On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether youâre traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
?BillinGlendaleCA
The park is an old ranch with interesting rock formations west of the San Fernando Valley and south of Simi Valley. At its western boundary is the Santa Susana Field Laboratory where they tested rocket engines(south section) and nuclear research(north section). One of the main reasons for visiting the park were the views of the lab, the park does have some vistas towards the north part of the lab, but the southern part of the lab, where the rocket tests were conducted, were blocked by a ridge.
I ended up getting lost getting to the park and ended up driving over Box Canyon and past the remains of Spahn Ranch where the Manson Family hung out while murdering folk(it’s across from a church now), and had to double back before I arrived at the parking lot. It’s a short hike up the hill to the ranch and the loop trail that passes by most of the rock formations and some really nice views of Simi Valley as well as the interior of the northern portion of the lab. After leaving Sage Ranch, I headed down to Chatsworth to the office of the successor company of Rocketdyne where they have one of the F-1(first stage of the Saturn-V) rocket engines out in front.
Farm equipment from the old ranch days.
View to Simi Valley.
Turtle Rock.
One of the many unique rock formations.
Sage Ranch is west of the San Fernando Valley and south of Simi Valley. It adjoins the old North American Rockwell Santa Susana Field Laboratory.
Do Not Go Here, we really mean it.
Building in the north end of the Lab in the distance.
F-1 rocket engine used on the first stage of the Saturn-V rocket.
Benw
Turtle Rock is cool.
MomSense
So cool. I love seeing the old farm equipment and the rock formations.
Wag
Nice rocket engine.
Downpuppy
My grandfather had an old hay rake like in the top picture. He’d pull it way too fast with a tractor while I sat in the seat in the middle hitting the pedal that made the teeth jump up & dump the hay into lines. The thing wasn’t in great shape & one of the teeth came loose & tore a major rip in my shirt.
He didn’t slow down.
CaseyL
I wonder how many old ranches, like that one, became TV and movie sets back in the 1950s and 60s, during the country’s then-inexhaustible appetite for Westerns. It’s fascinating to me, since some of them still operated as ranches at the same time, or at least as residences.
Such a collision of the real and the staged.
HinTN
@Downpuppy: That would be a really bumpy ride on that field in Bill’s photograph, which is very nicely done BillinG.
SkyBluePink
Love the rocks!
Glad to see the donate button on your site, Bill-chipped in a little-
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Benw: My next trip out there I’m going to try to get some better angles for shots.
@MomSense: I really wish it was in a less light polluted area, it would make for a compelling foreground for some Milky Way shots.
@Wag: I used to drive by it when it was in front of the old Rocketdyne plant behind the Topanga Plaza shopping mall and was unsure when they tore that down what had happened to it. It was nice to see they just moved it.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Downpuppy: Sounds like you were lucky just to get a rip in your shirt.
@CaseyL:
Around LA, it was pretty common, then they became housing developments.
@HinTN: Thanks, it’s pretty rocky there.
@SkyBluePink: The northern area west of the Valley is pretty rocky and then it suddenly changes to rolling hills dotted with Oak(a future OTR). Good to see the “Donate” button works and thank you very much.
Bill Dunlap
Wish you had a shot of Spahn Ranch. Like to see if Tarantino got it right.
suilebhan
Thanks a million for these and your previous photos of Santa Susana. I grew up in Woodland Hills and remember enjoying the distant roar when rocket engines were being tested. Btw, my mother worked at Rocketdyne in Canoga Park for decades. I well remember that F-1 engine in the east front of the campus. I’m glad it’s found another home.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Bill Dunlap: I just drove by it and I wasn’t sure where it actually was until I was driving by it. I’ll make a stop next time.
@suilebhan: Ah, someone else who remembers the testing! I had a few neighbors dads who worked at Rocketdyne. The Rocketdyne division was eventually bought by AeroJet and that’s where the engine ended up. It’s a few miles north of it’s old location near Topanga Plaza.