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46-656: The Newhall Pass separates the Santa Susana Mountains from the San Gabriel Mountains to the east. Newhall Pass is the major north-south connection between the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys, and Interstate 5 and a railroad line share Newhall Pass. The Santa Susana Pass (containing SR 118 ) connects the Simi and San Fernando valleys, and separates the Santa Susana Mountains from

92-470: A Los Angeles businessman, Henry Clay Wiley, installed a windlass atop the Fremont Pass to speed and ease the ascent and descent of the steep Santa Clara Divide. He also built a tavern, hotel and stable nearby. In 1854, Wiley sold out to Sanford and Cyrus Lyon and it began to be called Lyons Station . At the same time, Phineas Banning obtained the business of supplying Fort Tejon . The steep pass

138-425: A stagecoach that operated mail between St. Louis, Missouri, and San Francisco, began using it directly. In 1861, a landowner and surveyor named Edward Beale was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln as the federal Surveyor General of California and Nevada. Beale challenged General Pico's loyalty to the new president and in 1863, Beale was awarded the right to collect the toll in the pass. Beale maintained rights to

184-630: Is a low mountain pass in Los Angeles County, California . Historically called Fremont Pass and San Fernando Pass , with Beale's Cut , it separates the Santa Susana Mountains from the San Gabriel Mountains . Although the pass was visited in August 1769 by Catalan explorer Gaspar de Portolá , it eventually was named for Henry Newhall , a significant businessman in the area during the 19th century. Newhall Pass links

230-527: Is at the mountains' eastern end, and several canyons in the northwest corner of the range have been proposed for more landfills . The Santa Susana Mountains are paralleled by State Route 118 to the south and State Route 126 to the north. The mountains have a mild climate, with warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters (Mediterranean climate type). Snow falls in winter in some higher areas, such as Oat Mountain , but melts quickly. Annual precipitation totals vary between 18 and 25 inches, depending on exposure to

276-399: Is filmed jumping over the pass, although it has been widely debated among film historians whether Mix himself made the jump, with any of a number of stuntmen claiming credit for it while some experts believe the jump was achieved purely through special effects. John Ford used the location in at least four films over a twenty-year period beginning as early as 1917. Still in existence today, it

322-539: Is no longer passable by automobiles. It suffered a partial collapse during the Northridge Earthquake, on January 17, 1994, and now is about 30 feet (9.1 m) deep. It is visible from the Sierra Highway about one mile north from the intersection of The Old Road and Sierra Highway, just after the first bridge under SR 14. It lies between Sierra Highway and the new freeway, about a quarter mile to

368-464: Is not uncommon to see red-shouldered hawks flying from limb to limb. Through the cover of dense, trailside chaparral you might glimpse the California towhee or the colorful spotted towhee , birds who often make their presence known by rustling up leaf litter on the ground. California quail , greater roadrunner , and common raven are also residents of the range. The eerie and enchanting call of

414-673: Is now Newhall Pass, and he also sold them a portion of the land, upon which the company built a town they named after him: Newhall . The first station built on the line he named for his hometown, Saugus. After his death in 1882 his family incorporated the Newhall Land and Farming Company . Newhall Pass remains a main traffic route, as the Newhall Pass interchange of Interstate 5 ( Golden State Freeway ) and State Route 14 ( Antelope Valley Freeway ), as well as Sierra Highway, Foothill Boulevard , and San Fernando Road travel through

460-536: Is susceptible to heavy flooding during La Niña and El Niño events. Wildfires have also occasionally closed down the pass and California State Route 14 . Newhall Pass was initially named 'Fremont Pass' for General John C. Frémont , who was thought to have passed through it in 1847 on his way to sign the Treaty of Cahuenga , but he actually went slightly east of the pass on the El Camino Viejo . In 1853,

506-785: The Los Angeles Times , controversy ensued when the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy voted in April 2014 to drop its opposition to the large Dave Evans subdivision development proposal for Malibu, in exchange for $ 1 million in donations and consulting work. The singer Dave Evans, a.k.a. " The Edge ", with the Irish rock band U2 , has proposed a compound of five mansions on a coast−facing Santa Monica Mountains ridge, above Serra Canyon on Sweetwater Mesa Road. Malibu residents and environmentalists have opposed

