JANNS CONEJO RANCH
Conejo Valley, California
Scenes from
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Sands of Iwo Jima
other Duke movies, and many popular TV westerns,
including The Rifleman were shot here
Although the ranch was primarily famous for the locations of Bonanza
Once located in beautiful Conejo Valley, the Janss Conejo Ranch
was a popular filming site used in countless TV series and films for decades.
The ranch is featured in 75 episodes of the Bonanza series from 1959 through 1968.
The opening credits of all four Cartwrights riding down the dirt road were filmed
in April 1959 and used for the first two seasons of the series.
In 1910, Harold and Edwin Janss purchased about 10,000 acres of land
of what is now called central Thousand Oaks from the heir of John Edwards,
who had purchased the land from the de la Guerra heirs
(all of the land was originally a portion of the Ranch Conejo Land Grant).
The ranch, called the Janss Conejo Ranch, was utilized as a farm
and to raise thoroughbred horses with the Santa Susanna Mountains
and Simi Hills framing it.
The TV-Western "The Rifleman" used the ranch, with the three-sided outbuildings
built on the north section.
The large saddleback mountain is a prominent geographical landmark
seen in everything made at the ranch.
In 1969, the Hawaiian Land Corporation bought the ranch for developing
into the vast city of Thousand Oaks.
Portions of the land were developed, but much was set aside for open space.
There's still a trail known as Stagecoach Trail that was used for many
stagecoach crashes and falls over the cliff in Westerns.
Wildwood and the adjacent Hill Canyon
( it was part of the MGM ranch, and used to film many Westerns, including segments of "Gunsmoke" ), are open to hikers, mountain bikers
and horseback riders.
It is now known as Wildwood Park.
Information from Jerry L. Schneider
except for a select number of photographs
and/or images which are copyrighted by their
respective owners.
For more details:-
Janss Conejo Ranch- Bonanza-Scenery of The Ponderosa
For more information
Studios, Backlots and Ranches