Malibou Lake

Malibou Lake
Malibou Lake in Los Angeles
Location	Los Angeles, California, United States
Coordinates	34°06′25″N 118°45′25″W / 34.107°N 118.757°W / 34.107; -118.757Coordinates: 34°06′25″N 118°45′25″W / 34.107°N 118.757°W / 34.107; -118.757
Primary inflows	From the Medea and the Triunfo creeks
Primary outflows	Outlet from dam into Malibu Creek
Basin countries	United States
Surface area	350 acres (140 ha)
Max. depth	27 feet (8.2 m)
Shore length1	3 km (1.9 mi)
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Malibou Lake is a small and historic lake and community in the Santa Monica Mountains near Agoura Hills, California, USA. Located within Malibu Creek State Park, and almost completely surrounded by the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, it is situated between Malibu Beach and the Conejo Valley. It was created in 1922 after a dam was built at the confluence of two creeks, the lake, and community of 250 residents are private. eBird shows data that Malibou Lake is a well travelled migratory bird stop.

The lake and the surrounding property of 350 acres, consisting of rugged mountain terrain, exclusive ranch houses, cabins and a club, has been a popular venue for filming due to its proximity to the Hollywood studios. About 100 Hollywood movies have been filmed since the silent film period.

A DVD made in 2007 has clippings of all films made in the backdrop of the Malibou lake and runs for two hours.

Malibu was originally settled by the Chumash, Native Americans whose territory extended loosely from the San Joaquin Valley to San Luis Obispo to Malibu, as well as several islands off the southern coast of California. They named it "Humaliwo" or "the surf sounds loudly." The region's name, originally given by the Spanish, derives from this, as the "Hu" syllable is not stressed.

At the turn of the 20th century, the Malibu area was going through a significant turning point. The original Chumash inhabitants were all but gone, and the Spanish who had "civilized" them had found their California in the hands of mostly Caucasian mountain men. As the Santa Monica Mountains became a white, English-speaking community, ties with the area's Spanish roots were deliberately dropped. Hence, despite being aware of the Spanish spelling of Malibu, those who settled the Cornell area often spelt it 'Malibou', so as to Anglicize it.