Santa Clarita River

Another in the string of many 'rivers' in Southern California, this is actually one of the more intact ones. It drains many areas including part of the Angeles National Forest, on snowy, pine covered slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains. It also drains Vasquez Rocks, Castaic Valley, Piru Creek, much of the western side of the Grapevine, and areas of the Condor Sanctuary. The river itself begins around Vincent Gap, the low pass by which highway 14 exits Los Angeles for the desert. It then passes through a gorge in which water flows year-round. After this it becomes a wide wash and moves into Valencia and past Magic Mountain. Unfortunately, much of this part of the river was ruined by overdevelopment and channelization. After passing through this city, the river meanders down its valley near Ojai, and eventually into the ocean near Ventura. This river is usually dry in the summer but has some pretty crazy floods in the winter.

The longest river in Southern California, the Santa Clarita River also has the distinction of being the last one that has been mostly untouched by the rapid urban sprawl that has effected rivers like the Los Angeles River, however many developers wish to change that and it has been its future has been in controversy for many years, although it appears that developers have little hope of winning due to the its habitat.

Rising from underwater sources in Aliso Canyon near the unincorporated town of Acton it meanders through the Santa Clarita Valley, past Valencia into Ventura County down the Ojai Valley before merging with the Pacific Ocean approximately 100 miles away. It supports a wide variety of vegetation and wildlife including roses, cottonwoods, willows, oaks and grape vines. Another possible reason that has stopped the bulldozers is that it harbors several endangered species of birds including California least tern, and the Brown pelican.

Named by Friar Juan Crespi in the 1769 Portola expedition, it honors St. Clare of Assisi, a founder of the Franciscan order.