Bowers Cave, also known as Cave of the San Martins, is a little-known cave that sits high near the…read moretop of a steep mountain at the northeastern border of the Chiquita Canyon Landfill located in Castaic. It has been described as the most significant archaeological site on the North American continent. In 1884 two brothers, McCoy and Everette Pyle, discovered a "treasure trove" of Native American artifacts that had been hidden away by Tataviam Indians hundreds of years earlier. Shortly after the discovery the items were sold to Stephen Bowers who later resold most of the collection to the Peabody Museum at Harvard where it is still kept today. Why the cave is named after the person who purchased the artifacts and not the people who discovered them is beyond me. Nevertheless, it is still an interesting piece of history in the most unexpected place. The location can be seen from a distance from inside the landfill. I would never advise visiting the site without permission, but if you did, I would hike from a northern approach, preferably on a Sunday. Make your way towards the large water tanks and you will eventually spot a path that will take you to the backside of the mountain. The climb to the cave looked way too steep for me so I chose to appreciate it from a distance. I am really curious whether or not the sandstone carvings seen in historic photographs are still present. You can read a lot more about the cave on SCVTV's web site and there is also a very odd 20 minute documentary that you can find online.

Thank you for the information. My great-grandfather was McCoy Pyle, so it was interesting to find…read moreout why he didn't get credit for the collection at Harvard. I didn't realize the artifacts were sold first!

** Dog friendly My Betty would have had fun here…read more 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.

Mentryville was a pretty cool experience. We got to visit it through Parapod's haunted tour. Has…read moresome 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.

In 1933 Caltrans blasted away at a mountain within Piru Canyon to make way for Hwy 99 leaving a…read moretriangular-shaped rock formation that resembled an Egyptian monument. The landmark became known as Pyramid Rock. Motorist considered it the halfway point between Los Angeles and Bakersfield. In the early 70s the Water Resources Dept created Pyramid Lake directly in the path of the old highway. They took care not to submerse its namesake. Sadly, the lake's dam ended up hiding the pyramid from easy public view. To reach Pyramid Rock you'll need to park near Frenchmans Flat Campground and walk, or bike, 4 miles (roundtrip) along an abandoned section of the old highway that is now closed-off to cars. After experiencing the triangular landmark I recommend making your way down the nearby canyon bottom to view a scenic waterfall that empties into a large pool. You'll see two signs that indicate the entrance to the path.

In January 2003, John Quigley spent 71 days sitting in the branches of Old Glory protesting a…read moredeveloper's plans to remove the tree and make way for a road. John Laing Homes was attempting to cut down this 400 year old tree in order to widen Pico Canyon Road from two lanes to four. Quigley's efforts gained national attention and resulted in the developer eventually agreeing to move the oak a quarter-mile to the east, where it now sits in the center of Pico Canyon Park.

I stopped to visit the Old Glory oak tree on my way back from the California Poppy Preserve in…read moreAntelope Valley and the detour only cost 10 minutes of my time. The Old Glory became famous in 2002 when the renowned environmentalist John Quigley spent 71 days on top of the tree to protest the plans to have it removed in order to widen Pico Canyon Road from two lanes to four. This brought Old Glory- and Quigley- to international fame. The tree was eventually moved to its current location in the center of Pico Canyon Park, a quarter-mile to the east, at the exorbitant cost of $250,000 (which made the Guinness Book of World Records in 2007 for Largest Tree Moving ). Unfortunately, there is no signage to tell the story of this tree and unless you know the story, nobody would know that this tree is considered a symbol of the battle between environmentalists and developers. It was a nice 2-minutes stop, but not worth going out of your way to visit unless you are already in the area.

Heritage Junction Historic Park hosts various community events throughout the year, most notably…read morethe Halloween Heritage Haunt. It's a nice place to visit with the kids when combined with a trip to the William S. Hart Museum. Visit the train and the historic buildings. It's also a nice location to hike or jog. Continue down the dirt road, past the historic houses on the right, and you will reach Hart Park Campgrounds. From there the path connects to Lisbeth Trail which leads to various other fire roads and the backside of William S. Hart Museum.

We had such a great time! This was my daughter's first field trip and all the children had such a…read moregreat time. We will definitely go back. The school was my favorite part of the whole tour!!

