Skip to main content

P is for Placerita Canyon State Park: A Free to See #AtoZChallenge Post

 

An accessible sign for Placerita Canyon Heritage Trail shows the trail map in relief and has information in English and Braille
I'm living in southern California this year, and decided to use my exploration of the area as my focus for the #AtoZChallenge. I'm concentrating on free to see places, though I will include locations that require a parking fee. This is the sixteenth post in the series. 

I have driven up and down the 14 Freeway many times, but I had never taken the exit to Placerita Canyon State Park and the Oak of the Golden Dream until just recently. How I wish I had known about this beautiful park when my own children were little! I will definitely be taking my grandchildren here. 

Admission and parking are free, and the park is located a mile or so off the 14 Freeway in Santa Clarita, California. It's only a mile out of the way, but you find yourself in a wonderful little wilderness, and feel like you are much farther from civilization.

Because I forgot that I was visiting for the letter P, and thought I was here solely for the Oak of the Golden Dream (letter O--my apologies to Olvera Street!), I took most of my photos on the trail to the famous tree. As the above sign indicates, the short trail is accessible to all. It is paved, curbed, and has signs in Braille. It follows a shallow stream. Birds were chirping and lizards running around on the day of my visit. 

The Oak of the Golden Dream is important, because it was near this tree that the first documented discovery of gold was made in California, way back in 1842. Sutter's Mill might be the more widely remembered site, but this site in Los Angeles county actually holds the record for earliest discovery. Apparently a man by the name of Francisco Lopez was sleeping under the tree and he dreamed he was floating down a river of gold. When he awoke, he was hungry and pulled up some wild onions. He was amazed to discover gold flecks clinging to the roots of the plants. 

As you walk along the trail, right before the tree, you go through a short tunnel, where a beautiful mural has been painted depicting the discovery of gold. I was so impressed to see that the mural was painted in 1976 and is free from graffiti. 

A beautifully painted mural, featuring golden meadows near a stream, depicts the discovery of gold in California
The tree itself shows its age, but is miraculously still standing.
The main trunk of the Golden Oak is nearly completely hollow

Though I thought my main focus was on this heritage trail, there was so much more to love about Placerita Canyon Park! The visitor's center was amazing; there are several live birds, snakes, and turtles there, as well as many taxidermized animals on display. There is an old cabin that used to be occupied by a family of 14. Dozens of tables, set under shady trees, offer excellent picnic spots. The shallow stream is perfect for young children to wade in and explore. Numerous other hiking trails and short informative walks are throughout the park. A large amphitheater is also on site, presumably for programs that are offered throughout the year.

If you want to "get away from it all," Placerita Canyon State Park is a quick drive from the city and offers a great escape from the hustle and bustle. Highly recommend!




Comments

  1. It looks beautiful. Sometimes you just need to get into the wilds.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Conversations are so much nicer when more than one person does the talking. :-) Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts; I'd love to hear from you!

Popular posts from this blog

Ten Things of Thankful: Autumn Edition

It's autumn time, one of my favorite times of year.  I just couldn't leave this weekend as a one-post weekend.  

Ten Things of Thankful: Last Two Weeks

  Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, as viewed from an overlook I apologize for not commenting on your blog posts this past week; John and I took a vacation to Yellowstone National Park, leaving behind our computers and, to a large extent, cell phone service. We escaped the outside world and just spent time in nature. Though we have friends near Yellowstone (who we love to visit) we made this trip just about us, so please forgive us if we were nearby and didn't stop by. The crowds were minimal (though we did mask up whenever we passed someone on the trails) and we spent our days hiking, taking photos, and watching geysers erupt. Today, we are back home and back to work, and, in the case of my computer, back to old shenanigans like not letting me import my photos. (I was able to add the above photo by using blogger on my phone, but that isn't my preferred method.) I want to write about Yellowstone and have photos I want to share, but will leave that for another...

Monday Mentions: Equate Crutches

Have you ever needed crutches? I hadn't, until a week ago.  I'm pretty sure I strained a muscle while running a half-marathon.  (That sounds kind of cool, doesn't it? I'm not actually that cool; the last time I strained a muscle it was from carrying too many shopping bags at once.) In any case, I found myself in need of some crutches. I sent my husband to the store to get some. Photo: A pair of crutches leans against a wall  Not that crutches are all that complex, but because I hadn't used any before, I wondered if I could figure out how to adjust them to fit me properly. I shouldn't have worried. John came home from Walmart with their generic store brand of crutches, complete with instructions. First, I needed to take out a long bolt that went through the hand grip. Then I needed to find my height range, push down two metal pieces, and slide the crutches until the little metal pieces came up in the hole near my height range. (Having two people for this...