Placerita Canyon State Park

Placerita Canyon State Park
The restored Walker Cabin at Placerita Canyon State Park
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Location	Los Angeles County, California, USA
Coordinates	34°22′33″N 118°26′45″W / 34.37583°N 118.44583°W / 34.37583; -118.44583Coordinates: 34°22′33″N 118°26′45″W / 34.37583°N 118.44583°W / 34.37583; -118.44583
Established	1950
Governing body	California Department of Parks and Recreation

Placerita Canyon State Park is a California State Park in the San Gabriel Mountains, in an unincorporated rural area of Los Angeles County, north of Los Angeles near Santa Clarita, California.

1 Cultural History
2 Natural history
3 The Park
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Cultural History[edit]

The area of Placerita Canyon was at one time occupied by the Tataviam Native American people and was included in the 1842 Mexican land grant issued for Rancho San Francisco. The park preserves the site of the first documented discovery of gold in California where in 1842, Francisco Lopez found gold flakes on wild onion roots under the "Oak of the Golden Dream".^[1]

The park is near several movie ranches, all historic and active, including the Monogram Movie Ranch—Melody Ranch and the Disney—Golden Oak Ranch.^[2]^[3]^[4]

The "Oak of the Golden Dream" is California Historical Landmark #168.^[5]

Natural history[edit]

Located in the transition zone between the San Gabriel Mountains' California chaparral and woodlands Ecosystem, and the Mojave's Deserts and xeric shrublands Biome in the California Floristic Province, the Placerita Canyon Flora is complex. Placerita Canyon State Park is in the east-west trending Placerita Canyon on the Placerita Fault and contains sandstone and metamorphic formations, and seasonal streams. Chaparral, Riparian, and Coast Live Oak woodland plant communities are represented, including willows, cottonwoods and native California Sycamore trees.^[6]

The park is also notable for a seepage of 'white' oil - unknown anywhere else in the world. This late 19th century discovery of oil surprised the prospectors because it is naturally filtered so that it is not black but transparent. A small pool of it continues to be active by the trailside leading up from the Nature Center to the Walker Ranch.

The Park[edit]

Placerita Canyon State Park is located at 19152 Placerita Canyon Road, Newhall, California. The park, under the name Placerita Canyon Natural Area, is currently managed by the County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation.^[1] The Placerita Canyon Nature Center is the park's visitor center and museum. The park also contains the Walker Cabin (a restored and furnished 1920s cabin of the Walker family), and hiking and nature trails.^[1]^[7]

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c "Placerita Canyon State Park". Retrieved 31 May 2009.
^ [1] www.melodyranchstudio. 'Melody Ranch Studio Museum.' Retrieved 5/15/2010.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-06-08. Retrieved 2010-09-08. oxy.edu Monogram-Melody Ranch. Retrieved 5/15/2010
^ Leon Worden. "'Melody Ranch: Movie Magic in Placerita Canyon'". Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society. Retrieved 2003-03-29.
^ "Oak of the Golden Dream". California Department of Parks and Recreation. State of California. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
^ http://www.placerita.org/ www.placerita.org "Placerita Canyon Nature Center." Retrieved 5/11/2010.
^ "Placerita Canyon Natural Area and Nature Center". Retrieved 31 May 2009.

External links[edit]

Protected areas of California

National Park System

National Parks	Channel Islands Death Valley Joshua Tree Kings Canyon Lassen Volcanic Pinnacles Redwood Sequoia Yosemite
National Preserves	Mojave
National Monuments	Cabrillo Castle Mountains Cesar E. Chavez Devils Postpile Lava Beds Muir Woods World War II Valor in the Pacific
National Seashores	Point Reyes
National Historical Parks	Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front San Francisco Maritime
National Historic Sites	Eugene O'Neill Fort Point John Muir Manzanar
National Memorials	Port Chicago Naval Magazine
National Recreation Areas	Golden Gate Santa Monica Mountains Whiskeytown

