![Boney peak](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Boney_peak.jpg)
Circle X Ranch is a park unit located in the
Triunfo Pass
The Triunfo Pass is a mountain pass in the Santa Monica Mountains, located on Yerba Buena Road in southeastern Ventura County, Southern California.
Automobile access to Circle X Ranch Park, part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation ...
within the southwestern
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area is a United States national recreation area containing many individual parks and open space preserves, located primarily in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. The SMMNRA is in t ...
, in
Ventura County
Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura.
Ventura County comprises the Oxnar ...
, California. It is located in the western
Santa Monica Mountains
The Santa Monica Mountains is a coastal mountain range in Southern California, next to the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. Because of its proximity to densely populated regions, it is one of the most visited natural areas in ...
.
Sandstone Peak
Sandstone Peak, also known as Mount Allen, is a mountain in Ventura County, California. It is the highest summit in the Santa Monica Mountains, with an elevation of . Located near the western edge of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreatio ...
, the highest peak in the range, and
Boney Peak
Boney Mountain in Ventura County, California is one of the highest peaks in the Santa Monica Mountains. The prominent mountain visible from Newbury Park, California is . It is also known as Boney Peak. The mountain contains four of the highest ...
, are in the park with trails to their summits. Views can include the
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...
,
Mount Baldy, and the
Topatopa Mountains
The Topatopa Mountains are a mountain range in Ventura County, California, north of Ojai, Santa Paula, and Fillmore. They are part of the Transverse Ranges of Southern California.
Etymology
A name for the mountains was first inscribed within the ...
.
The park was formerly
Camp Circle X
Camp may refer to:
Outdoor accommodation and recreation
* Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site
* a temporary settlement for nomads
* Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...
, a Boy Scout camp.
The northeast section is adjacent to the Boney Mountain Wilderness in
Point Mugu State Park
Point Mugu State Park is a state park located in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in Southern California. The rugged, nearly impassible shoreline of the western Santa Monica Mountains gives way to tidal lagoons and coastal sand ...
.
Recreation
![Phaceliabrachyloba](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Phaceliabrachyloba.jpg)
The park's Sandstone Peak Trail, Mishe Mokwa Trail, and others lead to high mountain vistas,
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 ...
canyons with
stream
A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...
s, and through
chaparral
Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...
and
oak woodland
An oak woodland is a plant community with a tree canopy dominated by oaks (''Quercus spp.''). In terms of canopy closure, oak woodlands are intermediate between oak savanna, which is more open, and oak forest, which is more closed. Although the ...
habitats. The park is locally popular for ''The Grotto'', a naturally 'enclosed' waterfall and wading pool.
Facilities include a ranch house with the Circle X Ranger Station, and a group
campground
A campsite, also known as a campground or camping pitch, is a place used for camping, overnight stay in an outdoor area. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight u ...
, and many
trailhead
A trailhead is the point at which a trail begins, where the trail is often intended for hiking, biking, horseback riding, or off-road vehicles. Modern trailheads often contain rest rooms, maps, sign posts and distribution centers for information ...
s.
See also
*
California coastal sage and chaparral ecoregion
The California coastal sage and chaparral ( es, Salvia y chaparral costero de California) is a Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregion located in southwestern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico). It ...
**
Coastal sage scrub
Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is w ...
*
California montane chaparral and woodlands ecoregion
**
California oak woodland
California oak woodland is a plant community found throughout the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion of California in the United States and northwestern Baja California in Mexico. Oak woodland is widespread at lower elevations in coasta ...
s
References
External links
*
*
{{authority control
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
Parks in Ventura County, California
Santa Monica Mountains