The Malibu Park that Once was South Korea

The latitude of the two locations is about the same.  They both have a Mediterranean climate, to some extent.  And a similar topography with canyons and mountain ranges.  So one serving as a stand-in for the other is not a huge stretch.

Malibu Creek State Park is located on the north side of the Santa Monica Mountains range in Southern California, within Los Angeles County.  It is located off of the US-101 (Ventura Freeway), four miles south on Las Virgenes/Malibu Canyon Road.  It has served as a filming site in the past, before it was under State control, for the TV show M*A*S*H (which was a 1970s/early 1980s series that took place during the Korean War) and the movie Planet of the Apes.

The movie magic, at least for the M*A*S*H series and albeit low-tech, was to focus filming in directions that did not include a large rock outcropping to the north.  Otherwise, the hills and scrub apparently stood in well (or were good enough) for Korea.

The grassy hills, green for a couple of months after winter/spring rains,
are populated with grand oak trees including this master of the hill.

The Park can be accessed via the main parking lot off Malibu Canyon Road, and all of the hiking trails can be accessed from this point.

An additional parking area that provides local access, but is outside of the State Park, is located to the south. This location at Tapia Park, which provides access to one of the southern canyons (and the Century Motorway trail), is closer to regional trails such as the Backbone Trail that traverses the Santa Monica range from east to west.

Happy hiking!

Park page:
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=614