** Dog friendly My Betty would have had fun here. Please bring water, a bowl and poop bags for your pup Please pick up after yourselves First off no cell service for me anyway, I have Spectrum. Large empty parking lot available at 10am on a Thursday. Note: posted no off road parking. I didn't have any cash on me and parking meter was not working, so unfortunately I had to turn right around and leave. Payment is $5 in an envelope that you put into the "iron ranger". I wouldn't make a special trip out there but if I am ever nearby again I'd probably check this out. Note: my cell was "off line" until 2.4 miles away on Pico Canyon Rd from Mentryville parking lot. read more

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Mentryville was a pretty cool experience. We got to visit it through Parapod's haunted tour. Has some history and people claim it is haunted. The pictures I posted pretty much describe it. It was fun to travel back in time for a bit and imagine how life was back in the day. read more

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Mentryville was established in 1876 and was one of the first oil towns in the state. Today it is known as a black gold ghost town in the Santa Clarita Valley. This area is rich in California oil history and is truly a hidden gem. We parked outside the designated parking fee area and had no problems walking in. Trail is family friendly and handicap accessible. read more

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Fun, historic ghost town to visit, it is definitely a walk through on your own and peak through the boarded up windows type of place. I wish there were guided tours inside the buildings, but maybe someday there will be, if funding becomes available. There is also a nice hike at the end if you choose to embark on that. read more

Nice hike with a nicely paved walkway, small little houses and barn at the start and even a tiny park with a barbecue further up the trail. highly recommend for a first hike with also being able to throw rocks on the river to your left. read more

A historically investing park in Pico Canyon. A few western style buildings and remnants from the first oil drilling days. I guess it continues to be a great place for filming since as we were getting there a makeup hair trailer was just leaving. It was a very hot day since we were there around 2pm. There were only a couple of cars in the parking lot, $5 to park. We're hiked for a short time because of the weather. We enjoyed our lunch at a picnic table under the California pepper tree which looks like a weeping willow. A nice day in the Santa Clarita area. read more

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It's a nice hike and there are some interesting historical relics to look at on the way. But there is some 'dark energy' in this place and I am not usually sensitive to such things. I also agree with commenters about the ranger/manager. He was rude, surly, and even agressive. So follow the signs and rules carefully (if you can find them). Then, happy hiking! read more

I learned of this place from a column by Charles Fleming in the LA Times. You do not have to pay to park if you park outside the first gate you come to at the fork in the road. It will make your hike/walk 3/8 of a mile longer, but there's no fee. If you drive in to park, you avoid that extra walk and you take an envelope, put your $5 in it, and put the receipt on your dash and the envelope in a metal holder. Perhaps you should take a small envelope with you in case they're out, something that some reviewers have commented about. From the paid parking, there's a short walk over dirt to get to the blacktop road that comes in from the front gate and where the Mentryville historic plaque is located. Along the way, there are buildings including the Mentry house, the "Movie House," and the Felton School. About the movie house--the Internet Movie Database says the film referenced on the paper at the house was filmed in Canada. The sheet says it was filmed there. Wikipedia mentions other TV and movie shoots here but not "One Magic Christmas." I consider this to be more of a stroll of about 2 miles round trip. It's a gentle grade going up all on blacktop. At the end of the blacktop, you reach Johnson Park where there are picnic tables and grills for cooking. Also here is the oil rig #4 that for many years pumped oil in Mentryville, the first place in California where commercial oil was discovered. You can continue up the road from Johnson Park and the trail will rise about 1,000 feet to an overlook of the canyon. Now that's a hike and worth doing on a cool day. Enjoy Mentryville. It's considered a ghost town and it's close to Los Angeles. read more

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This is a great place for paranormal investigators. The people here say that the place is haunted but there is some type of dark energy here. I do recommend if paranormal investigation is set here. The place has good hikes and do bring some cash for parking. The mansion really did creep me out so I recommend that if you bring your children do not go into the mansion. read more

Nice park run by Santa Monica Mountains Conservency. No park personnel around, crowd was nice. Pay $5 to park, Many people park at the entrance and walk the road up to the lot. There are three picnic areas and one trail that connects the upper and lower road. Mentryville was an 1880's oil boom town built around its oil well, Pico No. 4. the site of the first commercially successful oil well in the western United States. Named for Charles Alexander Mentry, the oil well's tenacious driller--and later superintendent of the company that would become Chevron--Mentryville was home to over 100 families until the early 1930's. Pico No. 4 went on to become the longest continually operating oil well in the world, closing in 1990. Historic buildings still stand including Charles Mentry's grand thirteen-room mansion, a one-room school house, and a period barn. Mentryville and Pico No. 4 are registered as California State Historical Landmarks. read more

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Such a beautiful location. Awesome hiking trails and beautiful photo opportunities. This is always one of my top referrals for clients when trying to choose a location to shoot. I'm with Christen Webb Photography and would love to chat with you about your next Project. Very rustic and Farm style. read more

