Ranch Goes Reel to Real : Newhall site of many Western movies is now part of L.A. County park system and an ideal spot for children and adults to learn about nature.

Back in 1920, when Santa Clarita was home to more rattlesnakes and coyotes than human beings, a man named Frank Evans Walker and his wife, Hortense, settled with their 12 children at the juncture of the San Gabriel Mountains and the Antelope Valley. For several decades, they scratched out a living on 350 acres, supplementing their farm income by renting the ranch out to Hollywood.

The makers of early television shows--”Hopalong Cassidy” and “The Cisco Kid”--as well as big-screen Westerns set phony cowboys among the sagebrush and, to this day, the place is bursting with cinematic frontier spirit.

Now, though, as part of the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation, the old Walker Ranch is also one of the best spots to take children in Southern California. The Placerita Canyon State Park features well-kept hiking trails, camping sites and picnic tables, in addition to a nature center stocked with science exhibits and animals, both the live and the stuffed variety.

Ongoing offerings for children include a Student Naturalist program for youngsters 8 to 12, along with weekend nature walks and animal shows. Except for a $3 parking fee, weekend family events are free.

10:45 a.m.: Arriving early for a Saturday nature walk, park in front of the nature center, where you obtain your parking pass in the information office. Before you even get inside, you might find yourself dawdling over outdoor exhibit cases, home to a desert spiny lizard, a California king snake, a desert tortoise and a pair of sleepy rattlesnakes.

When you do make it indoors, there are more captivating obstacles in the center’s classroom: displays of darkling beetles, tarantulas, a black widow and a native scorpion (all deceased), a tank of busily swimming Western pond turtles, and collections of rocks, pine cones and Indian artifacts. And that’s only on one side of one room. If you ever do get that parking ticket, look for the caged tarantulas on the information desk, and the owl and kestrel perched behind it--all regular performers in the animal show.

11 a.m.: Eight years ago, docent Pat Arant developed the guided nature walk for families, which she leads every Saturday along Placerita’s Heritage Trail. High points of the tour include Arant’s identification of native flora (mulefat, coyote brush and saltbush, among them), a stroll through the Walker family’s winter cabin (note their original dinner table and the faded portrait of the whole tribe) and a brief pause beside the Oak of the Golden Dream.

Under this craggy tree, one Francisco Lopez is said to have fallen asleep in 1842, dreamed of riches and, upon awakening, discovered gold.

An enthusiastic naturalist, Arant is apt to stop short along the trail and say, “Wacka-wacka-wacka--hear that? A noisy woodpecker” or whip out a plastic bag of coyote scat and examine it for gopher fur and feathers, evidence of recent meals.

11:40 a.m.: Returning to the nature center, there’s time now to explore the entire second room full of exhibits on ecology, history, geology and local wildlife. Engaging displays elucidate such natural processes as the food chain, weather, and symbiosis between insects and plants. Others feature various kinds of biotic communities, such as chaparral and coastal sage scrub, or paint a picture of long-ago life in Santa Clarita. A bulletin board lists “25 Easy Things You Can Do to Help the Environment” and, judging from the crowd of Boy Scouts around it, the world will soon be a better place.

12:15 p.m.: Heading out along the parking lot, look left to find the picnic area, the only place where lunching is permitted in the park. After a leisurely meal at a shady table, children can work it off on nearby swings and a slide while grown-ups lounge beneath the oaks.

1 p.m.: As visitors of all ages gather in the nature center classroom, docent Gini Shadwick appears cuddling S’More, a 1-year-old possum she has raised from infancy. After regaling the audience with some little-known possum truths (they don’t sleep hanging from trees; they prefer closets and dresser drawers), she shows everyone S’More’s pouch and then carries her around for a group petting session.

A king snake, presented by volunteer Junior Ranger Hans Lickliter, 14, is the next attraction, followed by some desert tortoises and a great horned owl. The parade of animals varies somewhat from week to week, but the show is a lively crowd-pleaser providing up-close encounters with the furry and the scaly that will allay many a child’s fears.

1:55 p.m.: Pick up hiking trail maps from the information office for your return visit. With your new feeling of kinship toward wild critters, take a last gander at the Rattler Brothers on your way out.

Where and When Location: Placerita Canyon State Park, 19152 W. Placerita Canyon Road, Newhall. Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Family nature walks, 11 a.m. Saturdays; animal shows, 1 p.m. Saturdays; nursery nature walks (for parents with children 2 months to 3 years), first Sunday of the month at 10 a.m. (reservations required); “Wildlife of Placerita” slide show (reservations required), 1 p.m. Sundays. Other regular programs include: monthly moonlight hike, nature walks and animal shows for the hearing-impaired and a slide show and hike focused on area wildflowers. Call: (805) 259-7721 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., (805) 259-7832 after-hours.