COMMISSION

Interpretive panels are under development for
Condor Mesa. Topics for these panels include
the California condor and the San Andreas
Fault’s role in the formation of the Transverse
Range as seen from the mesa. The panels are
another way for the park visitor to learn more
about the area and connect with the park.
Park History
The parklands were originally home to the Tataviam tribe of Native Americans who
practiced a hunting and gathering lifestyle. The tribe occupied the area until they were
displaced by Euro-American influence in the 18th century.
Hungry Valley was also the site of homesteading and ranching activities for more than
100 years. Mainly Anglo settlers between
1890 and 1940 used the sparsely inhabited
region of Hungry Valley. The ruggedness
of the terrain and the barren and
marginally productive farmland meant that
homesteaders in Hungry Valley lived under
harsh economic conditions and settlement
came slowly.
Besides agriculture activities, construction
and installation of oil pipelines and roads, as
well as mining activities, occurred in the early 1900s. The 1920s and 1930s saw a variety
of homesteading activities. However, most of these small homesteads failed and were
ultimately wiped out by drought. Thereafter, most of the land in the Hungry Valley area was
maintained by large landowners until it was purchased from the 1940s through the 1970s
by state and federal government agencies. State Parks acquired most of the land in Hungry
Valley SVRA between 1978 and 1980.
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California State Parks, Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission