Magic Mountain is a mountain in the western San Gabriel Mountains in Los Angeles County, California. It is part of the Angeles National Forest and the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. The mountain is the namesake of Six Flags Magic Mountain in nearby Santa Clarita, California. A U.S. Wilderness area of the same name is located on the north slopes of the mountain.
| Magic Mountain | |
| Map: | USA Los Angeles Metropolitan Area#California#USA |
| Elevation: | 4,864 feet (1,487 m) |
| Range: | San Gabriel Mountains |
| Topo: | USGS Agua Dulce |
| Prominence: | 549 feet (168 m) |
| Elevation Ref: | [1] |
| Prominence Ref: | [2] |
| Coordinates Ref: | [3] |
| Easiest Route: | Forest Route 3N17 from Bear Divide, Class 1 |
| Isolation: | 3.02 miles (4.87 km) |
| Isolation Ref: | [4] |
Magic Mountain was originally known as Iron Mountain on United States Geological Survey topographic maps, first appearing in the year 1900.[5] The name Magic Mountain first appeared on these maps in 1939.[6] [7]
In 1955, Magic Mountain was selected by Project Nike to be an Integrated Fire Control site for Nike Ajax missiles as part of the Los Angeles Defense Area. Construction included the improvement of the access road to the peak from Bear Divide,[8] installation of water infrastructure, and construction of a transmission line. These projects, along with the IFC technology itself, were completed by the end of 1956 and the base was given the designation LA-98-C.[9] The missile launch site itself was constructed in Lang, just east of Canyon Country.[10]
Army housing for the families of soldiers stationed at Magic Mountain (as well as nearby Los Pinetos) was completed in Sand Canyon in early 1959.[11] The site was operational from 1957 until 1961, when the missile launch site at Lang was upgraded to use Nike Hercules missiles but control was transferred to another nearby IFC site.
The former IFC site was transferred back to the US Forest Service after 1962, before being leased out to the Marquardt Corporation. Marquardt constructed their Rocket Test Laboratory on the peak. They chose this site to test "highly reactive or toxic propellants" at a safe distance from the populated areas their existing test sites were located in, such as Saugus and Van Nuys.[12] The lab was dedicated on October 30, 1964.[13] While in operation, various tests were conducted at the site as part of the Apollo program.[14]
In December 1967, three residents of the San Fernando Valley died in a plane crash on the mountainside.[15]
In the 1980s, Phil Gillibrand of the P.W. Gillibrand Company made plans to strip mine ilmenite and magnetite at multiple sites in what would later become the Magic Mountain Wilderness between the peak and Soledad Canyon.[16] These plans were approved in 1991 but never materialized.[17]
Following the closure of the Marquardt lab, management of the peak was once again returned to the Forest Service. The Magic Mountain Wilderness area and the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument were established in 2009 and 2014, respectively.[18]
Magic Mountain is located in the western San Gabriel Mountains, as well as the Angeles National Forest and the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. The most common ascent route starts at Bear Divide, a mountain pass between Canyon Country and the San Fernando Valley, and follows Forest Service Road 3N17, a paved but unmaintained fire road.[19] This road is currently closed to motor vehicles indefinitely but open to non-motorized transportation such as hikers or mountain bikers.[20]
12,282 acres of undisturbed land on the north slopes of the mountain were designated as the Magic Mountain Wilderness by the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009.[21] Representative Buck McKeon, who led a last-minute effort to add the mountain to the bill,[22] described the land around Magic Mountain as "some of the most magnificent in California and the country."[23]
The peak itself is excluded from the wilderness area due to the improvements made by Project Nike and Marquardt.[24]
