Cheeseboro Canyon is located in the northernmost section of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. It is from these hills that water in the canyons flow to the Pacific. The Chumash Indians lived in these canyons for thousands of years. Many trails within the canyons were original Chumash trails before they were expanded by cattle ranchers. In this large expanse of habitat, deer, bobcats, coyotes and rabbits roam. Stroll to Sulphur Springs or hike to the top of Simi Peak and view the cities you’ve left behind. Walk quietly amid the oaks and grasses, or picnic beside a streambed.
Today, a great diversity of plants and animals live in the canyons. Wide-spread oaks and outcrops of sedimentary rock provide excellent nesting sites for owls, hawks and other raptors (birds of prey). The abundance of raptors indicates a large prey population, especially small mammals and reptiles. In more rugged areas where cattle didn’t graze, we can still find a variety of native plant communities, including chaparral, coastal sage scrub and riparian woodlands.
There are several unique facts regarding these canyons:
• Cheeseboro Canyon has the largest concentrations of birds of prey nesting areas in the U.S. outside of Alaska.
• The Valley Oak tree, the largest oak native to the United States and possibly the world, live in these canyons in what might be the largest southerly stand of trees left.