Vasquez Rocks Day Trip: Star Trek Slabs, Then a Movie-Star Sidewalk
Sandstone slabs that played alien planets sit an hour north, and brass stars press into a Main Street sidewalk at dusk.
🗺️ The rocks, then Main Street
🪨 The rock that played alien planets
Tiburcio Vásquez hid out in these rocks in 1874 while evading the law, and the formation still carries his name. Los Angeles County started acquiring the land with a 40-acre donation in 1971. Film crews came earlier and kept coming: the slabs stood in for alien terrain in four episodes of the original Star Trek, among them Arena, first broadcast on January 19, 1967, where Kirk fights the Gorn. The Famous Rocks sit beside parking lot 3, and the half-mile Nature Heritage Trail links them to the interpretive center. The 0.29-mile Geology Trail adds signs on how the layers tilted.
🌵 Bronze stars in the sidewalk
The Walk of Western Stars has pressed bronze stars and terrazzo tiles into both sidewalks of Main Street since 1981, one set of inductees a year from Western film, radio and television. Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, John Wayne and Sam Elliott are all out there, and the sidewalk is free and open at any hour. A fire on August 24, 2026 destroyed Newhall Refinery and the MAIN Theatre a few blocks south, and the city's recovery page lists the businesses affected. Maginn's Irish Pub opens at 3:00 PM Monday through Thursday and at noon Friday through Sunday.
🕒 Noon start, 5:00 PM gate
Start at noon. Downtown Los Angeles to the park is about an hour on I-5 and CA-14, and the gate runs 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM from September 16 to March 9. Two hours covers the half-mile Nature Heritage Trail out to the Famous Rocks and back, plus the Geology Trail; the Pacific Crest Trail adds 2.3 miles through the park if you want a longer walk. About 30 minutes of driving afterward puts you on Main Street. Bring water.
