National Historic Site of Santa Susana Pass

History of Santa Susana Pass

The Santa Susana Pass State Park sits in the northernmost corner of Los Angeles, a historical borderland. The narrow, rocky pass between the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains has long served as a conduit for trade and travel. The Tongva tribes of Los Angeles County traded with the Tataviam tribes to the north and the Chumash to the west along this route.

During the Spanish colonial era, Spanish colonial governors cut rough wagon roads through the rock to link their missions. Eventually, American engineers improved the road (and here the word "improved" is to be taken with a grain of salt) and it became the primary land route between San Francisco and Los Angeles. As the first transcontinental mail route, the Butterfield Overland Mail Route traveled the route. In a bid to spark apocalyptic race wars, one of the country's most notorious cults began committing murders.

It is today a surprisingly rugged and stunningly beautiful region that offers easy and challenging routes for hiking, biking, and horseback riding during the colder season. In hot weather, this park offers little shade, and the combination of full sun and steep climbs does not make hiking pleasant.

Santa Susana Pass is a good place to begin your hike

On Andora Avenue, look for the southern park entrance. Stay on the established trails in this archeological resource area. As much as it shouldn't need to be stressed, please leave everything exactly as you found it. As a result of the region's long history, archaeologists may still have a lot to discover!

The route follows a seasonal arroyo, which has been turned into a drainage ditch, for the first three miles. In the middle of this park there are some oaks and sycamores that are old growth, but you'll start to see some of its stunning geology at the 03 mile mark:

Here, the trail reaches a wide open field with the Simi Hills in the background, and old ranch roads snake everywhere. The route described here can be explored to your heart's content, but to follow the route you'll have to stay straight up until about the eighth mile, when you'll turn left and start climbing. There are many remnants of the area's old ranching history here, such as abandoned vehicles and equipment and wells filled in. Do not hesitate to explore side trails.

Stagecoach road at Santa Susana Pass

Here, you're on the remnants of the old Santa Susana Stagecoach Road, although at first it doesn't look much like one:

Further up the mountain, you'll find a less faded, but more clearly visible remnant of the road:

Known affectionately as The Devil's Slide, this is the part of the road. Those traveling south toward Los Angeles not only disliked this nearly sheer rock stretch of steep, cliff-side road but also this section of nearly sheer rock. A historical account describes sparks often flying up toward the wagon itself from the brakes on the wagon wheels. As a safety precaution, passengers were sometimes asked to exit their vehicles and walk beside the wagon while holding rocks to throw at the wheels in case the brakes failed. Sounds super safe, right?

When you hike up this steep graded section of the trail, you'll realize that people used to take wagons up here in the old days. It is also easy to imagine how welcome it would have been for travelers using the still-in-use rail route to travel from point A to point B without worrying about being run off a narrow cliffside road by a car.

In the old road, there was a wagon rut left in the rock

Santa Susana Pass tunnel opened in 1904 by Southern Pacific Railroad; it vastly improved travel. As the longest railroad tunnel in Southern California, it measures 7369 feet long.

Its treacherous and isolated nature also made the Devils Slide a great place for holdups because it was so treacherous and isolated. Tiburcio Vasquez (for whom Vasquez Rocks is named) frequented this region as an outlaw and freedom fighter.

The rugged landscape and native plants of today aren't prone to runaway wagons or bandits. Santa Susana Tarweed is an endemic plant to this region. The flowering season makes it easier to spot, as it tends to look fairly inconspicuous most of the year. You can smell its rich, creosote-like aroma by gently rubbing your fingers along the leaves.

Here, shortly before two miles, veer left to start a counterclockwise loop around a high hill (or use the steep trail in front of you to reach the top).

It's easy to get lost and hide out among the huge boulders and narrow canyons here. Tiburcio Vasquez, for instance, or a more modern figure like Charles Manson, are good examples.

A history of the Manson Family and the Spahn Ranch

At this point, the Spahn Ranch had seen better days before Charles Manson and his family moved in 1968. With this boulder-strewn outskirt of Los Angeles as his playground, Manson caused various problems for the 80-year-old owner and spent many hours telling his followers about Helter Skelter.