Sage Ranch Park facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sage Ranch Park
Sign at the entrance.
Type	Open-space park
Location	Simi Valley, CA
Area	635 acres (257 ha)
Created	1980
Operated by	Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy
Status	Open

Sage Ranch Park is a large, beautiful park covering about 625 acres (253 hectares). It sits high up, around 2,000 feet (610 meters), in the Simi Hills near Simi Valley. This park is special because it acts like a natural bridge, connecting the Simi Hills to the Santa Susana Mountains and Santa Monica Mountains. This connection is super important for local wildlife!

Long ago, the area where the park's campground is now was a cattle ranch. Later, it became a popular spot for filming Western movies. Today, Sage Ranch Park is famous for its amazing sandstone rock formations, especially on its western side, where you can find places like Sandstone Ridge and Turtle Rock. From the northern part of the park, you can see fantastic views of Simi Valley and the mountains around it. The park offers many things to explore, including cool rock formations, caves, hiking trails, and a camping area. It's also home to lots of native plants and animals.

Exploring Sage Ranch Park

Sage Ranch Park is a great place for outdoor adventures. You can enjoy many activities here, like running, mountain biking, and hiking. It's also perfect for watching wildlife, taking photos, and even rock climbing. If you love spending time outdoors, you can also go camping here.

Amazing Views

Because the park is so high up, you can see really far on clear days. Imagine looking out and seeing the Channel Islands, the Santa Monica Mountains, the huge Pacific Ocean, and even the distant San Gabriel Mountains! These views make Sage Ranch Park a truly special place to visit.

Getting to the Park

Sage Ranch Park is located in the eastern part of Ventura County, right on the edge of Simi Valley. The address is 1 Black Canyon Rd, Simi Valley, CA 93065. There are a few ways to get there, depending on where you are coming from.

• From Woodland Hills, Los Angeles: Take the Ventura Freeway (U.S. 101) to Valley Circle Boulevard. Drive north about six miles, then turn left onto Woolsey Canyon Road. Go 2.7 miles, and the park entrance will be on your left.
• From Chatsworth, Los Angeles: Take Highway 118 to Topanga Canyon Boulevard. Go south to Plummer, then turn right. Follow Plummer to the intersection with Box Canyon, then turn left into Valley Circle. Turn right onto Woolsey Canyon Road. The park entrance is about 200 yards north of the Woolsey Canyon and Black Canyon Road intersection.
• From Simi Valley: Take Kuehner south and turn right onto Katherine Road. After crossing the railroad tracks, turn right. At Black Canyon Road, turn left and follow the winding road uphill to Sage Ranch Park.

Plants and Animals

Sage Ranch Park is a lively home for many different plants and animals. The area is covered with coastal sage scrub, which is a type of plant community that loves dry, sunny places.

Diverse Plant Life

You'll find a wide variety of plants here, including:

• Chaparral
• Bush lupine
• Bright California poppies
• Tall sunflowers
• Delicate Cream Cups
• Bracken and sword ferns
• Spiky prickly pear cactus
• Eucalyptus trees
• Oak trees
• Shrubs like ceanothus and coffee berry
• California buckwheat
• Sycamore and Walnut Trees
• Even some orange and avocado trees!

Amazing Wildlife

The park is also a very important "wildlife corridor." This means it's a safe path for animals to travel between different mountain ranges. Because of this, you can spot many cool animals here, such as:

• Powerful mountain lions
• Quick bobcats
• Majestic eagles and vultures
• Wise owls
• Slithering rattle snakes and king snakes
• Clever coyotes
• Soaring hawks
• And shy grey foxes!

Simi Valley seen from the northernmost point in the park.

Sage Ranch Park in Movies

Did you know that Sage Ranch Park has a cool history with movies? The area where the park is now used to be called Dundas Ranch. Many Western movies were filmed here and in the nearby Burro Flats area. It was a popular spot for filmmakers because of its rugged, natural look.

Here are some of the movies that were filmed at or near Sage Ranch Park:

Panoramic view of Simi Valley from the Loop Trail. There are short paths from the northern part of the trail leading to great vista points overlooking Simi Valley.