About This Event
This is a wonderful, historical road made for the use of the residents of Mentryville to tend the oil wells established in the back of the canyon and the top ridge. There is old equipment scattered in the canyon, and historical markers noting the first oil wells in California. Coyotes, deer, and other small animals and reptiles are common on the trail.
Mentryville was an 1880’s oil boom town built around its oil well, Pico No. 4. Named for Charles Alexander Mentry, the oil well’s tenacious driller—and later superintendent of the company that would become Chevron—Mentryville was home to over 100 families until the early 1930’s. Pico No. 4 went on to become the longest continually operating oil well in the world, closing in 1990. Historic buildings still stand including Charles Mentry’s grand thirteen-room mansion, a one-room school house, and a period barn. Mentryville and Pico No. 4 are registered as California State Historical Landmarks.
Read More
https://www.mentryvill... (https://www.mentryville.org/)
It looks like there are some new trails in the area to explore, including one to a waterfall:
https://www.elsmerecan... (https://www.elsmerecanyon.com/picocanyon/mentryville/mentryville.htm)
Hike is 8+ miles round trip with 1,200 elevation gain
HOW TO GET TO THE TRAILHEAD: Exit I-5 on Lyons Avenue. Go West on Lyons. Continue to the end of Lyons (Now called Pico Canyon). If the MRCA gate is closed and locked, park at this point and walk into the park. If the gate is open, you can park inside the park. Proceed to the little old town of Mentryville, make a left over the culvert and park by the big Pepper Tree. (there is a parking fee here)
Liability Waiver (https://hiking.meetup.com/276/pages/Liability_Waiver/)
