Bell Canyon Park

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Bell Canyon Park is a large open-space regional park located in the Simi Hills at the western end of the San Fernando Valley in West Hills, Los Angeles and Bell Canyon, California. [1] Bell Creek, a primary tributary to the Los Angeles River, flows through the park with riparian zone vegetation along its natural banks. The geographic landmark Escorpión Peak (Castle Peak) is high above it to the south in adjacent El Escorpión Park.

Open space reserve green area planned in an urban location

An open space reserve is an area of protected or conserved land or water on which development is indefinitely set aside.

A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government.

Simi Hills mountain range in Southern California, United States

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.

Contents

Trails

Bell Canyon Park has trails along riparian Bell Creek and upstream beside the Bell Canyon community. [2] Trails have junctions to connect with El Escorpión Park [3] and Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve and their miles of trail networks. [4] A secondary route to the top of Escorpión Peak (Castle Peak) begins in the park also. The peak and both other parks are adjacent directly to the south of Bell Canyon Park. The trails are available for walking, hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, and equestrian riding.

Bell Creek (Southern California) river in the United States of America

Bell Creek is a 10-mile-long (16 km) tributary of the Los Angeles River, in the Simi Hills of Ventura County and the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County and City, in Southern California.

Bell Canyon, California Place in California, United States

Bell Canyon is an unincorporated community in eastern Ventura County, California, United States. Bell Canyon is a gated community in the Simi Hills with the main access through the City of Los Angeles community of West Hills and the western San Fernando Valley. Bell Canyon sits at an elevation of 1,368 feet (417 m). The 2010 United States census reported Bell Canyon's population was 2,049. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Bell Canyon as a census-designated place (CDP). The census definition of the area may not precisely correspond to local understanding of the area with the same name. According to a 2016 study, Bell Canyon is the seventh wealthiest community in the state of California with an annual median income of $230,000. However, incomes in this area are commonly upwards of millions of dollars a year.

El Escorpión Park

El Escorpión Park is a three-acre park located in the Simi Hills of the western San Fernando Valley, in the West Hills district of Los Angeles, California. The park contains the geographic landmark known as Escorpión Peak or Castle Peak, a 1,475-foot-tall rocky peak seen from most parts of the park and the surrounding community.

Access

Access to the park and parking is off Bell Canyon Boulevard (Bell Canyon Road) near the intersection with Overland Drive, west of Valley Circle Boulevard in West Hills, Los Angeles 91307 and in the lot in the community of Bell Canyon. The park is open from sunrise to sunset, 7 days a week. Rattlesnakes live in the area, requiring observant footfalls and handholds. Unauthorized motor vehicles and motorbikes are not permitted. The park's land, with public access via trails only, extends upstream past the 'guard-gated' road into the Bell Canyon community to junctions with other trails. [5] Bell Canyon Park is operated by the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks. [6]

West Hills, Los Angeles Neighborhood of Los Angeles in California, United States

West Hills is a residential and commercial neighborhood in the western San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. The percentage of residents aged 35 and older is among the highest in Los Angeles County.

Rattlesnake Group of venomous snakes of the genera Crotalus and Sistrurus

Rattlesnakes are a group of venomous snakes of the genera Crotalus and Sistrurus of the subfamily Crotalinae. The scientific name Crotalus is derived from the Greek κρόταλον, meaning "castanet". The name Sistrurus is the Latinized form of the Greek word for "tail rattler" and shares its root with the ancient Egyptian musical instrument the sistrum, a type of rattle. The 36 known species of rattlesnakes have between 65 and 70 subspecies, all native to the Americas, ranging from southern Alberta, Saskatchewan, and southern British Columbia in Canada to central Argentina.

Los Angeles City in California

Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L.A., is the most populous city in California; the second most populous city in the United States, after New York City; and the third-most populous city in North America, after Mexico City and New York City. With an estimated population of nearly four million people, Los Angeles is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. The city is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, Hollywood, the entertainment industry, and its sprawling metropolis.

History

Southwestern San Fernando Valley, from 1880 map of Los Angeles topography, showing Rancho El Escorpion. Rancho El Escorpion Hall Map 1880.png
Southwestern San Fernando Valley, from 1880 map of Los Angeles topography, showing Rancho El Escorpión.

The area was inhabited for around 8,000 years by Native Americans of the Chumash-Ventureño and Tongva-Fernandeño tribes that lived and traded in the Simi Hills and close to tributaries of the Los Angeles River. [7] A village, Hu'wam, of the Chumash-Ventureños, was located at the base of Escorpión Peak (Castle Peak) along present Bell Creek near the mouth of Bell Canyon. [8] It was a meeting and trading place for them with the Tongva-Fernandeño and Tataviam-Fernandeño indigenous people. [9]

Native Americans in the United States Indigenous peoples of the United States (except Hawaii)

Native Americans, also known as American Indians, Indigenous Americans and other terms, are the indigenous peoples of the United States, except Hawaii and territories of the United States. More than 570 federally recognized tribes live within the US, about half of which are associated with Indian reservations. The term "American Indian" excludes Native Hawaiians and some Alaskan Natives, while "Native Americans" are American Indians, plus Alaska Natives of all ethnicities. The US Census does not include Native Hawaiians or Chamorro, instead being included in the Census grouping of "Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander".

