Hummingbird Trail, Simi Valley
Hummingbird Hike in Simi Valley is one of my favorite hikes. It is a great hike that can be done with family/kids. I would rate this trail as a moderate hike- around 5 miles round tip (or you can do around 3 miles round trip to cover the best part of it) with around 1000 feet elevation. I recently hiked this one with my 6 year old son and his friend. Two of them had a blast!! They enjoyed caves, climbing on the rocks etc. This also prompted me to put details on this website so more families can enjoy this. This is probably the first addition to this website in last two years! Sorry I am not able to do more updates here.
Trailhead: Easy to find. Exit on the Kuehner Dr from the first exit on 118 freeway westbound, or the last exit if you are eastbound. After Exit, go north on Kuehner for around 300 feet and you will see a dirt parking lot on your right. Or see the screenshot of map from Bing.com
Near trailhead, for the first few hundred feet, you will pass through open flat area that has gorgeous Oak trees. In summer, the trees look really great- very green and shady. One more caveat if you are hiking in summer. Around 9/10 AM on Summer mornings, be watchful for snakes. Not on the last time when I hiked here but previous to it, I came across a long snake (probably a rattlesnake). Also ask your kids to be watchful if they start getting off the track. Oh, also be careful with human beings here!!! They are not going to bite you but this trail is also popular among bikers who like challenging trails. If you are in some blind spot, this can cause an accident. Other than these two things, this trail is a real treasure to enjoy. Pack some food and you will come across a huge sliding rock with excellent overview of the town. You can enjoy your food there. At least bring some oranges and candy if you are with kids. (Please take along your trash and not spoil this area! See Stoney Peak in Chatsworth with broken glass pieces and you will start hating some of us who are so irresponsible!)
Once you pass flat area, you will pass a creek which will have some water up to sometime in Spring but in summer, it will be dry. If you look towards freeway from the creek, you will see a big duct for the rain water to cross the freeway. Graffiti artists have used this tunnel and created some vibrant art.
The following photo was taken with an iphone some times ago.
This is the first cave once you start climbing on the hike.
Here are few more photos from this hike. I have posted many photos to highlight amazing rock formations and natural caves.
Beautiful cave. Easy to miss. Try second time if you miss first time LOL
Looks like this small rock supports this ceiling of this big cave but if you see closely, there is no contact between them
Aren't you tempted to go out and check out this hike?
Turtle Rock on the Hummingbird hike.
Plenty of places to get shade. If this area/trail was in some National Park, there would have been thousands of visitors everyday. Thankfully, as this is not that popular yet, you can enjoy it fully.
