Bell Canyon Park is a large open-space

regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government. Definition A regional park can be a special park distri ...

located in the

Simi Hills The Simi Hills are a low rocky mountain range of the Transverse Ranges in eastern Ventura County and western Los Angeles County, of southern California, United States. Geography The Simi Hills are aligned east-west and run for , and average arou ...

at the western end of the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

West Hills, Los Angeles West Hills is a suburban / residential community in the western San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. The percentage of residents aged 35 and older is among the highest in Los Angeles County. The neighborhood was for ...

and

Bell Canyon Bell Canyon is a major drainage of the Santa Ana Mountains in Orange County, California in the United States. Bell Creek (also known as Bell Canyon Creek or Arroyo de las Campanas) flows about in a southerly direction to its confluence with San ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Bell Creek, a primary tributary to the

Los Angeles River , name_etymology = , image = File:Los Angeles River from Fletcher Drive Bridge 2019.jpg , image_caption = L.A. River from Fletcher Drive Bridge , image_size = 300 , map = LARmap.jpg , map_size ...

, flows through the park with

riparian zone A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ar ...

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic character ...

along its natural banks. The geographic landmark Escorpión Peak (''Castle Peak'') is high above it to the south in adjacent

El Escorpión Park El Escorpión Park is a three-acre (12,000 m²) park located in the Simi Hills of the western San Fernando Valley, in the West Hills district of Los Angeles, California. The park contains the geographic landmark known as Escorpión Peak or Castl ...

Trails

Bell Canyon Park has trails along

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ar ...

Bell Creek and upstream beside the

community. Trails have junctions to connect with

and

Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve The Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve is a large Open space reserve, open space Nature reserve, nature preserve owned and operated by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy spanning nearly in the Simi Hills of western Los Angeles Cou ...

and their miles of trail networks. A secondary route to the top of Escorpión Peak (Castle Peak) begins in the park also. The peak and both other parks are adjacent directly to the south of Bell Canyon Park. The trails are available for walking,

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

rock climbing Rock climbing is a sport in which participants climb up, across, or down natural rock formations. The goal is to reach the summit of a formation or the endpoint of a usually pre-defined route without falling. Rock climbing is a physically and ...

, and equestrian riding.

Access

Access to the park and parking is off Bell Canyon Boulevard (''Bell Canyon Road'') near the intersection with Overland Drive, west of Valley Circle Boulevard in

91307 and in the lot in the community of

. The park is open from sunrise to sunset, 7 days a week.

Rattlesnake Rattlesnakes are venomous snakes that form the genera ''Crotalus'' and ''Sistrurus'' of the subfamily Crotalinae (the pit vipers). All rattlesnakes are vipers. Rattlesnakes are predators that live in a wide array of habitats, hunting small anim ...

s live in the area, requiring observant footfalls and handholds. Unauthorized motor vehicles and motorbikes are not permitted. The park's land, with public access via trails only, extends upstream past the 'guard-gated' road into the Bell Canyon community to junctions with other trails. Bell Canyon Park is operated by the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Department of Recreation and Parks.

History

The area was inhabited for around 8,000 years by Native Americans of the

Chumash Chumash may refer to: *Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism *Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California *Chumashan languages, indigenous languages of California See also * Chumash traditional ...

- Ventureño and Tongva-Fernandeño tribes that lived and traded in the Simi Hills and close to

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage b ...

of the

. A village, Hu'wam, of the Chumash-Ventureños, was located at the base of Escorpión Peak (''Castle Peak'') along present Bell Creek near the mouth of Bell Canyon. It was a meeting and trading place for them with the Tongva-Fernandeño and Tataviam-Fernandeño

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

. In 1798 the land became the property of the 'new' Spanish

Mission San Fernando Rey de España Mission San Fernando Rey de España is a Spanish mission in the Mission Hills community of Los Angeles, California. The mission was founded on 8 September 1797 at the site of Achooykomenga, and was the seventeenth of the twenty-one Spanish mis ...

(Mission San Fernando). In 1845 a Mexican land grant established

Rancho El Escorpión Rancho El Escorpión was a Mexican land grant in present day Los Angeles County, California given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to three Chumash Native Americans - Odón Chijulla, Urbano, and Mañuel.

here, one of the few granted to Native Americans. The former adobe rancho buildings were located within the current park (adobes existed 1840s-1960s). The rancho was purchased by George Platt in 1912, becoming the Platt Ranch in 1912. SSPSHP Ethnohistory. Accessed 2/28/2010

Adjacent parks

References

External links

L.A.Rec+Parks: official Bell Canyon Park website

Upper Bell Canyon Trails
hiking + equestrian trails Map.
Bell Canyon photo gallery
'Nature' sections
L.A.Rec+Parks: official El Escorpión Park website

official Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell Canyon Park Chumash Parks in the San Fernando Valley Parks in Los Angeles Parks in Los Angeles County, California Regional parks in California Simi Hills West Hills, Los Angeles