VENTURA COUNTY WEEKEND : Hike Away Those Holiday Pounds--Daytime or Night : Walks in Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and near Moorpark will burn off extra calories, with beautiful scenery or moonlight to boot.

You’ve polished off the turkey, the pumpkin pie, even the fruitcake. And with New Year’s coming, another round of eating is still ahead. Perhaps it would be a good idea to get a jump on that perennial New Year’s resolution, the one about losing weight and finally getting into shape.

We have just the thing to get you started: a hike, three of them in fact. A trek in the wilds will also give you a chance to think about adding other resolutions to the annual list.

With a name like Happy Camp Park, how could a hike in this spot near Moorpark be anything but, well, happy. You’ll find out if you join an eight-mile jaunt around the park on Saturday from 9 a.m. to about 3:30 p.m.

Roseann Mikos, a docent for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, is leading this free hike, which goes to the top of Big Mountain. At this 2,100-foot elevation, you’ll see the Channel Islands on a clear day.

“It’s a rugged hike, but we do take an easy pace,” Mikos said. The hardest part is at the beginning, she said, but after the climb to the mountaintop, it’s virtually all downhill.

The loop includes switchbacks down to the canyon floor and into the oak woodlands where a natural spring flows. One spot, called the Cathedral Grove, has sprawling oaks that are 500 years old.

“There is always something in bloom in the park at one time or another,” said Mikos, who saw some blue lupine recently. The chances are good that hikers might see deer also. The birds are plentiful--owls, hawks and woodpeckers. Mikos points out sights along the way, like the trees where the birds are storing acorns.

She also knows the history of this 3,700-acre park. It was once part of a huge cattle ranch operated by the pioneering Strathearn family. Long before that, it was home to the Chumash Indians, and in prehistoric times, it was under water. Along the way, Mikos points out a spot where tiny fossilized remains of shells can be seen.

During the hike, there is a lunch stop at a scenic spot. Hikers should pack their own food and bring along two or three quarts of water.

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If a shorter, less strenuous outing is what you have in mind, join a three-hour hike in Thousand Oaks’ Wildwood Park on Saturday. This one, offered by the Conejo Recreation and Park District, is for adults 18 and older and covers four or five miles. It starts at 9 a.m. and costs $5 per carload.

This park is another urban oasis--1,600 acres of mountains, canyons, streams and grasslands tucked into the city’s western edge. District naturalist Jan Garges will lead the way on a series of connecting trails in the park.

The highlights likely will include Paradise Falls, a 40-foot waterfall that runs year-round. Water cascades over rocks into a pool at the bottom that is surrounded by cattails and reeds.

The park has other sights: meadows, rocky plateaus, streams with huge oaks and sycamores. If you’re new to hiking, Wildwood Park is a good place to start. The trails are well-groomed, not too steep, and the park is equipped with restrooms and water fountains.

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If you’re really a night person at heart, here’s a hike for you. The Rancho Simi Trail Blazers head out at 6 tonight to hike the Chumash Trail at the east end of Simi Valley. In fact, they do it most every Thursday night.

It’s a moderately difficult five-mile outing led by Arlene Altshuler. Going by moonlight is spectacular. You can see the lights of Simi Valley twinkle below and hear the sounds of animals skittering across the trail.

You should bring a flashlight, although most hikers on this trek prefer not to use them if the moonlight is sufficient. But flashlights come in handy to check out animal sounds or better see sections of the trail.

Even with a flashlight, though, the going is a little tricky, especially if the trail has some loose rocks. And after sunset, it’s cold; bring gloves and a hat.

The Chumash Trail hooks into the Rocky Peak Trail, another popular hiking route that this group hits most Sunday evenings (except Dec. 31). The group not only hikes a couple times a week, but it also builds and maintains trails--another way to stay in shape. Their latest conquest was the building of the 2.3-mile-long Hummingbird Trail that also ties into the Rocky Peak Trail.

These trails in the Santa Susana Mountains offer some stunning views, but the most spectacular sights are the enormous sandstone rock formations. These oddly shaped giant slabs, carved 60 million years ago, dot the landscape like pebbles dropped from a giant’s pocket.

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DETAILS

* HAPPY CAMP Park near Moorpark, 9 a.m. to about 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Take California 23 north out of Moorpark; go right on Broadway to the parking lot at the end. Information: (310) 456-5046.

* WILDWOOD PARK in Thousand Oaks, 9 a.m. to noon Saturday. Meet in the parking lot at the west end of Avenida de Los Arboles. Information: 381-2737.

* CHUMASH TRAIL in Simi Valley, 6 p.m. today. Take the Yosemite Avenue exit off the Ronald Reagan Freeway and go north; turn right on Flanagan Drive and look for trail head at the end of street. Information: Sharon Hamilton, 584-4400.

* FYI: Bring water and wear good hiking shoes.