| Magic Mountain | |
|---|---|
 Magic Mountain as viewed from Central Park inSanta Clarita, California. | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 4,864 feet (1,487 m)[1] |
| Prominence | 549 feet (168 m)[1] |
| Isolation | 3.02 miles (4.87 km)[1] |
| Coordinates | 34°23′12″N118°19′47″W / 34.38667°N 118.32972°W /34.38667; -118.32972[1] |
| Geography | |
  Magic Mountain  Magic Mountain  Magic Mountain | |
| Parent range | San Gabriel Mountains |
| Topo map | USGS Agua Dulce |
| Climbing | |
| Easiest route | Forest Route 3N17 from Bear Divide, Class 1 |
Magic Mountain is a mountain in the westernSan Gabriel Mountains inLos Angeles County, California. The mountain lies at the eastern edge of theSanta Clarita Valley. It can be seen to the east ofCanyon Country, to the southeast ofSoledad Canyon, and to the south ofAgua Dulce. It is located within both theSan Gabriel Mountains National Monument and theAngeles National Forest. The mountain is the namesake ofSix Flags Magic Mountain inSanta Clarita, California. AU.S. Wilderness area of the same name was established in 2009 and is located on the north slopes of the mountain.
In the mid-20th century, the mountain hostedintegrated fire control facilities related toProject Nike as part of theLos Angeles Nike Missile Ring, bearing the nameLA-98-C, with the missile launch station located at the base of the mountain in Soledad Canyon next to theLang Southern Pacific Station. After the station's closure, the infrastructure on the peak was later reused as a rocket fuel laboratory by theMarquardt Corporation for a number of space exploration projects, including theApollo program.
The area around Magic Mountain is part of the ancestral territory of theTataviam people, who made several footpaths in the region south of the peak which were used for hunting and gathering.[2] The Tataviam still consider the region important, and it is possible that the name "Magic Mountain" is ofTataviam origin.[3][4]
Magic Mountain was originally known asIron Mountain on theUnited States Geological Survey topographic maps, first appearing in the year 1900.[5] The name Magic Mountain first appeared on these maps in 1939.[6][7]Six Flags Magic Mountain, an amusement park in nearbyValencia, is named after the mountain.[8]
In 1955, Magic Mountain was selected byProject Nike to be anIntegrated Fire Control (IFC) targeting site forNike Ajax missiles as part of the Los Angeles Defense Area. The land surrounding the mountain was acquired by theArmy Corps of Engineers from theUS Forest Service following the signing of aspecial use permit on October 17, 1955.[9] Construction included the improvement of the access road to the peak from Bear Divide,[10] installation of water infrastructure, and construction of a transmission line. These projects, along with the IFC technology itself, were completed by the end of 1956 and the base was given the designation LA-98-C.[9] The missile launch site itself was constructed in Lang, just east ofCanyon Country.[11]
Army housing for the families of soldiers stationed at Magic Mountain (as well as nearby Los Pinetos) was completed inSand Canyon in 1959.[12] The site atop Magic Mountain was operational from 1957 until 1961, when the missile launch site at Lang was upgraded to useNike Hercules missiles but control was transferred to another nearby IFC site.[9] Both sites were considered for addition to theNational Register of Historic Places, but the degradation of the sites led to them being passed over.[9]
The former IFC site was transferred back to theUS Forest Service after 1962, before being leased out to theMarquardt Corporation, who constructed their Rocket Test Laboratory on the peak. They chose this site to test "highly reactive or toxic propellants" at a safe distance from the populated areas their existing test sites were located in, such asSaugus andVan Nuys.[13] The lab was dedicated on October 30, 1964.[14] While in operation, various tests were conducted at the site as part of theApollo program.[15]
In December 1967, three residents of theSan Fernando Valley died in a plane crash on the mountainside.[16]
In the 1980s, Phil Gillibrand of the P.W. Gillibrand Company made plans tostrip mineilmenite andmagnetite at multiple sites in what would later become the Magic Mountain Wilderness between the peak andSoledad Canyon.[17] These plans were approved in 1991 but never materialized.[18]
