-Gatherers''. University of California Press, p. 105; {{ISBN. 9780520271241.
- (December 30, 2002). "Aircraft Accident Report, Loss of Control and Impact with Pacific Ocean Alaska Airlines Flight 261 McDonnell Douglas MD-83, N963AS About 2.7 Miles {{bracket". [[National Transportation Safety Board]].
- Masters, Nathan. (July 28, 2014). "When PCH Blasted through Point Mugu". [[KCET]].
- John Scheibe. (2008-01-16). "Despite hazard, Mugu Rock cliff is a lure for fishermen". [[Ventura County Star]].
- (2008-11-29). "3 who died off Point Mugu are ID'd". [[Los Angeles Times]].
- (2017-08-01). "Point Mugu State Beach Camping {{!}} Best Places to Camp in Los Angeles". Go Hike It.
- [http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=630 "Point Mugu State Park"] ''[[California Department of Parks and Recreation]]''
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::