Welcome to Romero Canyon Located in Castaic Calfornia
LIVING A COUNTRY WAY OF LIFE
Welcome to Romero Canyon Located in Castaic Calfornia
LIVING A COUNTRY WAY OF LIFE
Canyon Life
Recreation
Recreation
Recreation
Romero Canyon is a beautiful place to walk, run or ride and stop by to eat lunch under our big oak tree on the side of the road. Most stretches of the road are paved for a leisurely walk or slow jog. Private, please respect the community ranch life and stick to the roads.
Equestrian
Recreation
Recreation
Romero Canyon connects to the local trails for an amazing country ride. Most days are perfect for a horse ride through the canyons with its ups and downs and ebb and flow of the mountains. Private, please respect the community by not crossing private property.
Wildlife
Recreation
Wildlife
Romero Canyon is acres of natures wildlife. Deer, coyotes, cougars, rabbits, quail, hawks, eagles, and many more. They inhabit our canyon as we live alongside them. Private, please respect the wildlife and slow down while driving on the roads.
Wildlife sightings
Deer
Deer
Deer
Deer in the fields – Photographed by: R. Landy, September 25, 2012
Deer
Deer
Deer
Deer in the fields – Photographed by: P. Reber, August 16, 2014
Deer
Deer
Bobcats
Deer in the fields – Photographed by: P. Reber, August 16, 2015
Bobcats
Bobcats
Bobcats
Bobcats playing by a Tree – Photographed by: J. Ehman, September 10, 2019
Eagle
Bobcats
Bobcat
Eagle – Photographed by: M. Metcalf, July 2, 2011
Bobcat
Bobcats
Bobcat
Bobcat in a Tree – Photographed by: R. Landy, September 30, 2014
Baby Toad
Baby King Snake
Baby King Snake
Baby Toad – Photographed by: S. Ennis, April 12, 2005
Baby King Snake
Baby King Snake
Baby King Snake
Baby King Snake - Photographed by: S. Ennis, June 5, 2010
Baby Squirrels
Baby King Snake
Friendly Squirrel
Baby Squirrels - Photographed by: S. Ennis, July 7, 2003
Friendly Squirrel
Friendly Squirrel
Friendly Squirrel
Friendly Squirrel - Photographed by: S. Ennis, July 7, 2003
Racoon
Friendly Squirrel
Quail Family
Racoon - Photographed by: Neighbor, Fall 2001
Quail Family
Friendly Squirrel
Quail Family
Quail Family - Photographed by: Neighbor, Spring 2015
Bob the cat
Story of “Bob the Cat” asleep on the porch:
After the Ennis's designed and built their house and finally moved into their first home, nestled in one of the box canyons along Romero Canyon Road. We recall waking for several years after having a young Bob Cat curled up asleep on the back door mate. He spent many nights tramping around the canyon then using our back porch as his resting place after enjoying a fresh rabbit meal before he would retreat further up the canyon. Bob the Cat returned time and time again as this became a routine for several summers. Although, we have not seen him asleep on the porch lately, likely due to the noise from our 2 year old, the Bobcat is a lot grayer and likely wiser now…to this day he is still seen around the barn in the back of our property.
Written by: G. Ennis, August 1, 2010
BobCAT SPOTTING
Possibly “Bob the Cat” descendants...
Photographed by: J. Ehman, August 12, 2020
History
The Great Castaic Range War 1872
The Great Castaic Range War 1872
The Great Castaic Range War 1872
When the law of the land failed to deliver justice in the late 19th century, the remedy was often sought with a gun. The Great Castaic Range War started when neighboring ranchers laid claim to the same tract of land. The bloody conflict was the most enduring feud in southern Californian history, lasting more than a quarter of a century. It claimed at least eight lives, some of them innocent bystanders. Several sources claim as many as 21 lives were lost in the dispute.
In 1872, William Willoby Jenkins staked a large claim along Castaic Creek. Six years later, he established a ranch he named the Lazy Z. It was located near the present-day intersection of Lake Hughes Road and Castaic Road.
Romero Homestead 1913
The Great Castaic Range War 1872
The Great Castaic Range War 1872
Alvino Romero is believed to have homesteaded the top of the canyon that bears his surname in 1913, although Los Angeles County Assessor records give a date of 1912 for his tiny one-room, 192-square-foot homestead cabin. It’s a crude board-and-batt structure with horizontal wooden boards for walls, a corrugated metal roof and no insulation.
The cabin still stands, and Alvino’s descendants still own the property as of 2014.
