I was a little kid in the era of Roy Rogers and the Lone Ranger so it was a no-brainer for the cowgirl in me when Barbara and I spotted the Old Stagecoach Road hike in AllTrails. Western history tucked in an area filled with towering sandstone rocks? Show us where to begin. The park is off the 118, south on Topanga Canyon Blvd., west on Devonshire. We decided to start at the bottom of the in-and-out trail instead of the top, so we set out at the park entrance off Larwin Avenue. A short walk in led us to the Bannon Quarry Trail which we followed up to the Old Santa Susanna Stagecoach Road—a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument listed on the US National Register of Historic Places. Why? The Santa Susanna Pass was first used by Natives as the main route between the SF Valley and Simi, then actively used during the Spanish mission period. Its historic importance rose after 1850 when James Thompson, LA County Sheriff 1858–59, received $18,000 from the state to fix up the wagon road through the pass then awarded him the contract for carrying mail for the US Postal Service in 1861 when the Civil War disrupted the normal routes. The Butterfield Stage Line made its first overland stagecoach pass along this trail that year, the main transportation link between LA and SF throughout the war, and the stagecoach trail was in use until 1895. As we hiked up, Barbara and I talked about how stagecoaches made it through this pass as we wobbled, climbed, and balanced our way up the narrow, gullied dirt trail interspersed with a solid rock trail and bordered by sandstone boulders, chaparral, and drops. Nuts! Tricky at best, we recommend good hiking shoes and a good sense of balance to tackle it. The last half-mile to the top, nicknamed the "Devil's Slide" gave us a good idea of how small stagecoaches had to be to navigate this route. Hiking this up and down in 19th-century long dresses? Crazy. We were challenged in leggings and t-shirts, but the hike is awesome and the view behind us dazzling. We took a short break at the Lilac Lane Trailhead at the top (an alternate starting point if you prefer to hike down first then climb up to finish.) Hiking down the Devil's Slide was much easier, though stagecoach passengers were required to walk, the stagecoaches used chains on the wheels, and the horses wore blinders! A half mile down we made the turn onto Hill-Palmer Trail and followed it to a paved road to complete the last mile out. It's a popular trail—we met tourists, dog walkers, and a Girl Scout Troop on the way in and out. Spectacular for so many reasons—if you like Western history or just hiking on rocks, the Old Stagecoach Road journey is the ticket.