Oat Mountain is a

peak Peak or The Peak may refer to: Basic meanings Geology * Mountain peak ** Pyramidal peak, a mountaintop that has been sculpted by erosion to form a point Mathematics * Peak hour or rush hour, in traffic congestion * Peak (geometry), an (''n''-3)-d ...

of the Santa Susana Mountains overlooking the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

(near

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California) to the south and southeast. Oat Mountain is the highest peak in the Santa Susana Mountains of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The

district of Chatsworth is to the south of the mountain. There are many microwave relay antennas as well as Doppler weather equipment at Oat Mountain. SoCal Gas has several wells in the area as well.

Climate

The weather on Oat Mountain varies from season to season. In January, occasional rain showers and thunderstorms may pass over the mountain. Colder storms produce light

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

on the peaks of the mountain, when the snow level drops below 4,000 feet. In spring, the weather may change. Some years it may be very dry, affecting the vegetation. In other years, spring could bring heavy storms with upwards of 4" of rain and some snow. The summer is dry, with occasional thunderstorms (brought in by sub-tropical moisture in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

) from the floors of the

and Santa Clarita Valley. This may bring flash flooding and debris flows from burn scars in the area. Fall is typically dry and sunny, and Santa Ana Winds can cause small

wildfires A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

to spread on the mountain.

Flora and fauna

Wildlife in the area is very sparse in summer months (though occasionally a

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...

can be spotted). Oat Mountain has typically the same type of

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

and

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

found elsewhere in the mountain range. Mountain lions are particularly common in the region and can be seen almost year round, along with birds like the turkey vulture and the

Canada goose The Canada goose (''Branta canadensis''), sometimes called Canadian goose, is a large species of goose with a black head and neck, white cheeks, white under its chin, and a brown body. It is native to the arctic and temperate regions of North A ...

. Vegetation is not very diverse on the mountain. The mountain is usually covered in brown grass and oats in the summer, but during heavy periods of rain it is usually green and contains more wildlife.

Human interference

Oat Mountain has had many major problems in modern times, starting with the construction of two

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

-era SAM-A-7 (Surface-to-Air Missile, Army, design 7, later changed to MIM-3 (Mobile Interceptor Missile, design 3) Nike Ajax and SAM-A-25/MIM-14

Nike Hercules The Nike Hercules, initially designated SAM-A-25 and later MIM-14, was a surface-to-air missile (SAM) used by U.S. and NATO armed forces for medium- and high-altitude long-range air defense. It was normally armed with the W31 nuclear warhead, bu ...

anti-aircraft missile sites. Known as Nike Missile Site LA-88, they were there not so much to protect the civilian population of the San Fernando Valley, but to guard important military and industrial facilities like the Santa Susana Field Lab, from

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

attack. They were in operation from 1956-1974. Since then, it was heavily contaminated and debris and abandoned buildings litter that area, located on Browns Canyon Road below Oat Mountain. In 2015, a story made headlines when a gas leak was reported at one of the seven oil fields littering the natural areas of the mountain. The Aliso Canyon Oil Field was involved in this situation. Many people reported nose bleeds, strong headaches, and other symptoms. That same year the oil field was shut down and taken to court. As of August 2017, the oil field is scheduled to reopen but may be taken to the city regional court in

or to the federal court in

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

Hiking and destinations

Oat Mountain has many hiking trails and scenic destinations. One of the main hiking trails ascends the

side of the mountain and has four different connecting trails. One of these leads to the Nike Missile Site LA-88 with abandoned buildings, vehicles, and rubble surrounding it. One expert route up the mountain follows the backbone of the mountain in Santa Clarita but is difficult because it is forested. This is a 16-mile hike between Rocky Peak and Oat Mountain.

References

{{Authority control Santa Susana Mountains Geography of the San Fernando Valley Mountains of Los Angeles County, California Mountains of Southern California

Climate

Flora and fauna

Human interference

Hiking and destinations

See also

References