Las Llajas Canyon

Las Llajas Canyon within the Marr Ranch Parkland contains the 1920s residential subdivision called Marrland and the surrounding open space area administrated by the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District and is located in northeastern Simi Valley, CA. The Las Llajas and nearby Chivos Canyons are parts of the Marr Ranch Parkland, Marrland residential subdivision, and are situated at the foothills on the south side of the Santa Susana Mountains. It contains panoramic mountain and city views, large oak trees, stream and stream bed, rock formations, barren hillsides and rolling hills. The canyon is visited for recreational activities as rock climbing, biking, hiking, wildlife observation, photography, running, picnicking, and horseback riding. It has smooth footing with many sandy sections and a green creek-bed. It also includes a 46-acre dam that was intended for creation a recreational lake in the 1970s. Now called the Las Llajas Canyon Debris Basin.The place name was first used in 1931. It is likely a misspelling of the Spanish las llagas, which translates to “the wounds”, and referred to the stigmata of a Roman Catholic saint.Pisgah Grande was a Christian sect who created a secluded colony in the Llajas Canyon. At one time, the cult had thirty buildings and 150 residents.