Beyond this junction, there is a meeting with a paved road heading up to Sullivan Ridge Fire Road. This trail is useful for those hiking into Rustic Canyon from Will Rogers State Park, and wanting to form a look through the canyon. A third of a mile up, there is a connection trail heading west for 3/4 of a mile up to the Backbone Trail in Will Rogers State Park. Elements of the bizarre retreat that were built have been left to decay by the Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation.īeyond the machine shed, a single track continues up the canyon toward Camp Josepho. The Stephens had commissioned famed African-American architect Paul Williams (who designed the homestead now in ruins in Solstice Canyon) to build a four-story mansion within the canyon, but those plans were never executed. This is the last major building from the ranch. Many of the specifics of this blight on Los Angeles history have been lost to time, but the ruins remain for hikers to explore.Ĭontinue north up the road to a collapsed steel structure that served as a machine shed and garage. A radio capable of communicating with Germany may have been confiscated as well. Authorities monitoring the ranch raided the facility shortly after the bombs fell on Pearl Harbor, arresting Schmidt and others for espionage. The owners were convinced by their Nazi pal Herr Schmidt that when Europe inevitably fell to Germany, America would be reduced to anarchy, and the National Socialist Party would need a self-sustaining stronghold in the mountains outside Los Angeles to survive the fall and plot the American takeover. The graffiti-covered power buildingĪround the power building are raised gardens and more concrete steps, all remnants of the $4 million invested in Murphy Ranch by Winona and Norman Stephens.
HIDE OUT PACIFIC BUILDING GENERATOR
Step inside this haunting hollow structure that once housed a robust diesel generator and fuel tank. The road turns up the canyon, passing through coast live oaks and sycamores that hide the crumbling ruins of Murphy Ranch.Ī third of a mile from the bottom of the stairs, you will reach a large concrete building covered in spray paint. When the string of 500+ steps finally comes to an end, turn left and follow the wide road down to the bottom of Rustic Canyon. The narrow concrete steps drop 200 feet over 0.1 miles down a lush slope that was once terraced and irrigated to harvest nut, fruit, and olive trees for the reclusive Nazis. (If you miss this set of stairs, there will be another staircase 0.15 miles up the road alongside an abandoned water tower.) Looking up the stairs Turn left here and begin the dizzying descent to Murphy Ranch. Looking down the stairs into Rustic CanyonĪ gap in the chain link fence on the left side of the road leads to the top of an endless-looking staircase heading down the steep wall of the canyon. The view to the north up Rustic Canyon continues to improve as you hike another 2/3 of a mile up the wide paved fire road. To the west there is a partial ocean view over the Pacific palisades.
This hike begins at the residential end of Sullivan Ridge Fire Road, but the ruins may also be reached by hiking up Rustic Canyon from Will Rogers State Historic Park.įrom the street parking at the intersection of Capri Drive and Casale Road, begin walking up Sullivan Ridge Fire Road toward a gate 0.4 miles from the start at the entrance of Topanga State Park.
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