THIS 6-MILE HIKE RATES 10 FOR SIGHTS.

Byline: Brett Pauly Daily News Staff Writer

For a best-of look at the unusual fauna, expansive backcountry and geological landmarks that define Circle X Ranch, recreationists can't afford to miss the 6-mile hiking loop that traverses the site.

Local adventurers call the trek, which encompasses the Mishe Mokwa Trail and a section of the Backbone Trail, one of the most stunning in the Santa Monica Mountains and, because of its strenuous nature, one of the most remote.

``It surprises me every time I go, because it's still a wild part of the mountains,'' said renowned Canoga Park hiker Milt McAuley. ``You can really get away from it all, often going for hours and not seeing anyone. And everyone you do meet, you instantly like. I've never met a person up there you wouldn't want to be friends with.''

Those you do cross paths with are the more serious hikers, as the loop is one of the area's longer footpaths, with an elevation gain of more than 1,000 feet. En route, visitors pass a balanced rock, a split rock, a rock that looks like a skull and the highest point in the chain - 3,111-foot Sandstone Peak, which isn't sandstone at all, but rather a huge mass of volcanic rock.

And then there's the history.

The loop's lower section, the Mishe Mokwa Trail, was originally a goat track, employed by a homesteader to get his stock into the backcountry for grazing. Later the name changed to Bed Springs Trail, because of the discarded bed frame that was a trail-side mainstay for decades. Then in the 1950s, the Boy Scouts who maintained and operated Circle X Ranch renamed it Mishe Mokwa, presumably in connection to the Chumash Indians who frequented the surroundings long ago.

``Look for a lot of unusual plants, too, including fields of shooting stars that bloom in late January and February, chocolate lilies and one of the major stands of ribbon bush - a 15-foot-high red-green bush also known as red shanks,'' McAuley said.

Hikers will spot ceanothus, mountain mahogany, yucca, California lilac, manzanita, black sage, holly-leaf cherry, sumac, chamise, serviceberry, lemonade berry, Christmas berry, wild buckwheat, sticky-leaf monkey flower, popcorn flower, woolly blue curls, dudleya, owl's clover, blue-eyed grass, ferns and a shady grove of bays, oaks and sycamores.

Here's a brief overview of the hike:

From the Circle X Ranger Station, drive about a mile east to the Backbone Trailhead parking area (elevation 2,025 feet). Hoof up the zigzagging fire road until reaching the connector trail to the Mishe Mokwa, and bear right. At the main trail, veer left.

After some time you will spot Balanced Rock across Carlisle Canyon before coming to a picnic table at Split Rock, where a riparian woodland keeps temperatures cool. This section of the trail is thought by some to have spiritual qualities, and it appears McAuley is continuing the legend.

``Every time I lead a hike, I take the group through the split,'' he said. `` `This is for good luck,' I say. `The demon isn't going to follow you, because demons don't go through split rocks.' That may be a bunch of malarkey, but people get a big kick out of it. They come out of there smiling and laughing.''

Head right at the split (the rock and the junction), travel downstream about 100 yards and turn left. Follow an old roadbed to a high plateau at the southern base of Boney Mountain; Skull Rock can be found along the way. Here, backcountry hikers with permits can make camp for the night.

The trail soon begins to loop back on itself, passing below and to the east of a pair of water tanks. Follow it east past Inspiration Point and two switchbacks to the steep pathway leading to Sandstone Peak. From its apex, a sweeping panorama provides views of Boney Ridge, the Oxnard Plain and the Channel Islands. Complete the loop by descending the fire road you ascended earlier to your vehicle.

Links to several other trails can be made along the loop; pick up a map or ask for directions at the ranger station.

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Photo: Hikers who are guided through a Split Rock sidetrek on Mishe Mokwa Trail experience the legend of demon-shedding.

Brett Pauly / Daily News