For the first-time visitor who envisions Los Angeles to be a sprawling and disjointed urban jungle without a proper center, connected by endless stretches of freeway traffic and dotted with tourist hotspots like The Hollywood Walk of Fame, The Getty Center off Sunset and the beach, Topanga Canyon appears like a surreal mirage. Bucolic, panoramic, majestic and worth the drive, Topanga pops out of the Santa Monica mountains and ushers the explorer through a canyon corridor that reveals little about the canyon community except for its natural beauty. But what man has made here is an enclave of philosophers, artists, celebrities, computer geeks and grown-up dropouts who still form the most eclectic mix of spirits in L.A.

While a pit stop at Cafe Mimosa (French baked goods) or Abuelita's (Mexican food) may make any outsider wonder if the local residents know how to use a comb and brush, that's only because the stereotypical Topangan would prefer to leave all the heavy grooming to Beverly Hills and the Kardashians. The middle-aged dudes with beards and Birkenstocks, and the women wearing the printed cotton frocks are busy with art and thought. They're in pursuit of life and they have to dig deep in order to tap into the magic of the Topangan mind, body and soul. Home to more than one crystal shop, the Canyon has given birth to everything from Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush" to gooey face Photoshop plug-ins.

The cultural footprint that started in Topanga back in 1839, when it was first founded, has shifted and changed over the decades, but has never been obliterated. This groovy place still rocks with mystery and emits a super charge, largely due to its topography, location and surroundings, and because of the complex, litigious and spiritual histories of the neighboring Tongva and Chumash tribes who settled in the region and nurtured the land.

Topanga, land of the cave, tree house, dome, yurt, tent, pyramid, shack, illegal structure, converted bungalow, live-in garage and bizarre outdoor living space, has surely had a makeover in the past two decades. Money and McMansions reshaped the residential map, displacing those locals without cars, who relied on hitchhiking for transportation and readily used sheet metal and car parts for structural integrity. Many of their makeshift dwellings got razed or wiped out by a fire, flood or county building inspector. But living-below-the-radar is part and parcel of Topanga as is playing outside of the rules. While most of the residents here have money, that hasn't stopped them from living the kind of artsy, alternative lifestyles that make the canyon's annual Memorial Day fair and parade, Topanga Days, a true meeting of iconoclasts, rebels, artists, musicians, belly dancers and hippies. The homemade tie-die appears in full regalia, as do the laid-back smiles and paisley skirts. The Foo Fighters, or at least Dave Grohl, could pop up and perform at any minute; Men at Work, or frontman Colin Hay, could drop in and do a set while half the crowd looks sun-filled and dazed.

A canyon so splendidly nestled in lots of peace and bohemian charm needs its occasional extroversion as much as it needs to protect its authenticity. With a rich history that made it Hollywood's get-away for celebrities like Humphrey Bogart and Carole Lambert, Topanga also housed the infamous Mermaid Tavern, a purported love shack, and The Corral, a night club that welcomed Joni Mitchell and Neil Young. While Elysian Fields, the embattled Topangan nudist community, had to move out in 2002, the be-free culture is clothed but still here. Even though so many of the canyon's greatest hidden treasures are gone, the raw lack of flash lives. Spirit and vibe are it.

Across the street from the original Elysian Fields, the famed Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum continues to pack the house while a new bed and breakfast, the picturesque Tuscali Mountain Inn, has arrived on a scene so low-key that it marks one of the rare times in Topanga's history that the canyon, with its rented cabins only, has opened its doors to anyone other than a resident. The spidery hiking trails, replete with switchbacks and marvelous vistas, lay sprinkled from Red Rock to Entrada. An invitation is always standing for the curious, wandering mind. Eight hours here is like having open-heart imagery where the doctors are the oak trees and the outcome is a healing success.

To arrive in Topanga is to blend in, without fanfare or digital cameras. Mailing a postcard from the local post office at the town center that spans no more than half a mile would be a big event on any visitor's to-do list, after dining at one of the cafés or restaurants, or shopping at Hidden Treasures, a spot filled with antiques and vintage clothing. A new library that's under construction may change a typical day in the canyon but not much. It's really a quiet, dreamy slice of heaven for the residents and for any passerby who wants to lose himself. And everyone, it seems, wants to keep it that way. NewsSip

Photo Credits: Woodstock Thumbnail on Table of Contents by Derek Redmond and Paul Campbell ; Topanga by Jesse Weinstein;

Tree house by emdot; Joni Mitchell by Capannelle