Simi Valley offers a range of starting points for planning your trip: local history, culture, film history and outdoor trails. Its attractions range from early buildings and distinctive folk art to theater, a presidential history library and nature trails. The best way to organize this variety is around your own interests.

Local History and Unusual Architecture

The Strathearn Historical Park is dedicated to preserving many of Simi Valley’s earliest buildings. The park covers 6½ acres. It is open to the public free of charge: Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. An audio guide is available during opening hours on all seven days of the week. If you plan to visit the park, check the opening hours in advance.

Grandma Prisbrey's Bottle Village offers a different perspective and is designated California State Historical Landmark No. 939. It comprises 14 structures with walls and ceilings made of cement embedded with recycled waste and multicolored bottles. Here, the reused materials are part of the construction and shape the character of this folk art. These are two distinct approaches to architectural history: the preservation of early buildings at Strathearn Historical Park and the distinctive design using bottles and other reused materials at Bottle Village.

Reagan Library and Live Theater

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute campus in Simi Valley covers 400 acres and sits on a hill. The Reagan Library complements this focus with more than 125,000 square feet of exhibits. At the Air Force One Pavilion, you can board the same aircraft President Reagan flew for more than 660,000 miles to 26 foreign countries and 46 U.S. states. You can also walk around a real Marine One helicopter that President Johnson flew. Together, the two aircraft offer a tangible glimpse into different connections with U.S. presidents.

The Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center is a venue for live theater, located in a restored 1924 building. It adds a distinct cultural focus to the exhibits and historic buildings. If you’d like to include live theater in your trip planning alongside history, the cultural center offers another way to shape your stay around your interests.

Film History and Trails

Film history is also part of Simi Valley’s story: the former Corriganville Movie Ranch was the filming location for more than 3,500 movies, television shows and commercials. A 1.1-mile trail in Corriganville Park has 20 interpretive signs about local plant and animal life. Film history and natural history offer different perspectives: the ranch represents the history of film production, while the signs focus on local plants and wildlife.

Simi Valley is surrounded by green spaces, protected areas and trails. Its trail network spans more than 50 miles and reaches as far as Los Angeles. The Arroyo Simi Bike Path is separate from this network and runs east to west through a large part of Simi Valley. The details offer different points of reference: the trail network conveys its reach, the bike path its route, and the Corriganville Park trail its length and nature theme. You can choose according to whether you’re more interested in a single signed trail, a named east-west route or the larger trail network.

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Go to the main travel overview: Ventura.