Mentryville - Walking up the trail - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Newhall, California

A hidden gem. It's farther down the road than you think. Keep going, you're almost there. Bring cash for parking. There's no one there to make change, it's the honor system. Cool hike. Neat historical site. Definitely check it out. I don't think there were bathrooms...if there were I missed them. read more

Mentryville - This place has ghosts!!! - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Newhall, California

I, too, learned of Mentryville from the LA Times article by Charles Fleming. After reading the article, my friends and I were super intrigued to visit this place. After many weeks of planning, the stars finally aligned where everyone was free. We all carpooled and met a few others at Mentryville the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. We ended up parking outside the gate, and walked up the paved road to get to the town. There weren't many people there when we were there so there was plenty of parking outside the gate. Even when we reached the gate, we didn't see any cars parked on the inside. Truthfully, I thought that there would be more buildings or at least way bigger but it was really a nice pace from the hustle and bustle of LA. I'm not much of a hiker but it's nice to start with a hike where most of the roads are paved. We did venture out towards the off-beaten path where we saw a trail and ventured upwards. The trail was mostly covered, walked over a bridge, and was about to continue when a group of guys ahead of us were heading back. They mentioned possibly hearing a rattlesnake and were jetting back. Once we heard that, we also jetted back towards the road. Along the paved road, all of us noticed water spraying from pipes into a "creek." We (along with the group of guys) weren't sure if it was intentional or a pipe burst. Once we all reached Johnson Park, most of us were excited to see restrooms since we were drinking plenty of water in the heat BUT the restrooms were locked! The group of guys seemed to be considering filling their water bottles with the running water but weren't sure how clean it would be. My friend had brought a gallon of water with her and offered to share. Make sure to bring plenty of water while hiking! Oil Rig #4 -- Mentry's long-pumping oil derrick, moved from its original location years ago and reconstructed for posterity -- certainly did surprise me in its size. Way smaller than I had envisioned. I couldn't believe that this rig has pumped oil for so many years! Johnson Park is the end of the road but if you care to be more adventurous, one could continue on the path and as noted in the LA Times article "the trail to the left will rise 1,000 to an overlook." We all continued on our way but barely made it a bit further as it was just too hot for us. We don't mind visiting again in the future when the weather is much fairer. Beware of lots of fire ants on the paved roads, beehives, and all that goodness that nature has. Better to be safe, than sorry. http://scvhistory.com/mentryville/ read more

"Mentryville is where it all started." Mentryville was an 1880's oil boom town built around the first commercially successful oil well in the US, Pico No. 4. Mentryville was home to over 100 families until the early 1930's. More recently it has also been used in a number of film and television productions. This is a fun spot to take the kids for the day. You can walk around the ghost town, peer into the old buildings, and spend some time learning about it's history. I would make a point of walking up the road a bit towards Pico Canyon. There is a great little hiking spot off to the left that is perfect for kids. Pack a lunch and have a little picnic on one of the tables. You can also bring along some bikes and ride the smooth paved road that goes through Pico Canyon. Be sure to visit Pico No. 4, the longest continually operating oil well in the world until its closing in 1990. This is also a California Historical Landmark No. 516-2. The plaque inscription reads: NO. 516-2 MENTRYVILLE - Named after pioneer oil developer Charles Alexander Mentry, who in 1876 drilled the first successful oil well in California. His restored home and barn and Felton School remain here where the Star Oil Company, one of the predecessors of Standard Oil of California, was born. Location: 27201 W Pico Canyon Rd, 2.8 mi W of I-5, Newhall read more

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We went Geocaching on the trail around Mentryville for labor day and had a blast. The main street is closed to the public but you can still go around the old school. The trail goes up to a really cool picnic area which used to be the party area for the oil well workers -a bit run down but well worth a look :) I guess there are more oil wells up the trail. We will be back. Great for a history lesson. Also, It's a great spot for photos in the late afternoon as there are many old building walls to be used for cool backdrops. We saw 2 families doing just that as we left. read more

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This place is so cool and has so much history behind it. The trail is well maintained and lots of stopping points a long the way back to the well. Make sure to check out Johnson Park off to the left. read more

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Mentryville is a state registered historic landmark (#516-2). but unfortunately the Santa Monica mountains conservancy who owns mentryville and the surrounding 800 acres do not have money in their budget to restore Mentryville proper (the big house, the Felton one room schoolhouse built in 1885, and the mule barn). Mentryville is a vital piece in California history. it is the birthplace of standard oil... later Chevron USA. I have spent close to 10 years researching mentryville and pico canyon, collected information and documents on Mentryville and its history. I know personally former occupants of the historic pico cottage (the big grey house)... one person I know very well grew up in that house as a kid. Basically since the 1994 Northridge Earthquake the place has been in bad shape... the inside of the cottage hasn't been repaired in 25 years. there just hasn't been any money to fix up the historic town. Plans were to make Mentryville open to the public... the buildings were also to be restored and open as a museum by the summer of 1997. but 22 years later its still in "utter disrepair". There hasn't really been a huge effort to restore mentryville... Me and that "kid" who grew up in mentryville in the 1960s have given tours of mentryville in the past by appointment... but like I said there hasn't really been any money in the SMMC fund to restore the buildings unfortunately. read more

