Oddly, this hike never gave us a view of Lake Eleanor, the historic, artificial freshwater lake constructed for a water source for cattle in 1889. Instead, Barbara and I did get a lovely view of 1969's Las Virgenes Reservoir to the NE and that was enough to complete the beauty of this coastal sage scrub gem of a hike. The one and only trail starts south of the 101 off Westlake Boulevard, a few steps south of E Potrero Road. Following the trail map, we climbed to the top of the hill facing east and caught beautiful views of mountains in every direction with the blue sky and reservoir accenting the summer sandy shaded hills. Not a difficult hike though it was rocky in some sections, and ever-present Russian thistle nipped at our ankles. But what a landscape! Green lichen spread on pink and gray sandstone boulders at the side of the trail. The Conejo Open Space holds 600 plant species, 17 of them rare, threatened, or endangered. We photographed a few including California buckwheat, blue sage, Plummer's Mariposa lilies, and chaparral yucca with branches of seed pods. Actually you can start the trail at either end. Though we began on the north end (we can't resist climbing up rocky trails through brush to reach the top of a hill,) the south end probably is simpler to find and follow, and has closer parking. Although the thistle makes it a no-go for dogs, this hike is a botanist's coastal summer treasure, and though there's no shade it's a simple climb on an easy-to-follow trail with stunning views.