Black Star Canyon, Natural canyon in Orange County, California.
Black Star Canyon winds through Orange County with changing elevations and natural rock formations along its path. The route passes seasonal waterfalls and exposes different layers of sedimentary rock that reveal the land's geological story.
The name comes from the Black Star Coal Mining Company, which extracted coal here in the 1870s. Those mining operations marked the region during that era and left their imprint on the land.
The Tongva people were the first to live here, making use of the land's resources for food and spiritual practices. Walking through the canyon today, you can sense the deep connection these communities had with this landscape.
Bring at least two liters of water and wear protective clothing when hiking here. The trails can be steep and weather can change quickly, so proper preparation makes a real difference.
The rock layers here display millions of years of geological development in clearly visible bands. These exposed strata tell a silent story of how the land shifted and transformed over deep time.
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