Happy Camp Canyon
9.8 MRT out-and-back – Moderate (985′ elevation gain/loss)
DIRECTIONS TO TRAILHEAD: Meet the eastern Happy Camp Trailhead, adjacent Rustic Canyon Golf Course parking lot. From Simi Valley, exit Princeton Ave and turn right (north). Turn left at Campus Park Dr. and continue 1.6 miles to the trailhead at the dead-end. Parking is on the right.
We’ll follow a well-maintained trail beside the Rustic Canyon golf course 3/4 of a mile to the entrance to Happy Camp Canyon, “a lush riparian oak woodland with an intermittent stream.” We’ll then follow an old ranch road eastward as it rises gradually in the canyon bottom between Oak Ridge (to the north) and Big Mountain (to the south). At 4.9 miles we’ll reach a pleasant oak grove with picnic tables and hitching rails where we’ll take a rest-and-snack break. We’ll return the way we came.