Gates King Open Space

This place is huge. It took a couple tries to find a easy trail to hike. The first time around I had a fun time exploring, but did not get in a really great work out. We were making our own trail as we hiked. The key, as previous stated is to park on Pine St and hike up past the gate with a million pad locks on it, that clearly warns against entering. This trail is perfect for jogging. The incline is not too intense, and there are moments of shaded areas. I love finding new local places for jogging… I would much rather run a trail then a treadmill. And this offers that perfect opportunity. It is not too long either, so it also provides a option for the times when you don’t have more than hour to squeeze some fitness in… I enjoyed exploring this open space, and look forward to coming back and jogging the whole trail. Watch out for poison oak.

The Gate King Open Space is 180 acres of dense oak woodlands donated to the City of Santa Clarita as permanent open space by developer Mark Gates as part of the 584-​acre Needham Ranch project, a.k.a. the Gate-​King Industrial Park Project.
The entire project involves more than 500 acres in southern Newhall, from Sierra Highway on the south to Pine Street on the north. Half of the property, the woodland portion, was donated to the city for open space and the remainder will be developed as a business park.
The history of Needham Ranch is somewhat interesting. Henry Clay Needham was a prohibitionist who bought large sections of the Rancho San Francisco (the former name of land currently located within the City of Santa Clarita) and land within the town of Newhall in 1889 in order establish his own private alcohol-​free zone, a so-​called «dry colony.». His plans never materialized but Mr. Needham did later become an important community leader and philanthropist.
He died in 1935, and in 1957 his heirs sold about 770 acres of the property — the portion bounded roughly by Pine Street, San Fernando Road and Sierra Highway — to Mark Gates Sr., the funeral director at Eternal Valley Cemetery. Gates eventually sold off the 220-​acre cemetery portion. In the 1990s, Gates’ son, Mark Jr., began the project to develop the remaining 584 acres as the «Needham Ranch» business park. The historic «Live Oak Manor» rock archway built in 1889 can still be seen on Sierra Highway. Past the rock archway is one of two nurseries. They are growing oak trees to replace those being removed as part of the development of the Needham Ranch project.
The entrance to the open space is located off of Pine Street. From Newhall head southeast on Railroad Ave. Take a left onto Newhall Ave then take the 1^st right onto Pine St. Pine St street will eventually transition to a dirt road which will eventually dead end at a metal gate. The gate has a number of no trespassing signs. I have spoken to someone from the city and they have reassured me that it is city property and that I am allowed to enter the property. The city is about a year away from installing the trailhead kiosk. Pine St connects with Railroad Mountainway which travels west towards Paris Ln and Wildwood Canyon Rd.