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WATCH FOR SNAKES!!!!! As Bobby said before me, the hike was beautiful and fairly easy. The "ghost town" aspect of it wasn't anything more than a couple closed off buildings and functioning beverage dispensers. However, no parking attendant and nobody apparently works there other than a gardener. Even talked to a passerby on the trail about not having anyone to pay the parking fee to. Came back to our car an hour-ish later, didn't think anything of it. Fast forward about a month later, I get a letter in the mail saying that I recieved a parking citation at "27201 W Pico Canyon Road" that was going to be doubled if it wasn't paid in the next few days. I was naturally pretty pissed, as nobody was there to take payments, and there wasn't even any ticket on my windshield. So I called the "contest a citation" number listed on the letter, and didn't get a response. So... I called the park directly, several times, during operating hours... didn't get a response. Left a couple voicemails for the park ranger and the head of the park, and still didn't get a response. This is why I say "watch for snakes." Lowlife, disgusting, lazy, leeches-of-society park rangers and management. The only one doing his job correctly was the gardener. --- In summation: if you want to pay the government $80 or possibly $160 like I almost had to, this is the perfect hike for you. read more

Mentryville is California's pioneer oil town. The one you somehow never hear about (or maybe I was asleep during that part of history like during all the rest of that class). Plugging in the address of 27201 W Pico on the yelp page, my GPS announced our apparent arrival at Mentryville in the middle of a street with a canyon to our right and residences to our left. We continued along the winding and muddy road (hurray for rain!) even after we were sure we were going the wrong way until finally we came to a bit of a branch in the road. To the right was a gated off road without signage. To the left the road continued, but there was a confusing sign stating that only authorized vehicles were permitted beyond that point (along with rules about keeping your pets leashed and hours being sunrise to sunset and blah blah blah). So we parked our car next to the 3 or 4 others that were pulled off in the dirt and attempted to consult our virtual map to no avail - no signal. Hiking about a quarter mile up the road we did indeed arrive at Mentryville. There is a designated parking area there if you'd like to pay $5 for that privilege. What remains of Mentryville is not much to see as the "town" is gated off and admission into the buildings is not permitted. But talk about being in the right place at the right time.... As we walked up from the parking lot a man announced to us, "If you wait a second we're just getting the keys to go into the schoolhouse." Turns out he was a former inhabitant of Mentryville and a wealth of information. He and his son? grandson? gave us a personal tour and shared with us amazing stories. The first hand perspective really made the trip for us. After we parted ways we hiked along to the Mentryville monument (a state and federal plaque and some old oil machinery) about 2 miles along the paved path. The hike was easy and pleasant, and we didn't encounter very many people along our way. You can bring a picnic and enjoy it at Johnson Park which is only a quarter mile from the start of the trail. A peaceful way to spend an afternoon. read more

A great family hike, my son has been hiking this trail since he was 3, and has always been able to hold his own and not end up being carried, which is HUGE as a parent. It has a lot of interesting things to explore (old buildings, old oil drilling equipment), you will still want to watch your kids as it's not necessarily "safe". We like to walk to the end of Mentryville and stop at a small set of picnic benches for lunch before heading back. This is a wild area, so you will probably see snakes, you will definitely see lizards, and we've even seen eagles a few times. There are better "ghost towns", but this is one of the closest to Los Angeles, so you take what you can get. :) read more

I came here for a school project for my son. It was a nice to learn about an oil boom town. The place was a little bit hard to find. We parked were other 2 cars were parked and were ready to climb up a hill. Luckily a car came down and told me Mentryville was not at the top of the path. So we decided to get back in our car and keep driving. I wished there was a sign telling us where to go because my husband already wanted to go back home. But I persisted that we at least drive the path to the left. We did and found Mentryville. But also found more confusion as we were told to pay $5 to park but didn't know where to leave the money. Eventually we found out where we should leave the money. Then we took the kids to the school house which was nice and the kids saw an old oil tank also nice. The other buildings were closed off. 30 minutes later we were back at the car. I am rating this place 3 stars because I believe it should be free to park close by & the money should be used to provide signs telling visitors on how to get to Mentryville. The area should also be free so that families come to learn more about the first oil boom town. read more

I cannot believe I live so close to a piece of history. We visited Mentryville which is about 3 miles from my home in Stevenson Ranch. Great place to take your friends and family to teach some history and hike. So much history(oil) in such a small area. Loved seeing the old school, 13 room house and oil derricks. read more