Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park (SHP) and former Spahn Movie Ranch
United States / Chatsworth, California
Location ID: #7750
This historic park, located in Los Angeles County where the Simi Hills meet the Santa Susana Mountains, is rich in natural, historical and cultural significance. Here in the western part of the Transverse Ranges, the land is dominated by high, narrow ridges and deep canyons covered with an abundant variety of plant life. The park offers panoramic views of the rugged natural landscape as a striking contrast to the developed communities nearby.
The diverse terrain of ridges, canyons and rock outcrops houses several varieties of habitats within the park's environs. There are two seasonally intermittent streams whose flows-at times significant enough to produce waterfalls-depend on the rainfall. The presence or absence of springs and streams at different times of the year has a profound effect on the local vegetation. The landscape of this park consists of sandstone ramparts-relics of mountain-building forces exerted nearly five million years ago. These memorable formations have been used as the background for several western films.
The Spahn Ranch - The park’s sandstone bedrock gives a wide-open “badlands” look, used as the background for many western films and television programs. The 500-acre Spahn Ranch, located within the park’s northern boundary, was one of several “movie ranches” in the area. Between the late 1940s and the late 1960s, dozens of films and television shows, including The Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers, and Bonanza episodes, were filmed here. In 1970, a wildfire destroyed all of the buildings associated with the former Spahn movie ranch.
Location Category:
- CITIES, TOWNS & PUBLIC SPACES - *;
- CITIES, TOWNS & PUBLIC SPACES - Cityscapes / Aerial Views;
- NATURAL LANDSCAPES / PARKS - *;
- NATURAL LANDSCAPES / PARKS - Mountains / Rocks / Geological Oddities;
- NATURAL LANDSCAPES / PARKS - State Parks;
- STUDIO FACILITIES - *;
- STUDIO FACILITIES - Movie Ranches