King Gillette Ranch

Well designed hiking trails and great welcome center. One drawback for me is that no pets are allowed on the trails. Park Ranger told me that dog urine and poo attracts coyotes and such to the area if allowed. Otherwise a great day of hiking with beautiful views.

Trekked out to King Gillette Ranch for the first time yesterday when we had our grandson after school. The Visitor Center is open until 5 PM, so even with the afternoon traffic, we were able to spend time in the center, then go for a walk around some of the grounds.
Visitor Center definitely gets five stars. The exhibits about the Santa Monica Mountains state and national parks are very well done. They highlight the land’s topography and diversity, along with the flora and fauna in the area. Also included are the challenges posed on the natural landscape by the human population in the area over the years.
Some nods are provided about movie & TV shows filmed on the Ranch and in the region over the years. There was some production on site filming yesterday, back behind the main mansion. We got close enough to see several of the cast in period nurse’s uniforms, but not much else. Perhaps from the early 60’s? Guessing that from a couple of cars in the area, too.
After we checked out the exhibits and gift shop, we went for a stroll over to see the pond and the mansion grounds. Here’s where we drop from five stars to four.
The «pond» was cement-​lined and not accessible to guests. It has a steep shoreline. A few ducks and other waterfowl were in residence. Didn’t seem to be a mechanism for moving the water around, so to me it looks like one huge mosquito breeding ground. We wondered about that, especially with the recent rise of mosquito-​born diseases spreading to the Southland. Yikes!
The large sweeping lawn gently rolling down the hill from the original Gillette Mansion to the pond is treacherous to walk, as it’s very uneven and littered with small twigs and branches from the surrounding trees. You really have to watch your step.
It’s definitely a peaceful spot. You feel well away from all the home-​bound commuters streaming by on Malibu Canyon Road.
Visitor Center’s parking lot features solar panels sheltering cars from the sun and generating its own power. A lot of thought, care, and dollars went into launching this venue as a new addition to the chain of parks in the area.

I am hesitant to review this park because it is so special that I would hate to see it become popular and thus ruin its charm. That being said, I wouldn’t be a very good Unilocaler if I did not share my knowledge of this neat park.
King Gillette ranch was originally owned by the razor magnate of the same name, and now provides a most spectacular park for all to enjoy. The park is part of the Santa Monica mountains range and is host too much wildlife including many species of birds and other mammals.
There is a lot to do here including gorgeous hikes, Bird watching, bicycling and most importantly a sprawling park that is perfect for any picnic. The visitors center is very helpful. They have maps and are anxious to provide information about all of the activities provided in this park. There is also a small gift shop. As a sidenote, this is the location of the biggest losers ranch.
I remember years ago planning a party for my young niece at a park and scrambling to be one of the lucky few to obtain a picnic table area. How I would have loved to know about this gorgeous park with nothing but plenty of trees and land to spread out and enjoy any type of party or picnic. This place is a treasure.

The place is nice and scenic. Seems very limited and not much to see around the property. Probably better to do the hike

The wife and I took the kiddos here last year. Place is beautiful with lots of history. The kids enjoyed the visitor center and the picnic we brought. After we ate, we went on a cool hiking trail and saw the remnants of the old horse stables. My daughter who rides horses enjoyed this aspect the most.
Pros:
–quiet
–good for kids
–interesting history
–kids and parents can enjoy this place
Cons:
–Would like better marked trails

We really enjoyed visiting King Gillette Ranch recently. It’s a great place to go if you need some peace and quiet. Not a lot of people around, the ones we ran into were very nice and respectful. Great place to bring a book or a picnic, or both.
First, it’s easy to find, there are signs everywhere once you exit 101. Take a left from Las Virgenes and there it is.
Free to visit and 2 hours free parking, that’s plenty if you visit the ranch and take a hike around as well.
They have a great, beautiful, huge Visitor’s Center (you need some time to check it out inside, full of information about the area). This is a great place where you can rest, relax, use the restroom, grab a map of the property.
It’s a nice walk on the property to the actual ranch (you can’t visit the indoors) and other buildings (yes, they do shoot ‘The Biggest Loser” here).
We also hiked up to the Inspiration Point, it’s a loop, follow the path and your instinct, there are different ways to it. It’s a short hike, around 1 mile, moderate, nothing crazy.
We enjoyed learning about the history of the place and exploring the property. It’s a great way to spend a nice afternoon if you live in LA or you visit from out of town and you’d like to see something off the beaten path. It’s close to Paramount Ranch, Malibu, so you can do more things in the area. Or just spend a relaxing couple of hours here.

Beautiful grounds with a couple of hiking trials that wrap around the property. Small water area (pond?) with water fowl yo watch. There is a museum near the entrance where you can park for free.

