Featured image credit: Rennett Stowe
Sometimes, Los Angeles can feel like its own planet. The uncompromising culture of the people, the constant barrage of entertainment options, the otherworldly sunsets. It all contributes to this insular essence. Love it or loathe it, that LA flavor is unmistakable. And you’d imagine that the further you traveled from the cosmic epicenter of Hollywood, the more grounded you’d feel. But Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park drops a big prehistoric boulder right on top of that assumption. It turns out you only need to travel about 45 minutes outside of Hollywood to survey the landscape of an alien planet. Or at least Hollywood’s idea of one.
Why the Vasquez Rocks Look So Alien
The Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park looms cosmically off of the Antelope Valley Freeway in the intensity of the high desert along the Sierra Pelona Ridge near Aqua Dulce Springs. Today, the park encompasses an expansive 932 acres saturated with noticeably odd rock formations. If you time your visit just right, there’s even a seasonal stream cutting through the alien terrain. Looking at the Vasquez Rocks, you can imagine them traveling from long worlds away across space and time to land in the inhospitable desert terrain surrounding Los Angeles. But the reason for the formation’s distinct look can be traced to our planet, albeit millions of years ago.
Basically, a layer of sediment formed from the runoff of the surrounding mountains. When a new layer of sediment settled, it exerted pressure on the lower layers, forming sandstone. These layers of sandstone sediment settled in an alternating visible pattern over the ages. Research into the Vasquez Rocks formation dates the earliest sediment samples as occurring sometime between the Oligocene Epoch (34 – 23 million years ago) and the Miocene Epoch (23 to 5 million years ago).
But it’s a miracle that we can see these layers of sediment at all. This geological parfait should be hidden from our view beneath the high desert sands. So why does it look as though some colossal creature lifted the Vasquez Rocks from the earth like the biggest piece of birthday cake ever served? The Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park is close to the San Andreas Fault. With its strong tectonic activity, this faultline likely upended the massive Vasquez Rocks formation, creating the natural anomaly.
Why We Know Them as the Vasquez Rocks
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We’ve only recognized these formations as the “Vasquez Rocks” since 1874. It was in this year at the end of the Mexican-American War that Tiburcio Vasquez and his gang made the area that would become Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park their secret hideout. Tales tell of a bloody shootout between the Vasquez gang and local sheriffs at this seemingly out-of-this-world landmark. Eventually, authorities apprehended Vasquez and hanged him in San Jose the next year.
From the American Frontier to the Final Frontier
For such alien-looking formations, the Vasquez Rocks appear instantly familiar to many people, even those who have never set foot in the high desert. That’s because the distinctive rocks have been featured in countless movies, TV shows, music videos, and commercials.
But Hollywood’s fascination with the Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park may not have been possible without an area borax miner named William Krieg. In 1919, Krieg purchased around 240 acres of high desert land including the area where the distinctive Vasquez Rocks are situated. Recognizing an opportunity in Hollywood’s fledgling film industry, he began to lease out his property for shoots sometime in the 1920s.
Initially, the Vasquez Rocks formations were used to bring a larger-than-life cinematic quality to Hollywood tales of the western frontier. But things got decidedly more cosmic in the 1960s with the filming of a space opera that would eventually go on to become one of the most enduring and respected sci-fi franchises of our time: Star Trek.
An Out of This World Landscape 30 Miles from Hollywood
Vasquez Rocks only featured in four episodes of Star Trek’s initial ‘60s series. Yet, as the series developed a fervent cult following over subsequent years, fans began to recognize the alien landscape. Because of this, the landmark earned the nickname “Kirk’s Rock”, a reference to the show’s Captain Kirk portrayed by William Shatner.
The Vasquez Rocks became so entwined with the lore of Star Trek that future films and series returned to the site for filming. You’ll see the rock formations again in the feature films Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) and Star Trek (2009). They also made appearances in episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, and, most recently, Star Trek: Picard. They’ve even appeared in animated homages in episodes of Futurama, The Simpsons, and an animated Star Trek spinoff, Star Trek: Lower Decks.
The Rich Cultural History of Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park
But long before the bright lights of Hollywood found their way to Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park, it was the land of the indigenous Tataviam people. The Tataviam ( meaning “people of the southern slopes” and “people facing the sun”) resided in this portion of the high desert for around 1300 years.
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Sadly, little remains of the Tataviam culture, though archaeologists have visited the area to sift through burial mounds, turning up weaponry and tools. In the late 18th century, Spanish missionaries arrived in the area, establishing the Mission San Fernando Rey de España. These missionaries forcibly moved the Tataviam to their mission where they pressured the indigenous people into baptism and, ultimately, slavery.
Intermarriage further diluted the Tataviam heritage. By the 1920s, no full-blooded Tataviam remained. Some Tataviam descendants remain in the area today with a modern form of tribal government in place. Their history with the Vasquez Rocks earned the landmark a place on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
Visiting the Vasquez Rocks
These days, the Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park is a popular area for all manner of activities. Beyond simply gazing at the impressive rock formations, guests can ride horses, enjoy high desert picnics, hike scenic trails, and even climb the rocks in designated areas. The park is typically open from sunrise to sunset and can be easily found at the address 10700 W. Escondido Canyon Road, Santa Clarita, CA 91390. It may be a while before you can buy a ticket to Mars, but the Vasquez Rocks is the next best thing (and with way more breathable air).
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