So Cal Stomp About

By Paulie

Nothing is more Southern California than the movies. It’s our very own homegrown industry and that puts us at ground zero in the dreams of the whole world. We see glimpses of the movie industry at nearly every turn: a recognizable face in the grocery store, a filming crew on location clogging a street, driving by the busy studios, or Variety at the newsstand with headlines like “Buffo! Socko!” The movie business surrounds us. We love it.

So with this in mind, let’s go on an easy hike where the milieu of making movies, really old movies to be sure, still lingers in the air. Here’s what we want for our outing: first it must be free as well as close to Los Angeles, and of course kid friendly and pet friendly, not too long of a hike, and of course easy to walk (say- wide hard-pack dirt paths that are flat). Oh, yes- and shaded. After all, this is Southern California. Believe it or not, there are hikes that do fit this description. One that quickly comes to our minds is the Corriganville Regional Park in Simi Valley. You’ve never been there? Well…

Corriganville was founded by Ray “Crash” Corrigan, a cowboy and movie stunt man. He bought land out beyond the rim of Los Angeles, in Simi Valley in Eastern Ventura County and created Corriganville a filming location and a western movie theme amusement park. It’s gone now. Originally you had to travel the Santa Suzanna Pass to get there but now it’s accessible by the Ronald Reagan Freeway. Corrigan’s land became the current regional park. However the man-made lake bed, now named Robin Hood Lake, is still there as is the sunken room where cameras could film under the water through thick windows. And those rock formations look so familiar. Didn’t we see Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O’Sullivan dive into a river from up there?

The Corrigan Regional Park at 7001 Smith Road, Simi Valley, welcomes families looking for an interesting place to stroll. There are port-a-potties, mutt mitts (you know, to pick up Fido’s doo doo), benches, informative plaques for kids to read, and a couple modest loops (the longest about a mile around) where mom can stroll behind her Bob.

Go to thishikingtrail.com for a map (take the 118 to Kuehner Drive, south to Smith Road, then left and go on to the parking lot). After your outing take a moment at this website and share your comments with other families. If you know of another hike that fits this description please share it with us here in the comments section below. As old Crash Corrigan might have said, “Happy trails folks, and c’mon back”.