State Parks

State Parks	Ahjumawi Lava Springs Andrew Molera Angel Island Annadel Año Nuevo Anza-Borrego Desert Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland Bidwell–Sacramento River Big Basin Redwoods Border Field Bothe-Napa Valley Burton Creek Butano Calaveras Big Trees Castle Crags Castle Rock Caswell Memorial China Camp Chino Hills Clear Lake Crystal Cove Cuyamaca Rancho D. L. Bliss Del Norte Coast Redwoods Donner Memorial Ed Z'berg Sugar Pine Point Emerald Bay The Forest of Nisene Marks Fort Ord Dunes Fremont Peak Garrapata Gaviota Great Valley Grasslands Grizzly Creek Redwoods Grover Hot Springs Hearst San Simeon Hendy Woods Henry Cowell Redwoods Henry W. Coe Humboldt Lagoons Humboldt Redwoods Jedediah Smith Redwoods Julia Pfeiffer Burns Leo Carrillo Limekiln MacKerricher Malibu Creek Manchester McArthur–Burney Falls Memorial McLaughlin Eastshore Mendocino Headlands Mendocino Woodlands Montaña de Oro Morro Bay Mount Diablo Mount San Jacinto Mount Tamalpais Navarro River Redwoods Pacheco Palomar Mountain Patrick's Point Pfeiffer Big Sur Placerita Canyon Plumas-Eureka Point Mugu Portola Redwoods Prairie Creek Redwoods Red Rock Canyon Richardson Grove Rio de Los Angeles Robert Louis Stevenson Russian Gulch Saddleback Butte Salt Point Samuel P. Taylor San Bruno Mountain Sinkyone Wilderness South Yuba River Sugarloaf Ridge Sutter Buttes Tolowa Dunes Tomales Bay Topanga Van Damme Washoe Meadows Wilder Ranch
State Natural Reserves	Antelope Valley California Poppy Armstrong Redwoods Azalea Caspar Headlands John B. Dewitt John Little Jug Handle Kruse Rhododendron Los Osos Oaks Mailliard Redwoods Mono Lake Tufa Montgomery Woods Point Lobos Smithe Redwoods Torrey Pines Tule Elk
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State Vehicular Recreation Areas	Carnegie Clay Pit Heber Dunes Hollister Hills Hungry Valley Oceano Dunes Ocotillo Wells Prairie City
Other	Burleigh H. Murray Ranch California State Mining and Mineral Museum California State Capitol Museum California State Railroad Museum Castro Adobe Delta Meadows Estero Bay Hatton Canyon Indio Hills Palms Point Cabrillo Light Station Point Lobos Ranch Point Montara Light Station Reynolds Wayside Campground San Timoteo Canyon Stone Lake Verdugo Mountains Ward Creek Wildwood Canyon

National Forests and Grasslands

National Forests and Grasslands	Angeles Butte Valley NG Cleveland Eldorado Humboldt-Toiyabe Inyo Klamath Lake Tahoe Basin Lassen Los Padres Mendocino Modoc Plumas Rogue River – Siskiyou San Bernardino Sequoia Shasta–Trinity Sierra Six Rivers Stanislaus Tahoe
National Wilderness Preservation System	Agua Tibia Ansel Adams Bucks Lake Caribou Carson-Iceberg Castle Crags Cucamonga Desolation Dick Smith Dinkey Lakes Emigrant Golden Trout Hoover Inyo Mountains Ishi Jennie Lakes John Muir Kaiser Marble Mountain Mokelumne Mount Shasta Wilderness North Fork Pine Creek San Gabriel Sanhedrin San Jacinto San Rafael Sespe Siskiyou Snow Mountain South Fork Eel River South Sierra South Warner Thousand Lakes Trinity Alps Ventana Yolla Bolly–Middle Eel Yuki
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State Forests
Boggs Mountain Demonstration Ellen Pickett Jackson Demonstration Las Posadas LaTour Demonstration Mount Zion Mountain Home Demonstration Soquel Demonstration

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Ecological Reserves	Albany Mudflats Alkali Sink Allensworth Atascadero Creek Marsh Bair Island Baldwin Lake Batiquitos Lagoon Blue Sky Boden Canyon Boggs Lake Bolsa Chica Bonny Doon Buena Vista Lagoon Butler Slough Butte Creek Canyon Butte Creek House Buttonwillow By Day Creek Calhoun Cut Canebrake Carlsbad Highlands Carmel Bay Carrizo Canyon Carrizo Plains China Point Clover Creek Coachella Valley Coal Canyon Corte Madera Marsh Crestridge Dairy Mart Ponds Dales Lake Del Mar Landing Eden Landing Elkhorn Slough Estelle Mountain Fall River Mills Fish Slough Fremont Valley Goleta Slough Indian Joe Spring Kaweah Kerman King Clone Laguna Laurel Loch Lomond Vernal Pool Lokern Magnesia Spring Marin Islands Mattole River McGinty Mountain Morro Dunes Morro Rock Napa River North Table Mountain Oasis Spring Panoche Hills Peytonia Slough Pine Hill Piute Creek Pleasant Valley Rancho Jamul Redwood Shores River Springs Lakes Saline Valley San Dieguito Lagoon San Elijo Lagoon San Felipe Creek San Joaquin River Santa Rosa Plateau Springville Stone Corral Sycamore Canyon Sycuan Peak Thomes Creek Tomales Bay Upper Newport Bay Watsonville Slough West Mojave Desert Woodbridge Yaudanchi
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Placerita Canyon State Park

Contents

Cultural History[edit]

Natural history[edit]

The Park[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

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