The Chumash are a Native American people who historically inhabited 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 Malibu in the south. They also occupied three of the Channel Islands: Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and San Miguel; the smaller island of Anacapa was likely inhabited seasonally due to the lack of a consistent water source.

Ventureño is a member of the extinct Chumashan languages, a group of Native American languages previously spoken by the Chumash people along the coastal areas of Southern California from as far north as San Luis Obispo to as far south as Malibu. Ventureño was spoken from as far north as present-day Ventura to as far south as present-day Malibu and the Simi Hills, California. Dialects probably also included Castac and Alliklik.

In 1798 the land became the property of the 'new' Spanish Mission San Fernando Rey de España (Mission San Fernando). In 1845 a Mexican land grant established Rancho El Escorpión here, one of the few granted to Native Americans. The former adobe rancho buildings were located within the current park (adobes existed 1840s-1960s). [10] [11] [12] The rancho was purchased by George Platt in 1912, becoming the Platt Ranch in 1912. [13] [14]

Mission San Fernando Rey de España church building in Los Angeles, United States of America

Mission San Fernando Rey de España is a Spanish mission in the Mission Hills district of Los Angeles, California. The mission was founded on September 8, 1797, and was the seventeenth of the twenty-one Spanish missions established in Alta California. Named for Saint Ferdinand, the mission is the namesake of the nearby city of San Fernando and the San Fernando Valley.

Rancho El Escorpión was a 1,110-acre (4.5 km2) Mexican land grant in present day Los Angeles County, California given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to three Chumash Native Americans - Odón Chijulla, Urbano, and Mañuel. The half league square shaped Rancho El Escorpión was located at the west end of the San Fernando Valley on Bell Creek against the Simi Hills, and encompassed parts of present day West Hills and Woodland Hills.

Adjacent parks

Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve

The Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve is a large open space nature preserve owned and operated by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy spanning nearly 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) in the Simi Hills of western Los Angeles County and eastern Ventura County.

See also

Related Research Articles

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Owensmouth

Owensmouth may refer to:

Big Sycamore Canyon

Big Sycamore Canyon, often shortened to Sycamore Canyon, is a major feature of Point Mugu State Park, in Ventura County, California, United States. Sycamore Canyon is situated in the northernmost region of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area below the 3,000 feet (910 m) peaks of the Boney Mountain State Wilderness Area. The canyon begins on the north slope of Boney Mountain and heads north down the slope. The canyon then heads southwest past Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa to Sycamore Cove on the coastline.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.recreationparks.net/CA/los-angeles/bell-canyon-park-los-angeles Archived 2016-07-29 at the Wayback Machine Bell Canyon Park Accessed 10/17/2009
  2. ↑ http://www.bellcanyon.com/BCtrailsmap.pdf Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine Bell Canyon Map Accessed 3/28/2010
  3. ↑ http://www.recreationparks.net/CA/los-angeles/el-escorpion-park-los-angeles Archived 2016-03-13 at the Wayback Machine El Escorpión Park Accessed 2/28/2010
  4. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2012-02-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Upper_Las_Virgenes_Cyn.-park Accessed 2/28/2010
  5. ↑ http://www.bellcanyon.com/BCtrailsmap.pdf Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine Bell Canyon Trails Map Accessed 3/28/2010
  6. ↑ Archived 2016-07-29 at the Wayback Machine Bell Canyon Park Accessed 2/28/2010
  7. ↑ USA Today article USA Today Accessed 5/22/2010
  8. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-03-14. Retrieved 2010-03-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) SSPSHP Ethnohistory Accessed 2/28/2010
  9. ↑ " "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-03-13. Retrieved 2010-03-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Ahmanson Ranch Becomes Private Preserve," [Wishtoyo Foundation website. Accessed 10/23/2007
  10. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Rancho El Escorpión
  11. ↑ Map of old Spanish and Mexican ranchos in Los Angeles County Accessed 4/29/2008
  12. ↑ CSUN: Rancho El Escorpión photos Accessed 4/29/2008
  13. ↑ http://www.co-hs.org/ April 2007 Bulletin-Canoga/Owensmouth Historical Society Accessed 2/28/2010
  14. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-03-14. Retrieved 2010-03-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) SSPSHP Ethnohistory. Accessed 2/28/2010

Coordinates: 34°12′05″N118°39′48″W / 34.20139°N 118.66333°W / 34.20139; -118.66333

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