Photo by vw_huntsinger

After growing up somewhere flatter than Kansas, I love any terrain that rises above head-height. The Simi Hills aren’t glamorous or well-known, but they’re full of fascinating canyons and offer some great views. They’re also very off the beaten track, with miles and miles of wild land in the triangle between Filmore, Simi and Santa Clarita.

A small part of that has just been turned into a housing development. Thankfully that led to the dedication of a new park and the installation of a trail system, mostly along some old fire roads. Big Sky Trail is a four mile loop that me, Liz and Thor took for the first time last week. Here’s a map:

The upper section, which we took first, heads steeply uphill, and then follows the ridgeline for a couple of miles. You end up with some great cliff-top spots to enjoy the view out over the valley, all the way to Boney Mountain in the Santa Monicas if it’s clear. The way back winds alongside a stream, through some beautiful oak groves. There’s small parking lots next to most of the spots where the trail crosses the small streets of the development. Me and Liz hiked from a small one off Erringer. It looks like the trail might extend west past Erringer too, but we didn’t check out that side.

Now I need to figure out how to climb deeper into the hills, I can’t leave that much unexplored territory sitting on my doorstep!