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Sage Ranch in the Simi Hills near Los Angeles shows its brightest shade of green this month and next.

The 635-acre Sage Ranch lies west of the San Fernando Valley in the scrub-covered Simi Hills. The ranch owes its name not to the predominant sage vegetation growing there, but rather to the former owner of the ranch, one Orrin Sage, Senior. Mr. Sage grazed cattle here for a time and planted orange and avocado orchards on a portion of the property in 1981. Purchased by the state in 1990, this pocket-sized patch of publicly owned open space has become a model park for passive recreation such as hiking, birdwatching, and nature study.

Tilted sandstone outcrops and boulders punctuate the landscape here -- the result of slow uplift of Cretaceous marine sedimentary rock along thrust faults. The rock originated from layers of sandy muck deposited near the ocean shore some 70 million years ago. Framed by these sometimes dramatic rock outcrops, the hiker's view on a clear day extends broadly toward Simi Valley and the Santa Susana Mountains in the north, San Fernando Valley in the east, and the Santa Monica Mountains in the south. The closer-at-hand view to the south and west includes some worn-out-looking former Rocketdyne (now Boeing) test facilities and buildings.

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The park's single entrance and spacious parking lot is accessible by way of Woosley Canyon Road from the San Fernando Valley, or (much more awkwardly) by way of the excessively narrow and squiggly Black Canyon Road from Simi Valley. The two-mile loop trail (with minor spurs) going around the property follows graded and ungraded roads, passing near dramatic rock formations known as Turtle Rock and Sandstone Ridge, and skirting a maintained grove of orange trees.

You can see Sage Ranch at its very best from now through early May, when wildflower fragrances, mixed with the scent of orange blossoms, suffuse the air.

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The 635-acre Sage Ranch lies west of the San Fernando Valley in the scrub-covered Simi Hills. The ranch owes its name not to the predominant sage vegetation growing there, but rather to the former owner of the ranch, one Orrin Sage, Senior. Mr. Sage grazed cattle here for a time and planted orange and avocado orchards on a portion of the property in 1981. Purchased by the state in 1990, this pocket-sized patch of publicly owned open space has become a model park for passive recreation such as hiking, birdwatching, and nature study.

Tilted sandstone outcrops and boulders punctuate the landscape here -- the result of slow uplift of Cretaceous marine sedimentary rock along thrust faults. The rock originated from layers of sandy muck deposited near the ocean shore some 70 million years ago. Framed by these sometimes dramatic rock outcrops, the hiker's view on a clear day extends broadly toward Simi Valley and the Santa Susana Mountains in the north, San Fernando Valley in the east, and the Santa Monica Mountains in the south. The closer-at-hand view to the south and west includes some worn-out-looking former Rocketdyne (now Boeing) test facilities and buildings.

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The park's single entrance and spacious parking lot is accessible by way of Woosley Canyon Road from the San Fernando Valley, or (much more awkwardly) by way of the excessively narrow and squiggly Black Canyon Road from Simi Valley. The two-mile loop trail (with minor spurs) going around the property follows graded and ungraded roads, passing near dramatic rock formations known as Turtle Rock and Sandstone Ridge, and skirting a maintained grove of orange trees.

You can see Sage Ranch at its very best from now through early May, when wildflower fragrances, mixed with the scent of orange blossoms, suffuse the air.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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