The Santa Clara River Valley is a rural, mainly agricultural,
valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...
in
Ventura County, California
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 Oxn ...
that has been given the moniker Heritage Valley by the namesake tourism bureau. The valley includes the communities of
Santa Paula
Santa Paula ( Spanish for " St. Paula") is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. Situated amid the orchards of the Santa Clara River Valley, the city advertises itself to tourists as the "Citrus Capital of the World". Santa P ...
,
Fillmore,
Piru and the
national historic landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...
of
Rancho Camulos. Named for the
Santa Clara River, which winds through the valley before emptying into the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...
between the cities of
Ventura and
Oxnard, the tourist bureau describes it as ".... Southern California's last pristine agricultural valley nestled along the banks of the free-flowing Santa Clara River."
Geography
The Santa Clara River Valley is bordered by 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 ...
,
Los Padres National Forest
Los Padres National Forest is a United States national forest in southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast from Ventura to Mo ...
, and
Sespe Condor Sanctuary
The Sespe Condor Sanctuary is a wildlife refuge in the Topatopa Mountains, in northeastern Ventura County, California. It is within the Sespe Wilderness in the southern Los Padres National Forest.
History
The United States Forest Service estab ...
to the north and the
Santa Susana Mountains
The Santa Susana Mountains are a transverse range of mountains in Southern California, north of the city of Los Angeles, in the United States. The range runs east-west, separating the San Fernando and Simi valleys on its south from the Santa C ...
to the south. The valley stretches from the boundary of northwest
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...
and the northern
Santa Clarita Valley
The Santa Clarita Valley (SCV) is part of the upper watershed of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. The valley was part of the Rancho San Francisco Mexican land grant. Located in Los Angeles County, its main population center is th ...
on the east to the
Oxnard Plain
The Oxnard Plain is a large coastal plain in southwest Ventura County, California, United States surrounded by the mountains of the Transverse ranges. The cities of Oxnard, Camarillo, Port Hueneme and much of Ventura as well as the unincorpo ...
on the west marked by South Mountain on the south bank of the river. The Santa Clarita Valley is part of the upper watershed of the river.
Climate
The valley has been called one of the "most dangerous wind and fire corridors in Southern California." It forms a connection between the high desert and the coast, which serves as a
"wind-tunnel-like-corridor" for funneling
Santa Ana winds
The Santa Ana winds (sometimes devil winds) "Scholars who have looked into the name's origins generally agree that it derives from Santa Ana Canyon, the portal where the Santa Ana River -- as well as a congested Riverside (CA-91) Freeway -- leav ...
, which spread wildfires. This served to spread the
Maria Fire
The Maria Fire was a wildfire that burned the south of the community of Santa Paula in the area of Somis, California on the top of South Mountain in Ventura County. The fire ignited in the evening hours of Thursday, October 31, 2019 and consumed ...
, one of the
2019 California wildfires
The 2019 California wildfire season was a series of wildfires that burned across the U.S. state of California as part of the 2019 wildfire season. By the end of the year, according to Cal Fire and the US Forest Service, 7,860 fires were recor ...
. This valley has also suffered through the
Saddleridge Fire
The Saddleridge Fire was a wildfire burning near the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County, California. It broke out roughly around 9:02 pm on Thursday October 10, 2019. It is still undetermined as to how it had started, but believed t ...
in 2019, the
Creek Fire and the
Thomas Fire
The Thomas Fire was a massive wildfire that affected Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, and one of multiple wildfires that ignited in southern California in December 2017. It burned approximately before being fully contained on January ...
in 2017, and the
Sayre Fire
The Sayre Fire, also known as the Sylmar Fire, was a November 2008 wildfire that resulted in the loss of 489 residences in Los Angeles, California, United States, the "worst loss of homes due to fire" in the city's history. The fire was first r ...
in 2008.
Floods
Further information:
Great Flood of 1862
The Great Flood of 1862 was the largest flood in the recorded history of Oregon, Nevada, and California, occurring from December 1861 to January 1862. It was preceded by weeks of continuous rains and snows in the very high elevations that began in ...
The failure and near complete collapse of the
St. Francis Dam took place in the middle of the night on March 12, 1928. The dam was holding a full reservoir of 12.4 billion gallons (47 billion liters) of water that surged down San Francisquito Canyon and emptied into the Santa Clara River, flowing down the river valley to the ocean.
History
A footpath through the valley was the only route linking the
San Fernando and
San Buenaventura missions for 18th-century Spanish missionaries.
Thomas Bard launched a campaign in the 1870s to build a road through the valley as he wanted to connect the new
Hueneme wharf with ore mines in
Inyo County
Inyo County () is a county in the eastern central part of the U.S. state of California, located between the Sierra Nevada and the state of Nevada. In the 2020 census, the population was 19,016. The county seat is Independence. Inyo County ...
[Lima, Christina (February 18, 1996]
"Collision Course : Scenic but Dangerous California 126 Throws Drivers a Curve"
''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...
''
The valley is an exception to the
post-war urban development that has almost entirely eliminated citrus cultivation throughout most of Southern California.
Transportation
*
Route 126 - the main E-W highway serving the valley.
*
Route 150 - a minor E-W highway connecting
Ojai to the valley.
*
Route 23 - a minor N-S highway connecting Fillmore to the
Conejo Valley
The Conejo Valley is a region spanning both southeastern Ventura County and northwestern Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States. It is located in the northwestern part of the Greater Los Angeles Area.
Communities in the Conejo ...
.
References
External links
USGS.gov: The Santa Clara River ValleySanta Clara River Watershed Committee (SCRWC) website
Valleys of Ventura County, California
Santa Clara River (California)
River valleys of the United States
Santa Paula, California
Valleys of California
{{VenturaCountyCA-geo-stub