Vasquez Rocks Natural Area!

What Are the Vasquez Rocks?

This is a huge, sedimentary rock formation that’s been the backdrop for many science fiction movies!

What Makes Them Historical?

While the rock formation itself may be as old as 33.9 million years, the history as we know it began with the arrival of the ancestors of the Tataviam and Shoshone people in the area around 450 CE! These groups divided into tribelets of 200-300 people, joined by a common lineage. Here stood the village of Mapipingna, whose pictographs and grinding stones have survived, even after the tribes were rounded up by the Missions in 1797!

As for why we call Vasquez Rocks by that name today, famed bandido, Tiburcio Vásquez, made these rocks his final hideout as he fled from law enforcement in 1874. Having earned his infamy from robberies in Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito Counties, he decided Southern California would be a safer spot to lay low from Governor Booth’s $15,000 capture budget. For a while, it worked, as he hopped from Littlerock Creek to Robbers Roost to Soledad Canyon and finally to Vasquez Rocks.

Here, he made the big mistake of holding bigtime sheep rancher, Alessandro Repetto, hostage, which drew the law’s attention on him in SoCal. Then, his family, or the family of his host, Greek George, turned him in after he supposedly got his own niece pregnant. Today, Vasquez Rocks are a natural area managed by the LA County Parks Department!

How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?

Volunteer with Los Angeles County Parks & Recreation!
Adopt a Park with Los Angeles County Parks & Recreation!
Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!