Following the closure of the Marquardt lab, management of the peak was once again returned to the Forest Service. The Magic Mountain Wilderness area and theSan Gabriel Mountains National Monument were established in 2009 and 2014, respectively.[3][19]
The region has been affected by a number ofwildfires. In 2009, the Magic Mountain Wilderness was closed following theStation Fire and did not reopen until May 2010.[20] In January 2025, an evacuation was ordered for the area around the mountain due to the nearbyLidia Fire.[21]
Magic Mountain is located in the westernSan Gabriel Mountains, as well as theAngeles National Forest and theSan Gabriel Mountains National Monument. It is one of the mountains that borders theSanta Clarita Valley, located to the east ofCanyon Country, southeast ofSoledad andSand Canyons, and south of nearbyAgua Dulce. The most common ascent route starts at Bear Divide, a mountain pass between Canyon Country and theSan Fernando Valley, and follows Forest Service Road 3N17.[22] This road was first paved by theArmy Corp of Engineers as part of the construction of the Nike station. Route 3N17 is currently closed to motor vehicles indefinitely due to unstable conditions, but remains passable to non-motorized transportation such ashikers ormountain bikers.[23][24] Although there are a number of alternative routes to the top that traverse the wilderness area, these are mostly either abandoned roads or visitor-madesocial trails.[25]
Magic Mountain is one of the windiest areas in Los Angeles County. In 2023, theLos Angeles National Weather Service Forecast Office reported wind gusts of over 100 miles per hour (161 km/h) at the Magic Mountain Truck Trail wind monitoring station located on the peak on two occasions, both duringSanta Ana wind events.[26][27] In 2025, the same NWS station reported wind gusts of 86 miles per hour (138 km/h) leading up to theJanuary 2025 Southern California wildfires.[28]
_(cropped).jpg)
Two regions comprising 12,282 acres (49.7 square kilometers) of undisturbed land on the north slopes of the mountain, separated by an abandoned road, were designated as theMagic Mountain Wilderness on March 30, 2009 as part of theOmnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009.[29] U.S. RepresentativeBuck McKeon ofCalifornia's 25th congressional district and U.S. SenatorBarbara Boxer led a last-minute bipartisan effort to add the mountain to the bill, which protected over 700,000 acres of land in California.[30][31] The declaration of awilderness area on Magic Mountain was first advocated for by theSierra Club in early 2001 as part of the California Wild Heritage Campaign.[32] Boxer introduced related legislation in theSenate as early as May 2002, while an identicalHouse bill was introduced one month later by RepresentativeHilda Solis ofCalifornia's 31st congressional district.[33][34]
In a press conference following the passage of the bill by Congress, McKeon described the land around Magic Mountain as "some of the most magnificent in California and the country."[3] The declaration of a wilderness area on Magic Mountain was championed by Dianne Erskine-Hellrigel, the leader of a local Santa Clarita hiking club,[35] as well as the Sierra Club. Erskine-Hellrigel, who wrote an environmental report on the region prior to its designation as a national wilderness,[36] described Magic Mountain as "one of the most beautiful natural areas around Santa Clarita."[37] The wilderness area's designation was also praised by the City of Santa Clarita,The Wilderness Society, and the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians.[3]
The Magic Mountain Wilderness has a number of unique flora and fauna, owing to itsmixture ofchaparral andconiferous forests. Local scrubland flora include chamise, manzanita, scrub oak, and ceanothus, while the more wooded areas feature oaks, willows, alders, and sycamores. Local endangered fauna include theCalifornia condor, theLeast Bell’s vireo, thesouthwestern willow flycatcher, thearroyo toad, and themountain yellow-legged frog.[38] The mountain is considered to be a good place tospot California condors.[39]
The peak itself is excluded from the wilderness area due to the developments made by Project Nike and Marquardt, as is the abandoned road on the north side of the mountain which divides the wilderness in two.[40][25]