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552-691: The San Fernando Valley to the Santa Clarita Valley and is a main entry to the Greater Los Angeles area . The pass is known for the massive Newhall Pass interchange and the historic San Fernando Tunnel. Weather conditions in the pass can vary from triple-digit heat in the summer to rare below freezing temperatures in winter. Snow is possible from December to February, but is quite uncommon; when it does occur, it can lead to heavy traffic and accidents. The pass also

598-800: The Simi Hills to the south. Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park is located in the Simi Hills, just south of the Santa Susana Pass, at the northwestern edge of the San Fernando Valley. The Santa Susana Mountains are not as steep or high as the San Gabriel Mountains. The western half of the range lies in Ventura County , and the eastern half lies in Los Angeles County . The southeastern slopes of

644-787: The Southern Pacific Transportation Company ) go through the Tejon pass via the San Fernando Tunnel. Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy is an agency of the state of California in the United States founded in 1980 and dedicated to the acquisition of land for preservation as open space , for wildlife and California native plants habitat Nature Preserves , and for public recreation activities. The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy

690-561: The common poorwill can often be heard after dark while quick eyes might observe the silent flight of great horned owls and phantom-like barn owls . A handful of fascinating amphibians live in the area. Streams and creeks support populations of Pacific tree frog , the small amphibian whose signature chorus adds an aura of mystery and inexplicable beauty to the surrounding land. Western toads often make their appearance at nightfall, emerging from burrows in search of water and insects, while California slender salamanders are often found under

736-628: The 155,000-acre (63,000 ha) Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area , created by the United States Congress in 1978, as well as 40,000 acres (16,000 ha) of state parks, including Topanga State Park , and parks within Los Angeles' city limits including the Marvin Braude Mulholland Gateway Park above Tarzana . The Conservancy was responsible for the 1990s acquisition of

782-632: The 1920s. The completed redesign project is the first visitor center in a zero-energy building in the National Park Service, and is LEED certified . It is named for Anthony C. Beilenson , the former congressman who authored legislation in 1978 to establish the SMMNRA. The center is operated by the four partner agencies in the park: the National Park Service, California State Parks, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, and Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA). As reported in

828-736: The Ahmanson Ranch land adjacent to the east. Late in 2003, the Conservancy secured state funds to purchase Ahmanson Ranch as well, creating the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve , a huge green belt on the western edge of West Hills and Woodland Hills . The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy also acquired the Peter Strauss Ranch from the entertainer Peter Strauss in the central Santa Monica Mountains, which

874-526: The Conservancy has acquired over 155,000 acres (63,000 ha) and identified another 15,000 acres (6,100 ha) within its zone as crucial for preservation. In addition to buying land outright, the Conservancy operates through public-private partnerships to promote low-density use among private land-owners. The conservancy also acquires rights to land through "time-leasing", receives land through donations and acquisition of foreclosures, and as mitigation for development projects. The Conservancy zone includes

920-722: The Jordan Ranch lands in the western Simi Hills near Thousand Oaks from entertainer Bob Hope , creating the Cheeseboro and Palo Commado Canyons Park section of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA). The ranch was purchased by a developer and turned over the National Park Service as part of a land development deal, which then allowed their development of new housing and golf courses on

966-482: The Santa Clarita Woodlands Park and other large open space preserves. The mountains are part of the California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion . The oaks , ( Quercus spp. ), include the evergreen coast live oak ( Quercus agrifolia ), the deciduous valley oak ( Quercus lobata ), and the coastal scrub oak ( Quercus dumosa ) all can be found in the area. Spring wildflowers include

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1012-508: The Santa Susana Mountains are part of the City of Los Angeles , and housing subdivisions, including Porter Ranch , have been built on the lower slopes of the range. The city of Simi Valley lies to the southwest. North of the range is the fast-growing city of Santa Clarita , and several large subdivisions in unincorporated Los Angeles County, including Lyons Ranch and Newhall Ranch , have been approved for development. The Sunshine Canyon Landfill

1058-841: The Santa Susana Mountains through the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority. The City of Los Angeles maintains O'Melveny Park at the eastern end of the mountains. Note: the Santa Susana Field Laboratory , once operated by and still owned by Rocketdyne until toxics are cleaned up, is actually in the Simi Hills , which are adjacent to the south of the Santa Susana Mountains. The south-facing slopes are mostly covered in Chaparral shrubland , grasslands , and oak savanna. The north-facing slopes are home to magnificent oak woodlands and conifer (fir) woodlands, some of which have been protected in

