Access to the park and parking is off Bell Canyon Boulevard (Bell Canyon Road) near the intersection with Overland Drive, west of Valley Circle Boulevard in West Hills, Los Angeles 91307 and in the lot in the community of Bell Canyon. The park is open from sunrise to sunset, 7 days a week. Rattlesnakes live in the area, requiring observant footfalls and handholds. Unauthorized motor vehicles and motorbikes are not permitted. The park's land, with public access via trails only, extends upstream past the 'guard-gated' road into the Bell Canyon community to junctions with other trails.[5]
Bell Canyon Park is operated by the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.[6]
In 1798 the land became the property of the 'new' Spanish Mission San Fernando Rey de España (Mission San Fernando). In 1845 a Mexican land grant established Rancho El Escorpión here, one of the few granted to Native Americans. The former adobe rancho buildings were located within the current park (adobes existed 1840s-1960s).[10][11][12] The rancho was purchased by George Platt in 1912, becoming the Platt Ranch in 1912.[13][14]
^"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2012-02-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Upper_Las_Virgenes_Cyn.-park Accessed 2/28/2010
^"Archived copy"(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 2010-03-14. Retrieved 2010-03-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) SSPSHP Ethnohistory Accessed 2/28/2010
^"Archived copy"(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 2010-03-14. Retrieved 2010-03-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) SSPSHP Ethnohistory. Accessed 2/28/2010