L.A. Walks: Hike a Former Hollywood Movie Ranch, 2.5 miles

Another "new to us" discovery from Charles Fleming's L.A. Walks series in the Times (4/13/17.) Barbara and I took a ride out to Corriganville Park at the foothills of the Santa Susana Mtns in Simi Valley where in 1937, celluloid cowboy Ray "Crash" Corrigan purchased 246 acres to build a movie ranch that eventually included Silvertown, a western town with a saloon, hotel, jail, livery, bank, corral, and blacksmith shop. Within the next 30 years, thousands of movies, TV shows, and commercials were shot at the ranch, notably with (be still my 5yo cowgirl heart) cowboys like Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, John Wayne, Clayton Moore, and Tex Ritter; and TV shows including Rin Tin Tin, Sky King, and Star Trek. From 1949-1965 Corrigan opened the ranch to the public as an amusement park complete with stuntman shows and tours. Sadly, fires in '70 and '79 destroyed the structures, so today Barbara and I had to exercise our imagination while Mother Nature did her number with gorgeous blue skies, singing birds, and jaw-dropping sandstone rock formations. We hiked through the woodland of TV Robin Hood's Sherwood Forest and on mountain trails past locations for John Ford's 1948 Fort Apache and the village for Howard Hughes's 1950 Vendetta, both marked by ghostly signs. Our pix are from the Trail Blazer Cave, then on to western staple Hideout Rock. The manmade Concrete Lake (now empty) made an appearance in the African Queen and was used for Johnny Weismuller's Jungle Jim series. The coolest remnants of the past? Square portholes under the bridge used for filming underwater scenes. For a former cowgirl hat, boots, and fringe vest wearing little girl from Milwaukee, it was a real blast from the "thrilling days of yesteryear." Hi Yo Silver!