Читать книгу 101 Hikes in Southern California. Exploring Mountains, Seashore, and Desert онлайн

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Lupine on Middle Range Fire Trail

Oil-bearing shales predominate in this region, evidenced by various oil wells and dirt roads built to access them scattered across the surrounding hillsides. On your ramble through the lower and middle parts of the canyon, keep an eye out for bright red stones, sometimes exhibiting a glassy texture, some right under your feet and others visible in outcrops. These rocks were formed by the slow combustion of organic material trapped in layers of shale.

Happy Camp Canyon itself remains quite pristine. Several groups of Chumash Indians called this place home in past centuries; later it became a part of an immense cattle ranch founded by a pioneer Simi Valley family. Purchased as a future state park in the late 1960s, it was traded to Ventura County for use as a regional park. Today, save for a few dirt roads and a smattering of artifacts from the days of cattle ranching, the 3,000-acre canyon park serves as prime natural habitat for native plants and animals and a restful retreat for hikers seeking to escape from the sights and sounds of city and suburban life. Beware that you may still run into cattle in the canyon. The October 2003 Simi Fire consumed most of the canyon’s hillside sage-scrub and chaparral vegetation, and the scorched trees still show scars.