Whitney Canyon, Santa Clarita, California
View towards the west to the mouth of Whitney Canyon. Eternal Valley Memorial Park in far background. (Photo taken on 10/3/2009)
Whitney Canyon is located between Placerita Canyon and Elsmere Canyon in the western San Gabriel Mountains. It is accessed from the park-and-ride at the end of Newhall Avenue (the old San Fernando Road) just east of Highway 14.
The canyon was first called Mud Springs Canyon. In 1888 and 1900, John H. Whitney purchased land at the mouth of the canyon (see the Naming of the Canyon page). For many years the canyon was called both Mud Springs and Whitney, but from the 1940's and on the only name used was Whitney Canyon.
The first oil well was drilled in 1893 and the last well was drilled in 1970.
In 1933 a juvenile camp for homeless boys was built. It was called Camp No. 8 and was built for up to 100 boys. It was an outlet for the transient boy problem, which was serious in the days since the great depression struck. The Newhall Signal of November 30, 1933, gives a description of the camp.
John Whitney left the canyon by 1900. Ownership after that is uncertain but John Boston reports (The Time Ranger, Signal June 17, 2007) that J. Warren MacClatchie bought the ranch in the canyon in 1935 calling it the Double Vee. He for sure owned it by 1936 because that's when the ownership of the existing oil wells were transferred to his name. He raised thoroughbred horses for racing and even built a racetrack there. In June of 1947 MacClatchie sold out to millionaire oilman Waite Phillips (Signal June 19, 1947) for a reported quarter of a million dollars. MacClatchie moved his Double Vee ranch to Mint Canyon. In 1956, Phillips sold out to Jack Albert (Signal January 19, 1956). At that time, the ranch consisted of 631 acres, seven buildings, and 13 oil wells. Albert would continue to operate the land as a horse and cattle ranch until 1964, when Highway 14 was built. Then he just operated the few existing oil wells on the property. In the late 1980's, developer Ray Watt paid an estimated $1 million for the land.
In September of 1964, Dale King (see ad below) opened the Circle K Ranch in the canyon, probably leasing from Albert. Circle K Ranch specialized in youth groups like Scouts, Cubs, or Brownies. Offered were horseback riding with instruction and other Western activities, like a junior rodeo. There were one day actities up to two week trips. You could also just coming down with your family for a little riding. There were also group picnic and camping areas. By 1974, the Circle K Ranch was replaced by the Marv King Riding Stables.
In 1987, Los Angeles County officials considered the building of an off-road vehicle park in the canyon. The Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation Department had been unsuccessfully searching for an acceptable site and Whitney seemed like a good candidate. At first everybody seemed to like the idea (even now-councilwoman Lauren Weste), but that changed quickly. The Placerita Canyon Nature Center Associates said that there would be too much noise, dust, and air pollution. The noise would destroy wildlife habitat and drive the animal population away. The Disney Company was concerned about the noise hampering filming at their Golden Oak Ranch in Placerita Canyon. The Forest Service also was against it. There was also the threat of a housing development in the canyon if the OHV park was not built. A dump was also being proposed for neighboring Elsmere Canyon which the county could expand into Whitney Canyon after Elsmere was full. An OHV park and a dump being compatible.
This issue dragged on for many years until July of 2002 when the City of Santa Clarita and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy purchased the land to be preserved as open space. 442 acres were bought for $4.89 million from developer Ray Watt with funds from the state, the city of Santa Clarita and Proposition 12 (the parks bond approved by voters in 2000). On October 26, 2002, the canyon was dedicated and opened for public use. In 2004, the Elsmere Canyon dump proposal was dropped. In March of 2005, Whitney Canyon was annexed into the City of Santa Clarita.
There was a big cleanup on the weekend of June 3, 2007, after much old buried trash was uncovered from rains. See here for that story (from the Newhall Signal of June 2, 2007).
On July 13, 2012, there was a pot bust in the canyon. See Newhall Signal article (from July 14) here and a SCVNews article here.
First waterfall at the end of the trail. Most people stop here. There is a higher waterfall about 200 yards past this one. (Photo taken on 1/21/2023)