23800 Pine St, then about 50 yards east up a dirt road…read more If you use Yelp's address, you will never find the Pioneer Oil Refinery--there is no 238 Pine Street. Instead try 23658-23918 Pine St Newhall, CA 91321 in your Maps app. When you get there, the gate for the dirt road to the refinery is marked 23802 Pine St. on a mailbox. When you find the sign for Valencia Building Materials Company, Inc., you are there. I have uploaded pictures of where to turn. (If you see the Newhall County Water Company, you have gone too far up Pine.) Turn east up the dirt road and the refinery will be at the right. The back side of the refinery (which faces towards Pine St.) can be seen at all hours, but the front only during the business hours of the neighbors. Right now, the refinery's grounds are fenced off from the public, but you can get real close.

This is one of the oldest remaining refineries in the world. The Pioneer Oil Refinery was built by…read morethe California Star Oil Works which was later acquired by Standard Oil of California and eventually became Chevron. The city of Santa Clarita acquired the Pioneer Oil Refinery property as a gift from Chevron in 1997. The city intends on restoring it and turning it into a public park. The funding will come from the fees associated with the soon to be developed Gate King Industrial Park, which will surround it. Nearby is the Gate King Open Space is open and has some nice hiking trails. The site is fun to visit if you are in the area. It's right off Newhall and the 14 fwy near the William Hart Museum. It located down Pine St along on an undeveloped dirt driveway in an industrial area. The site is fenced off and unfortunately not open to the public. The location is also a California Historical Landmark, No. 72. The historic marker is located about three miles west of the site at the southeast corner of the intersection of Lyons and I-5. The plaque inscription reads: NO. 172 PIONEER OIL REFINERY - In 1875 the Star Oil Company, one of the predecessors of the Standard Oil Company of California, drilled its first Pico Canyon well, which yielded about one hundred barrels per day. The discovery resulted in the erection of the first commercial oil refinery in California the following year.

I used to live in the first house after the cemetery and it was pretty cool.. if you're driving up…read morepast the cemetery, put your car on neutral and it will still go up instead of rolling down. Put baby powder on the trunk and you'll see the finger prints of the ghosts pushing your car up the hill I love messing with people in the area cause those finger prints and YOURS! there is a scientific explanation for the car going up instead of down but shhhh people don't need to know that.

Was very hard to locate. Had to ask a local resident where it was. It's about 100 yards long. Not…read moreworth the trip from the South Bay Area.

This is definitely one of my hiking parks for walking, hiking, yoga, and exploring. There is…read moregenuinely so much to see! Theres a free area to walk through with a petting zoo and we were lucky enough to be able to get hands on with some of the animals, feeing and petting them! The animal keepers are extremely sweet and super knowledgeable. The actual museum itself is closed and they did say they don't have an exact date but to check in with them in a couple weeks. Hopefully we get to enjoy the museum soon! They also let us know the ranch house was open to explore so we checked it out. It's a self guided museum with lots of history to read about and see for yourself, so don't miss it before heading out of the park.

Great educational place gor kids! I went to spen time with…read moreFamily and walked around and looking the animals farm!

Off the 118, down a rough road that says residents only (open to everyone now), you will find a…read morepaid parking lot for the Santa Monica Mountains Park where you can hike to the missle and to the top of Oat Mountain. Don't forget to pay, $5.00 cash, and put the ticket in your windshield so the cops can see it, otherwise you may get a ticket. Also make sure that you car doors are locked and nothing valuable is left in the car. This area is pretty deserted, so not the best hike to do alone. The hike to the missle is short- but it is up a fire road for about a mile. Some may find the road to be steep but its quite short. During warmer months watch out for snakes. Once you arrive at the missle site you'll be rewarded with an interesting experience- You will see an old repair site for vehicles with remains of the vehicles and buses. Plus the entrance to the missle site- there are two entrances- one with a straight ladder and another one with steps. Both directions require a light. Also be careful as both have obstacles- don't cut yourself on the metal or wood going down. This location also provides great sunset views!

Finally, got to explore this second missile site.. this was probably my favorite because you could…read moreactually roam aroubd more versus the la-96 missile site. I got my friend enrique to tag along.. its $5 to park.. but be ready for a hike... the incline is no joke... when we reached the top; I literally felt like I ran a mile... I felt like I was going to pass out... and it was cold and windy as hell! my hat almost flew off... The place is amazing though.. we saw two abandoned beat up buses with bullet holes and one car that looked like a mashed potato.. its a great place to explore... I can mark this off from my yelp bookmark.