Still Life

Nestled in the foothills of the Santa Susana Mountains is a verdant preserve with towering rock formations, rippling streams, broad pastures and wild animals.

The protected 3,500-acre area on the north side of the mountain range separating the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys is something of a Shangri-La amid bustling suburban sprawl.

Santa Clarita Woodlands Park is west of the Golden State Freeway (I-5) near the Santa Clarita city line. The area is owned by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and overseen by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority.

“This park is a well-kept secret,” said Paul Edelman, a conservancy deputy division chief and staff ecologist. “With some people, if they can’t carry their coolers or if there is no large body of water for them to jump into, they don’t want to go. There is a certain vein of people who are attracted to the area.”

Visitors to Towsley Canyon, one of six canyons in the park, can hike along a route that circles the canyon, beginning and ending at a ranger station on the Towsley Canyon service road.

The trail first traverses a flat, open expanse before leading into a forest with tall, thick woodlands on one side of the path and dry sage scrub on the other.

The trail runs parallel with a stream, crossing it several times before tapering into an area known as the Narrows, where towering red sandstone rock formations line both sides of the path.

Once through the Narrows, the path begins to widen into a broad meadow with remnants of former oil fields. The trail then meets the Wiley Canyon service road, which leads back to the ranger station.

“[This] is a good option for people who want to hike at a low elevation in the heat of summer,” Edelman said. “This place is really different from any other place.”