LOCAL PARKLAND: Ventura and Los Angeles counties...

LOCAL PARKLAND: Ventura and Los Angeles counties have 65,000 acres of public parklands, 15,000 of them in the Valley-Ventura area. They stretch from Point Mugu in Ventura County to Griffith Park in L.A. “They are state, federal and city regional parks,” said Jean Bray of the National Park Service. “There’s something for everyone.”

VISITORS: Bray says the average annual attendance for federal parklands, about 22,000 acres in L.A. and Ventura counties, is 550,000. “We don’t perceive it as over-visited,” Bray said. “We would like more people in L.A. and the surrounding areas to use the land.”

FLYING HIGH: So you always wanted to fly a plane? Fulfill your dream at the Sepulveda Basin. The recreation area has a 10-acre model airplane field complete with a 600-by-40-foot runway. “I would say in a week about 1,000 people use the field,” said Don Goeschl, president of the San Fernando Valley Flyers Club. Among them, 59-year-old Northridge resident John Curran, above. The cost of a bottom-of-the-line plane can run from $375 to $425 and the fancier ones can cost up to $20,000. Planes fly up to 300 feet and can travel over 225 m.p.h. The field is open from sunrise to sunset.

BACK AT THE RANCH: The Paramount Ranch is used to film the popular television series “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” and other Westerns. It’s part of the 35,000-acre Santa Monica Mountains range “and one of its most popular attractions,” according to Bray. . . . In April, 1994, 20,000 people visited the Paramount Ranch. The visitors’ center at 30401 Agoura Road in Agoura Hills is open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

GO FISH: Castaic Lake in Castaic is one of the Valley’s hot spots for bass fishing. The lake has 29 miles of shoreline and is surrounded by an 8,000-acre recreation area. The Department of Fish and Game has a rainbow trout plant scheduled for Castaic Lagoon. . . . Admission to the area is $6 per vehicle and a fishing license is required.