1104-628: The Southern California coastal wildlife corridor the connects Los Padres National Forest with the Santa Monica Mountains. The Rim of the Valley Trail is a plan in progress for connecting the parkland and recreational areas of the San Fernando, Simi, and La Crescenta Valleys via the Santa Susana Mountains. Rocky Peak Park and O'Melveny Park have trail sections already. Newhall Pass Newhall Pass

1150-470: The basis of the city of Santa Clarita . Newhall came to California from Saugus, Massachusetts during the California Gold Rush in 1850. Over time he purchased a number of properties in the state, the most significant being the 46,460-acre (188 km ) Rancho San Francisco in northern Los Angeles County. Within this territory, he granted a right-of-way to Southern Pacific through what

1196-559: The conservancy can acquire land is bounded on the south by the Pacific Coast Highway from Santa Monica to Point Mugu . The zone extends inland roughly 50 miles (80 km) from Malibu north to Newhall Pass and 65 miles (105 km) from Thousand Oaks east to Pasadena . Several major freeways in Los Angeles cross the zone, including the Hollywood , Ventura , San Diego and Interstate 5 . Since its founding,

1242-533: The cool leaf litter and canopy of oak woodlands. Many reptiles thrive in the Santa Susana range. Lizards that are likely to be observed on any given day include the common western fence lizard and the equally abundant side-blotched lizard . Somewhat less frequently observed but still present are the southern alligator lizard , western skink , whiptail , and the seemingly rare coast horned lizard . Southern Pacific rattlesnakes and gopher snakes are perhaps

1288-570: The cut for the next twenty years and so it became known as "Beale's Cut." Beale's Cut was eventually deepened to 90 feet (27.4 m). It lasted as a transportation passage in the neighborhood of present-day Newhall Pass until construction of the Newhall Tunnel was completed in 1910. Beale's Cut appeared in many silent western movies. The location became a favorite of movie producers like John Ford and D. W. Griffith . In Ford's 1923 film Three Jumps Ahead , American cowboy star Tom Mix

1334-859: The larger operators including Vintage Production , Freeport McMoRan , and the Southern California Gas Company . The largest of SoCalGas's four underground storage natural gas facilities is within the Aliso Canyon Oil Field north of Porter Ranch . The mountains are within the acquisition area for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy , which operates several parks, including Santa Clarita Woodlands Park , Rocky Peak Park , Joughin Open Space Preserve , Happy Camp Canyon Regional Park , and other Santa Susana parks in

1380-546: The line separating Ventura and Los Angeles counties and is indicated by a battered marker embedded into the sandstone boulder summit. The first discovery of oil in California was in Pico Canyon, on the north side of the mountains, The California Star Oil Works, later Chevron , succeeded with Pico Well No. 4 . It became famous not only as the first well in California, but also as the longest-producing well in

1426-436: The most commonly observed snakes, but a lucky hiker might also encounter other species including the striped racer, California kingsnake , and ring-necked snake . Mammals that may be regularly observed in the mountains include smaller animals such as the California ground squirrel and brush rabbit . Small mammals that are less often seen include the dusky-footed woodrat and the agile kangaroo rat . As for larger mammals,

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1472-521: The northeast of a stone marker. Beale's Cut is difficult to find today because it is fenced off and not close enough to the Sierra Highway to be easily seen. In 1910, the 435 ft (133 m) Newhall Auto Tunnel was built by Los Angeles County a quarter-mile northwest of Beale's Cut. However, two-way traffic through the tunnel was slow because it was only 17.5 ft (5.3 m) wide. The California Division of Highways decided to replace

1518-522: The pass. The 6,940-foot-long San Fernando railroad tunnel (2,115.3 m) was begun in March 1875 and took a year and a half to complete. Over 1,500 mostly Chinese laborers took part in its construction, which began at the south end of the mountain. Many of them had prior experience working on Southern Pacific's tunnels in the Tehachapi Pass . Due to the sandstone composition of the mountain that

1564-437: The project as excessive development and viewshed destruction, and have called into question the ethics of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy regarding the proposal. The California Coastal Commission postponed its October 2014 vote on the project until 2015. Joe Edmiston, the conservancy's executive director, said his group had been wrong to agree to those terms to drop its opposition. The California Supreme Court rejected