This is a beautiful location on the southeast corner of Las Virgenes & Mulholland in Calabasas. There is a very nice Visitors Center, which is more suited to the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area than to King Gillette Ranch specifically. In fact, you won’t find much information on the Gillette Ranch there, so I suggest «Wiki-​ing» King Gillette and go to the end of the article where you’ll find information on the Ranch’s somewhat notorious history. So other than an interesting Visitors Center, and a somewhat brief stroll around the grounds (which you may not be able to do depending on Biggest Loser taping), this is really only a quick visit. The Inspiration Point trail is steep, and does offer nice views, but is difficult to find. Finally, the gift shop at the Visitors Center actually has some nice stuff, if you’re into that. Oh, and finally finally, Unilocal sometimes lists this place as closed, when I do believe they’re open every day until sunset.

Visited the king Gillette ranch this past Sunday afternoon with my dad, and we both absolutely loved it!
The visitor center is on the right side of the road you are in when you first drive through the gate, the first building you see.
The visitors center was great! Very very informative, I live in the Valley myself and learned a BUNCH of things as well as my dad who has lived here most of his life. It was quiet and peaceful, much like the outside of the building as well. The center used to be the 100 year old horse stable for the property! I spent a little over an hour in there. They also have a gift shop carrying Native American merch, California books, shirts as well as homemade jams and soap! I bought strawberry butter — $ 10 :)
Drive a bit past it straight on and there is the mansion Gillette (the maker of the razor Gillette) lived in, with a pond complete with ducks in it. Although you can’t enter the mansion it is still interesting to walk around and check it out.
There are picnic tables scattered throughout he grounds, would be a lovely place to picnic on a nice day :)
We drove down the road past the mansion and saw the TV show the biggest losers house the contestants live at.
there was another big building to the left that looked totally abandoned (and slightly creepy, like a haunted boarding school or mental hospital LOL)
There are various hikes you can do from this property — I’ll have to come back for that
All in all, this whole space is very quiet and peaceful and absolutely beautiful! I am coming back most definitely to picnic, hike, bring visitors to and such. Love it and thanks to the up keepers who make this possible! :)
Make it a day to visit!!!
If you enjoy it — check out Paramount Ranch too! (Close by too!)

This is another one of those sites that I have driven past 100 times on my way to the beach and I never knew what was there.
King Gillette Ranch is a nearly 600 acre property located in the hills of Calabasas. The state had tried for 30 years to acquire the property. It’s been called «the hole in the donut that is the National Santa Monica Mountains Park System.»
The state first tried to buy the property in 1978, but was outbid by a religious group called The Church Universal and Triumphant. The property was sold again in 1986, and at that time the state lost out to Japan-​based Soka University. At one point they event tried to acquire it by eminent domain proceedings after the university proposed expanding their campus to accommodate 5,000 students. The university later put the property on the market and the various park advocates quickly went to work attempting to raise the $ 35 million for the purchase.
The property has an interesting history. Besides being owned by King C. Gillette, the founder of the disposable razor empire, it was also owned by MGM movie director Clarence Brown and actor Bob Hope. Hope later donated the property to the Claretian Order of the Catholic Church who operated a seminary on the site for 25 years until it was bought by the religious group and later Soka University.
The highlight of the park is the $ 9.5 million, eco-​friendly, Anthony C. Beilenson Interagency Visitor Center. It was formerly the site of the 100-​year-​old horse stables. My kids and I had a great time viewing the various exhibits that touched on the local environment, water conservation, local history, Native American culture, and environmental issues.
After you walk through the Visitor Center you can take a short walk and make your way over to the Gillette Mansion. It’s a Spanish revival mansion that was built in the mid-​1920s. It was designed by famed architect Wallace Neff. You are not allowed to go inside the former home but you can walk the picturesque grounds. There’s a really nice bridge over a large duck pond.
There is a 1-​mile round-​trip hike that you can take to Inspiration Point that offers a 360-​degree view of the surrounding valley. There’s also a botanical garden with drought-​tolerant native plants.
The TV show «The Biggest Loser» is shot on the ranch property.

My sister and foodie friend, Sam L (sup, gurl!?), and I have put up some pretty impressive numbers in this Unilocal game. We need a cigar. Cuban.
And don’t think that we don’t know! That’s why we force ourselves to balance out all of this food with exercise outings in nature to burn some of these damn calories. Go Hard or Die Tryin’.
So, after a meal in Agoura, we had to find a fun place to get ta’ steppin, and Sam mentions King Gillette Ranch. Lovely idea, friend.
This place is secluded, large and nice! May not be over the top with exciting things to do, but there is a huge pond with ducks, a small botanical garden with a greenhouse, a small visitor’s center/​museum, lots of trees and land to roam around and much more… including the LA mansion of King C. Gillette. Take a guess at who he was.
;-)
Park rangers are available during business hours and are so helpful. The restrooms are immaculate! Lovely water fountains. Even The Biggest Loser house is here. Shhhhhhh don’t tell anyone.
Gillette Ranch, I like you.

I have gone to the visitor center several times (fun and good for kids), and went on a guided tour offered by the MRCA which was very enjoyable. Yesterday my husband and I decided to bring our son back and do the short hike to Inspiration Point. Maps are available at the Visitors Center, but be warned, it kind of sucks. The ranch has a lot of old access roads and trails that are not on the map, and the trail to Inspiration Point is NOT marked. I thought it would be easy to find since I’d been before, but we got lost trying to follow the map and took a long, boring detour past the outer buildings on the east side. Fortunately, the place is relatively small and it’s hard to get properly lost, so once we found our way back to the «start» we set off on another trail and made it to the top. Coming down we were faced with a fork in the trail, again, unmarked on map. We kept to the left and made it back to where we should have been.
Fun fact– the reality show The Biggest Loser is filmed here, so you can see the building contestants live in and some of the outdoor workout areas.

