The Puente Hills are a chain of

hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct Summit (topography), summit. Terminology The distinction between a hill and a mountain is unclear and largely subjective, but a hill is universally con ...

s, one of the lower

Transverse Ranges The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie within Santa B ...

, in an unincorporated area in eastern

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

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 ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The western end of the range is often referred to locally as the Whittier Hills.

Geography

The Puente Hills lie to the south of the

San Gabriel Valley The San Gabriel Valley ( es, Valle de San Gabriel) is one of the principal valleys of Southern California, lying immediately to the east of the eastern city limits of the city of Los Angeles, and occupying the vast majority of the eastern part ...

and the

Pomona Freeway Pomona may refer to: Places Argentina * Pomona, Río Negro Australia * Pomona, Queensland, Australia, a town in the Shire of Noosa * Pomona, New South Wales, Australia Belize * Pomona, Belize, a municipality in Stann Creek District Mexico * ...

( State Route 60), to the east of the San Gabriel River Freeway (

Interstate 605 Interstate 605 (abbreviated I-605, officially known as the San Gabriel River Freeway) is a major north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway in the Greater Los Angeles urban area of Southern California. It runs from I-405 and State Route ...

), to the north of

Whittier Boulevard Whittier Boulevard known as Stephenson Avenue (before 1920) is an arterial street that runs from the Los Angeles River (where it continues into Downtown Los Angeles as 6th Street) to Brea, California. The street is one of the main thoroughfares i ...

, and to the west of the city of

Diamond Bar Diamond Bar is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2010 census it had a population of 55,544, and in 2019 the population was estimated to be 55,720. It is named after the "diamond over a bar" branding iron re ...

and Chino Hills. To its north are the City of

Industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

Hacienda Heights Hacienda Heights () is an unincorporated suburban community in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the community had a total population of 54,038, up from 53,122 at the 2000 census. For statistical purposes, the ...

, and

Rowland Heights Rowland Heights is an unincorporated area in and below the Puente Hills in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 48,231 at the 2020 census. Rowland Heights is in the Los Angeles metropol ...

. To the south are Whittier,

La Habra Heights La Habra Heights is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 5,325 at the 2010 census, down from 5,712 at the 2000 census. La Habra Heights is a suburban canyon community located on the border of Orange and L ...

La Habra La Habra (archaic spelling of ''La Abra'', ) is a city in the northwestern corner of Orange County, California, United States. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,239. A related city, La Habra Heights, is located to the north o ...

and Brea. The

Brea-Olinda Oil Field The Brea-Olinda Oil Field is a large oil field in northern Orange County and Los Angeles County, California, along the southern edge of the Puente Hills, about four miles (6 km) northeast of Fullerton, and adjacent to the city of Brea. ...

, discovered in 1880 and still producing in 2014, is in the southernmost portion of the hills adjacent to the city of Brea.

Flora

The Puente Hills are in the California chaparral and woodlands

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

of the

California Floristic Province The California Floristic Province (CFP) is a floristic province with a Mediterranean-type climate located on the Pacific Coast of North America with a distinctive flora similar to other regions with a winter rainfall and summer drought climate ...

. The remnant

California native plants California native plants are plants that existed in California prior to the arrival of European explorers and colonists in the late 18th century. California includes parts of at least three phytochoria. The largest is the California Floristic ...

here are in the

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 ...

plant communities A plant community is a collection or association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The components of each plant ...

, with stands of

California native grasses California native plants are plants that existed in California prior to the arrival of European explorers and colonists in the late 18th century. California includes parts of at least three phytochoria. The largest is the California Floristic ...

Vascular Plants of the Whittier Hills
a floristic study, was completed by Julie A. Schneider Ljubenkov and Timothy S. Ross (2001), and published in ''Crossosoma''. It built on the work of Bob Muns. Hellman Park Whittier CA 3 Mariposa Trail

Hellman Park Whittier CA 3 Mariposa Trail

Landmarks

Rio Hondo College Rio Hondo College is a public community college in Whittier, California. The college is named after the Rio Hondo. Founded in 1960, it mainly serves the cities of Whittier, Pico Rivera, Santa Fe Springs, El Monte, and South El Monte. Rio Hon ...

is located at the foot of the western end of the hills, and the

Puente Hills Landfill Puente Hills Landfill was the largest landfill in the United States, rising high and covering . Originally opened in 1957 in a back canyon in the Puente Hills, the landfill was made to meet the demands of urbanization and waste-disposal east ...

is nearby.

