SIMI VALLEY : Rocky Peak Park Tour Walks Offered

Just a mile off the Simi Valley Freeway, city dwellers can escape traffic and housing tracts and enter a world once inhabited by Chumash Indians, cattle ranchers and early settlers.

With the opening of the 4,369-acre Rocky Peak Park last month, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy is offering walks led by docents who provide background about the area commonly known as Runkle Ranch. On a recent four-mile trek, three dozen people toured the parkland just east of Simi Valley.

The soft sandstone paths are scarred with the grooves of covered-wagon wheels and lined by mulefat, an oleander-like bush that Indians used for arrow shafts, and cattle grazed on.

The area is a wildlife corridor for coyotes, bobcats and mountain lions that travel from the Santa Susana Mountains to the Santa Monica Mountains, using a tunnel under the freeway.

Don’t expect to see such large animals, which hide out during the day. But there are signs of their presence if the hiker keeps a close eye.

As the group was nearing the end of the hike, a docent pointed out a fresh coyote track. Nearby, a gray-and-black hairball left by a coyote alerted hikers that they were not alone in the rugged territory.

The need for people to see the park outweighs any infringement on the wildlife, said Tom Maxwell, a retired anthropologist who led the walk. “We want people to see what we’re fighting for,” the Thousand Oaks resident said.

Entertainer Bob Hope agreed in April to sell or donate nearly 5,700 acres of land to the conservancy at a below-market price of $10 million. The sale hinges on approval of a developer’s bid to obtain 59 acres of federal parkland near Cheeseboro Canyon, which is needed for an access road to a residential project proposed for other land owned by Hope in eastern Ventura County. If the deal doesn’t go through, Hope wants to sell the Runkle Ranch land to the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts to be used as a landfill.

Conservancy officials decided to open the park in the hope of gaining public and political support for the land swap.

Hikers at the park may see an endangered plant called the Santa Susana Tarweed, a prickly green bush with yellow flowers. Closer to Blind Canyon, sea fossils, including clamshells, are embedded in the side of a mountain.

Explorers will also find a man-made cave used in filming the “Lone Ranger” television series. In another area of the park, rocks positioned in the shape of a large wheel form a witch’s circle, which is used by a group studying the occult, docent Chuck Crews said.

“I’m all for the outdoors,” said one of the hikers, Nancy Stine, who lives about a mile from Rocky Peak Park. “It’s great to have an area close to home that is so nice.”

The park is open from dawn until dusk. No motor vehicles, camping or alcoholic beverages are allowed. Walkers should wear proper shoes, bring plenty of water and beware of poison oak. There are no drinking fountains or restroom facilities in the park. The hike is not recommended for people with heart ailments.

The park is on the north side of the Simi Valley Freeway. From Ventura County, the easiest route is south on Kuehner Drive, which becomes Santa Susana Pass Road. At the top of the pass, turn left onto Rocky Peak Road and cross the freeway. Parking is limited. Cars should not be parked on the overpass.

Docent-led walks this month are scheduled for 4 p.m. Sept. 9 (general introduction), 9 a.m. Sept. 15 (for children 8 and older and their parents), 8 a.m. Sept. 22 (a six-mile hike to Rocky Peak), 4 p.m. Sept. 23 (plants and wildlife) and 5 p.m. Sept. 29 (photo opportunities.)

Reservations are not necessary. For more information, call (805) 255-0640 or (800) 533-PARK.