Alvino Romero (sometimes incorrectly cited as Albino Romero) was born Jan. 7, 1851, probably in Santa Barbara. The 1860 Federal Census for the town of Santa Barbara lists him as the fourth of eight children (the seven youngest being boys) of Pedro and Josefa Romero.
Winkler Homestead 1962
The Great Castaic Range War 1872
Castaic Train Station 1909
The cabin is forever gone, but the memories remain vividly alive for former owner Marylynn Butters, daughter of the late World War I veteran, Pvt. Norman C. Winkler, who built the 600-square-foot ranch home in 1962. The secluded cabin and everything in it — and even the surrounding trees Winkler planted — were destroyed in the 2,183-acre Castaic blaze of Aug. 27, 2001.
Located in a remote, hilly area of Romero Canyon off of a long, winding dirt road, the small cabin was in the process of being renovated by new owner Philip Scorza, a teacher at Canyon High School. It was only four months earlier that Scorza purchased the home from Jim Gilmartin, who had purchased the home from Butters in 1999. Before the latest purchase, the aging cabin had been unoccupied since 1994.
Castaic Train Station 1909
Bowers Cave in Hasley Canyon 1884
Castaic Train Station 1909
This was the Castaic train station. All of it. The Southern Pacific Railroad Company erected the siding at Castaic Junction (near today’s State Route 126) in 1887. In this 1909 photograph, May McDonald and Ethel Casey are waiting patiently beside the tracks. The little siding was wiped out in the St. Francis Dam disaster of March 12-13, 1928.
The town of Castaic at the northwestern edge of the Santa Clarita Valley derives its name from the Tataviam Indian word “kashtuk.” In the mid- to late-1800s, Castaic consisted of a number of large ranches, as did neighboring regions throughout the greater Saugus area. Castaic’s first white settlers were probably the Cordova family, who arrived in 1835, followed in 1853 by a ’49er named George Washington Lechler, who homesteaded in nearby Hasley Canyon and became one of the area’s most prominent citizens.
The train station in this photograph preceded the establishment of the Castaic School District two years later. A post office was erected at Castaic Junction in 1894, but it lasted less than a year. It was not until 1915, when the Ridge Route opened, that Castaic really made its way onto the map.
Castaic Lake Opening 1972
Bowers Cave in Hasley Canyon 1884
Bowers Cave in Hasley Canyon 1884
Castaic’s main reservoir opened her virgin waters to enthusiastic boaters at dawn on Monday.
“It’s beautiful, and a wonderful thing for this area,” said Wayne Gosselin of Granada Hills. Arriving at 6 a.m., he was the first member of the public to use the reservoir.
“Quite a recreational area here,” Gosselin said, giving his seal of approval. “There are beautiful inlets where you can stop.”
Gosselin purchased his 14-foot blue and white outward motorboat just so he could use the new lake. Gosselin came with his son Lonnie and their friend, Jim Brewer, to fish.
“Fishing will not open until July 1,” Bob Weeks, county supervisor for inland waters, said. Although there were fewer than 25 boats, Weeks explained that the rush will come when the fishing opens.
“You can see’um jumping if you take a look.”
“It’s great. We need a reservoir here. I’m tired of having to go all the way to the Colorado river,” said Sheldon Fogg of Saugus
Bowers Cave in Hasley Canyon 1884
Bowers Cave in Hasley Canyon 1884
Bowers Cave in Hasley Canyon 1884
On May 2, 1884, brothers McCoy and Everette Pyle, a pair of young ranchers, stumbled upon Bowers Cave in the Hasley hills behind Castaic. Inside they found a treasure trove of native American artifacts, believed to have been deposited there by Tataviam Indians, the dominant peoples of the Santa Clarita Valley from about A.D. 450 to the early 19th Century.
Among the artifacts were nine baskets [Elsasser & Heizer 1963]; 15 complete and another 18 partial flicker (and other) feather bands [ibid.]; 45 bone whistles, various bullroarers and other items [ibid.]; and four ritual staffs or “sun sticks” — perforated stones mounted on 45cm (approx. 18-inch) wooden handles [Johnson: pers. comm. 2013] — which were likely used in the Winter Solstice ceremony .
Sold to Dr. Stephen Bowers, for whom the cave was named, most of the collection found its way to the Peabody Museum of American Ethnology at Harvard University. In 1952; the bulk of the collection is still at the Peabody.
ROMERO CANYON ROAD ASSOCIATION
RCRA
The purpose for the Romero Canyon Road Association is the maintenance and improvements of the private road including surface, drainage and its gate(s) along the private portion of Romero Canyon Road, located in Castaic, California, 91384. To reach out to the association, please email RomeroCanyonRoad@gmail.com