1610-508: The rain-bearing winds. Most of the rain falls between November and March. Because of the summer drought, wildfires sometimes occur in summer and fall before the rains start, especially during hot, dry "Santa Ana" wind events (mostly between late September to mid November). The highest peaks in the range are Oat Mountain (1,142 m; 3,747 feet), Mission Point (845 m; 2,771 feet), Rocky Peak (827 m; 2,714 feet), and Sand Rock Peak (765 m; 2,511 feet). The summit of Rocky Peak lies directly atop

1656-444: The redbush monkey flower, Mariposa lily , and canyon sunflower. Poison oak is also an important member of the native plant habitat community. Various ferns are found in moister and tree-shaded areas. Many bird species thrive in the Santa Susana Mountains. Perhaps the most common raptors observed soaring over the brushy, boulder-strewn landscape are turkey vultures , red-tailed hawks , and American kestrels . In oak woodlands it

1702-487: The shoulders. Track was laid in place during the tunnel dig and was used to remove dirt and rock by horse-pulled cars. The first train passed through the tunnel on August 12, 1876. On September 4 Charles Crocker notified Southern Pacific that the track had been completed on the route between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Metrolink's Antelope Valley Line and the Union Pacific Railroad (formerly

1748-486: The tunnel excavation commenced in June 1875. Water was a constant problem during construction and pumps were utilized to keep the tunnel from flooding. Workers digging from both the north and south ends of the tunnel came face to face on July 14, 1876. The bores from each end were only a half inch out of line with dimensions of 22 feet (6.7 m) high, 16.5 feet (5.0 m) wide at the bottom and over 18 feet (5.5 m) at

1794-402: The tunnel. In July 1938, work started to remove the rock above the tunnel to create a four-lane highway. The road was first known as Highway 6, then Highway 14, and finally the present-day Sierra Highway. The cut for the tunnel is located to the west of today's Highway 14, and east of Gates King Open Space. The pass is named after the local businessman Henry Newhall , whose land holdings formed

1840-427: The well-trained eye might spot California mule deer or a coyote . Larger mammals that are considerably more secretive and therefore less often encountered include the gray fox , bobcat , ring-tailed cat , American badger , and the mountain lion . A population of American black bears occupy various niches in the backcountry; showing up in communities below the mountains every few years. The mountains are part of

1886-665: The world, having been capped in September, 1990 after 114 years. Well No. 4 has the distinction of being the first site in Los Angeles County to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places , in 1966. The surrounding town, Mentryville , is maintained as the oil "ghost town" Mentryville Historical Park, within Pico Canyon Park . Many active oil and gas fields remain in the area, with some of

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1932-567: Was also turned over to the National Park Service and opened to the public in the SMMNRA. The Conservancy is one of the four agencies sharing operation of the Santa Monica Mountains Anthony C. Beilenson Interagency Visitor Center, located at the former King Gillette Ranch stables. It is located at 26876 Mulholland Highway , at the junction with Las Virgenes/Malibu Canyon Road near Calabasas . The stables and Gillette mansion were originally designed by Wallace Neff in

1978-589: Was established by the California State Legislature in 1980. Since that time, it has helped to preserve over 72,000 acres of parkland in both wilderness and urban settings, and improved more than 114 public recreational facilities throughout Southern California. Additionally, it has given grants to nonprofit organizations for educational and interpretation programs that have served hundreds of thousands of children and other park visitors. The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy territory originally

2024-546: Was made easier to cross when a deep slot-like road was cut through the "San Fernando Mountain" by Charles H. Brindley, Andrés Pico , and James R. Vineyard . In return for helping tame the most daunting obstacle along the Fort Tejon Road, the main inland route from Los Angeles to the north, the State of California awarded them a twenty-year contract to maintain the turnpike and collect tolls. Butterfield Overland Mail ,

2070-418: Was saturated with water and oil, frequent cave-ins occurred and the bore had to be constantly shored up by timbers during excavation. The initial location for the north end of the tunnel was near Lyons Station Stagecoach Stop , which was abandoned due to frequent cave-ins caused by oil-soaked rock. The north end was moved a little further west towards the present town of Newhall, California . The north end of

2116-422: Was within the Santa Susana Mountains and Santa Monica Mountains , and the Simi Hills ; areas located north and west of metropolitan Los Angeles in Ventura County and Los Angeles County . Since then its territory has been extended to the east to include parks in the San Gabriel Mountains , Verdugo Mountains , San Rafael Hills , and Puente Hills . The 450,000- acre (180,000  ha ) "zone" in which

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