Rose Hills Memorial Park Rose Hills Memorial Park is located in Whittier, California. It is currently owned and operated by Service Corporation International (formerly, Loewen Group). It claims to be the largest cemetery in North America. Sites ; Mausoleums * Whittier ...

occupies portions of the northern area. The highest point in the western hills is Workman Hill, named for the pioneer Workman family. The

Puente Hills Mall Puente Hills Mall, located in City of Industry, California, United States, is a major regional shopping center in the San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County. It is most famous for serving as the filming site for the Twin Pines/Lone Pine ...

is located north of the hills. Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights, the second largest

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

temple and monastery in the

western hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the term We ...

, is located in the hills.

Parks

;Puente Hills Native Habitat Preserve Puente Hills is home to the

, the country's largest landfill, which closed in 2013. The high-tech landfill has begun offering tours. The Puente Hills Landfill Native Habitat Preservation Authority directs the acquisition, restoration, and management of open space in the Puente Hills for preservation of the land to protect the biological diversity and provide opportunities for outdoor education and low-impact recreation, and scheduled hikes are offered.Habitatauthority.org: Puente Hills Native Habitat Preserve homepage + activities
access date: 6/7/2010 ;Hellman Wilderness Park Hellman Wilderness Park is located in the western Puente Hills ("Whittier Hills") with trailheads in Whittier. It is managed by the Puente Hills Habitat Preservation Authority. It has trails into native

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 ...

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s, and up to vistas of the

Los Angeles Basin The Los Angeles Basin is a sedimentary Structural basin, basin located in Southern California, in a region known as the Peninsular Ranges. The basin is also connected to an wikt:anomalous, anomalous group of east-west trending chains of mountai ...

. ;Schabarum Regional Park Schabarum Regional Park is partially in the eastern Puente Hills, in

, eastern Los Angeles County, California. It has equestrian and hiking trails in the hills.

Oil drilling

A commercial discovery was made in 1897, for what would become the Whittier Oil Field, when a well was drilled to a depth of 984 feet. The location was in the central area of production. By 1903, about 100 wells were in operation and by 1924, there were 163 commercial wells in operation. There has been a long history of oil drilling in the Puente Hills. In the early 20th century, several companies drilled, including Simon Murphy's Murphy Oil Company. Recently, Matrix Oil has proposed resumption of oil drilling on several acres in the Puente Hills. Oil drilling began to decline in the Puente hills in the 1940s.

History and Legends

In the early 1930s an unsuccessful high-voltage experiment was made in an attempt to create rain. A Robin Airlines Curtiss C-46 passenger plane crashed in the Puente Hills near Turnbull Canyon, killing all 29 passengers on April 16, 1952. In the 1953 film adaptation of

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...

'', the Puente Hills was the location of an unsuccessful attempt to use a nuclear bomb against the Martian invaders. It was one of the sites for Nike anti-aircraft missiles in the 1950s till the late 1960s. In the scene from

Back to the Future ''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis, and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985, ...

(1985 film), Doc Brown introduces the iconic Delorean time machine in the parking lot of

. The October 1987 Whittier Narrows Earthquake revealed a previously unrecognized fault line under the Puente Hills Area. It was the location of one of the largest landfills in the U.S. before shutting down in 2013.The Atlantic. Touring the Largest Active Landfill in America. (April 5, 2013). https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/04/touring-the-largest-active-landfill-in-america/274731/

Nearby ranges

* Chino Hills *

San Rafael Hills The San Rafael Hills are a mountain range in Los Angeles County, California. They are one of the lower Transverse Ranges, and are parallel to and below the San Gabriel Mountains, adjacent to the San Gabriel Valley overlooking the Los Angeles Bas ...

San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains ( es, Sierra de San Gabriel) are a mountain range located in northern Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Tr ...

Santa Ana Mountains The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riverside co ...

Verdugo Mountains The Verdugo Mountains, also known as the Verdugo Hills or simply The Verdugos, are a small, rugged mountain range of the Transverse Ranges system in Los Angeles County, California. Located just south of the western San Gabriel Mountains, the Ver ...

Turnbull Canyon Turnbull Canyon is a 4 mile loop trail located near Whittier, California and is part of Puente Hills Preserve. It lies in the northern-central part of the preserve, and is an east-west canyon with relatively steep drainage. The canyon has a creek ...

References

External links

{{commons category, Puente Hills,
Puente Hills
Puente Hills Preserve Park Map

Puente Hills Preserve Park - activities and homepage

The Puente Hills Preserve: Puente - Chino Hills Wildlife Corridor

The Puente Hills Preserve: Trails Access info.

Puente Hills Landfill Native Habitat Preservation Authority

Puente Hills Nature Blog
''(archives)'' Hills of California Transverse Ranges Landforms of Los Angeles County, California