I work nearby, yet never went until my job took us there for a picnic lunch. I’m glad that they did. The place is beautiful amongst the nearby mountains. The visitor’s center has a lot of information on the history of the area. They used to film a lot of movies, especially westerns, back in the day and even most recently. They also film The Biggest Loser here too. Could care less about the latter, since I’ve never seen the show, but it is interesting. The day was nice and sunny, so I enjoyed a little walk after lunch and got to see a coyote. Recommended, especially if you sit in an office all day.

This visitor center is really cool and VERY quiet. I was surprised that on a beautiful Friday afternoon, there were only a couple other cars in the parking lot.
This is the main visitor center for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreational Area. Located in the heart of that area, this visitor center offers many educational exhibits and information about the parks and hiking trails. I mainly stopped here for my National Parks Passport stamp. But I had also heard about Paramount Ranch, and was curious if I could see it quickly without having to take a long hike. The park rangers were very helpful and provided me with a map for Paramount Ranch (which is very nearby the visitor center).
Overall a very pretty and peaceful place. I recommend checking it out — if I lived in the area, I would love to explore the tons and tons of trails. Always great to discover new parks!

Hard to believe that this jewel in the heart of the Santa Monica Mountains has been open for a year and, truth be told, is underutilized because not enough people know about it. Costing $ 10 million, the center occupies the old horse stables of King Gillette Ranch in Calabasas. The repurposed building has been awarded LEED Platinum certification and is the first «net zero» visitor Center in the National Park Service and serves as a model for the nation.
While the center is owned by NPS, it’s an interagency facility sharing responsibilities with California State Parks, Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority and Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. Makes perfect sense, as these agencies act as custodians of the world’s largest urban forest.
Visitors get a thorough orientation of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (established by Congress in 1976) through excellent displays at the center, some interactive. Rangers are on hand to answer questions and hand out complimentary brochures and maps depicting many of the more than 500 miles of mountain and seaside trails. The center is open daily rom 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (major holidays excepted). There’s also a gift shop operated by the nonprofit Western National Parks Association. Admission to the center is free as well as two hours’ parking.
King Gillette Ranch (former home of SOKA University) is easy to access, less than three miles from the 101 Freeway. The 588-​acre public spread is located at 26 876 Mulholland Highway just east of Las Virgenes Road. Further information is available by calling 805−370−2031 or by visiting the Web at
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Somewhat interesting place. Kind of a step back in time. The grounds are nice and well kept.
There are no tours of anything, such as the mansion. You can just view the outside.
You can walk the grounds and take the hike to inspiration point on a trail that is strangely unmarked. Not sure why the trail would be unmarked, it causes damage to the property by people who are searching for the trail and end up walking on the half made trails left by others who were searching for the trail.
The view from the top of inspiration point is very nice.

Ample free 2 hour parking by the brand new visitor’s center. Visitor’s center is a very well done, interactive experience that kids would enjoy. The employees there are very helpful and enthusiastic. Pick up a trail map and take the short 1 mile loop up to inspiration point, where you get a 360 degree view of the surrounding valley. The hike is pretty easy, did not need to stop for rest or water. The day we went, we didn’t see a single soul on the trail, and we felt like it we had it all to ourselves. The cherry trees near the bridge were also blooming. They were shooting Biggest Loser, so there were some film crews onsite, but otherwise the whole place felt very empty which I enjoyed.

In the heart of the Santa Monica Mountains is the King Gillette Ranch, 588-​acres of beauty, most of the space is open to the public as a park by the California State Parks, National Park Service, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and Mountains Recreation and Conservation.
The visitors center looks new (2013) and is gorgeous
The first thing I noticed were the beautiful adobe walls
The visitor’s center has a lot of free and useful information regarding the local outdoors– Santa Monica Mountains and its surrounding area
Other bits of info within the center, include:
Essences of things local like– the beach, oranges, purple sage & pearly everlasting
Visual table of the unpredictable rainfall in the Santa Monica Mountains
A huge 3-​D scale model maps where the Los Angeles River, Malibu Creek, Sycamore Creek and Calleguas Creek lie
History of surrounding popular areas
Takes 2-​minutes to make a silly post card, free souvenir
Parking-​2 hours FREE
King Gillette is walking distance from Malibu Creek State Park and worth a peek.
Locals and Visitors, trek!

Amazing place. It’s become an interagency visitor center between state, national, and park partners. They’ve put in some really amazing displays inside and outside, and the location is just beautiful! It is a bit hard to find as there is no sign when you’re coming from the south that points to the fact that it’s a visitor center and most GPS/​Map units can’t find it’s given address on a map.

We stopped here on a whim one day and were very impressed by the new visitor center. Even though I am a Valley native, I found the exhibit to be very interesting and informative. I highly recommend it.