Rocky Peak, located in Rocky Peak Park, is the fourth-highest point in 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 ...

, and overlooks 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 ...

and Chatsworth, 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 aro ...

, and the

Simi Valley Simi Valley (; Chumash: ''Shimiyi'') is a city in the valley of the same name in the southeast region of Ventura County, California, United States. Simi Valley is from Downtown Los Angeles, making it part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. The ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

. The peak, which is in elevation, sits on the

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, ...

–

Ventura County Ventura County () is a County (United States), county in Southern California, the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, California ...

line.

Geography

Rocky Peak also marks the point where the county line changes direction from true north to a more northwesterly direction. A large railroad spike driven into the rocks mark this exact spot on the county line. Rocky Peak, which gets its name from the many large craggy

boulders In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

that dot its surface, can be viewed from several locations along Topanga Canyon Blvd., and from California State Route 118, also known as the Ronald Reagan Freeway. The nearest neighbor is Oat Mountain, the highest mountain in the

range, which lies east of Rocky Peak.

History

The area was part of the homeland and trading crossroads of the Tataviam,

Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . Some descendants of the people prefer Kizh as an endonym that, they argue, is more historically ...

, and

Chumash people The Chumash are a Native American people of the central and southern coastal regions of California, in portions of what is now San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, extending from Morro Bay in the north to Mali ...

for eight thousand years. The Chumash Burro Flats Painted Cave is just to the west in the

on the

Santa Susana Field Laboratory The Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL), formerly known as Rocketdyne, is a complex of industrial research and development facilities located on a portion of Southern California in an unincorporated area of Ventura County in the Simi Hills betw ...

property. Historic

Santa Susana Pass The Santa Susana Pass, originally Simi Pass, is a low mountain pass in the Simi Hills of Southern California, connecting the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles neighborhood of Chatsworth, to the city of Simi Valley and eponymous valley. It h ...

is at the foot of the mountain, with the Old Santa Susana Stage Road located in the Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park nearby. Rocky Peak has been prominently featured in many classic

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

films, being next to three major

Movie ranch A movie ranch is a ranch that is at least partially dedicated for use as a set in the creation and production of motion pictures and television shows. These were developed in the United States in southern California, because of the climate. The ...

es; the Iverson, Spahn, and

Corriganville __NOTOC__ Corriganville Movie Ranch was a working film studio and movie ranch for outdoor location shooting, as well as a Western-themed tourist attraction. The ranch, owned by actor and stuntman Ray "Crash" Corrigan, was located in the foothi ...

Ranches; and its evocative 'Old-West

Frontier A frontier is the political and geographical area near or beyond a boundary. A frontier can also be referred to as a "front". The term came from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"—the region of a country that fronts ...

' landscape scenery.

Rocky Peak Park

Rocky Peak Park is located about northwest of the peak includes the Runkle Ranch, formerly owned by entertainer

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with ...

. The park reaches five miles (8 km) northward from Simi Freeway to

Las Llajas Canyon Las Llajas (pronounced YAH huhs) Canyon within the Marr Ranch Parkland contains the 1920s residential subdivision called Marrland and the surrounding open space area administrated by the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District (RSRPD) and is l ...

. a regional

open space preserve An open space reserve (also called open space preserve, open space reservation, and green space) is an area of protected or conserved land or water on which development is indefinitely set aside. The purpose of an open space reserve may include ...

, includes the Rocky Peak Park forms the most critical wildlife habitat linkage between the Santa Susana Mountains and the Simi Hills and on to the

. The highest elevation in the park is 2' higher than Rocky Peak, at 2717'. There are miles of trails, including the Rim of the Valley Trail Corridor, in Rocky Peak Park with panoramic views that are popular for

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 ...

, and equestrian rides. They connect with other preserves to the northeast in the Santa Susanas.

Sage Ranch Park Sage Ranch Park is a and wildlife corridor located at a height in the northwestern Simi Hills on the northwestern plateau of the Simi Valley, bordering Los Angeles County and its San Fernando Valley.Stone, Robert (1998). ''Day Hikes in Ventur ...

is to the west with trails and camping. The Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park and trail system is just to the south across the highway.

References

External links

* '
Official Rocky Peak Park website
''
Official Sage Ranch Park website
* {{cite gnis , id=248314 , name=Rocky Peak Santa Susana Mountains Regional parks in California Parks in the San Fernando Valley Parks in Ventura County, California Mountains of Ventura County, California Mountains of Southern California Mountains of Los Angeles County, California

Geography

History

Rocky Peak Park

See also

References

External links