Ten reasons to check out Vasquez Rocks in Agua Dulce, California
Winter is the perfect time to rock out at this high-desert spot: The temperatures are mild and the visibility good. Whether you hike or just gawk, Vasquez Rocks is a definite must-see for the outdoor-loving crowd.
1. Great hiking
You get to hop around or just gawk at the giant tilted rock formations that were formed about 20 million years ago. Earthquake activity from a fault related to the San Andreas fault accounts for the unusual landscape, according to several hiking guides, and creates a perfect playground for adventurous hikers.
Take a one-hour ranger-guided hike on the second, third and fourth Sundays of each month. Hikes start at 11 a.m. at the park office. Info: Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park (Jason La / Los Angeles Times)
2. Great views
From atop the rocks, you get sweeping views of the high desert in a landscape roughly between Santa Clarita and Palmdale. You’ll also see the ever-present Antelope Valley Freeway (14) that’s nearby. (Jason La / Los Angeles Times)
3. Great old bandits
The rocks are named for Tiburcio Vasquez, a notorious gang leader who used the caves and rocks as a hideout from the law. The Jan. 1, 1874, edition of the Southern Californian newspaper of Bakersfield wrote:
“After having been hunted for months like a wild beast from lair to lair -- the banditti under his command either killed, captured or dispersed -- and successfully eluding the most vigilant and indefatigable pursuit to which an outlaw was ever subjected in this State, [Vasquez] has suddenly placed himself again at the head of a band of Mexican cut-throats and ex-State Prison convicts, and has entered upon another campaign of pillage and murder.” (Jason La / Los Angeles Times)
5. Great film and TV history
Guidebooks are filled with location shoots for movies and TV shows (“Star Trek” fans should note that “Capt. Kirk vs. the Gorn” was filmed here, according to the online Santa Clarita Valley History in Pictures). Old Westerns like “Gunsmoke” and newer shows like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” all make the list--as well as the movie “The Flintstones,” of course. (Jason La / Los Angeles Times)
6. Great stargazing
The eerie landscape is great at night when local groups hold “star parties.”
Check out the calendar at the Local Group Astronomy Club for a list of upcoming dates. (Jason La / Los Angeles Times)
7. Great geological history
The slabs -- some tilted as much as 50 degrees and as high as 150 feet -- were formed by millions of years of quakes and erosion. The rocks primarily are sandstone beds -- with shale, basalt and conglomerate layered in between. (Jason La / Los Angeles Times)
