October 22, 2025

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PIO@parks.lacounty.gov

Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Yields New Research

Discovery of First Vertebrate Fossil Footprints Intrigues Researchers

AGUA DULCE, Calif. (October 22, 2025) – With its massive rock formations jutting diagonally into the heavens, there’s something otherworldly – call it a primordial vibe – about Vasquez Rocks Natural Area.

An iconic film backdrop for cowboy westerns, sci-fi flicks such as Star Trek, and commercials, this County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation (LA County Parks) landscape can now claim the first vertebrate fossil footprints discovered among its dramatic red rocks.

“It’s a great spot to understand geology and just to see the rock. Our upper division students can also see the geologic processes that are there,” said Dr. Matthew McLain, of The Master’s University in Santa Clarita, Calif. “We weren’t looking for fossils. We were looking for any details that give us a window into what it was like in the past.”

It was a December 2023 geology trek when McLain said his students were exploring mud cracks and “we stumbled upon it on accident.”

The “it” was a rock surface that looked fresh, perhaps uncovered by a recent rain. And the sunlight seemed to highlight its features perfectly. Two students who first noticed the unusual Vasquez Rocks park object said it reminded them of a footprint.

To the group’s delight, McLain, Chair of the Master’s University Department of Biological and Physical Sciences and Associate Professor of Biology and Geology, confirmed it was a fossil footprint.

McLain’s group took photos, measurements and video. And the track, later confirmed by a curator at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County as belonging to a small, 10–12-pound, carnivorous  mammal, eventually led to a presentation at the Geological Society of America meeting in Anaheim last year.  This Vasquez Rocks fieldwork, McLain said, offers a rich student learning opportunity practically in their backyard.

McLain, and his students from The Master’s University, are currently working on research projects and a scientific journal article about this prehistoric 2¼-inch long footprint of the dog-like mammal they discovered.

That exciting 2023 find was followed by another surprise last year when the professor and his students identified a prehistoric camel track.

Both these unexpected fossil discoveries struck after literally years of educational, but not news-making, geology hikes into the gullies and peaks of Vasquez Rocks, he said.

“It’s important to protect this for posterity,” McLain said of Vasquez Rocks. “Natural spaces are so important, for recreation areas in an urban area. But it’s also so important for paleontological history.”

For Ansley Davies, Associate Curator of LA County Parks Land Management & Compliance Section, the fossil discoveries highlight the scientific and historic richness of Vasquez Rocks Natural Area. The park includes the Vasquez Formation – sedimentary rocks formed about 20 million years ago during the Oligocene epoch.

“LA County Parks has always recognized the great importance of this very special landscape. The Park is well known for its stunning beauty, extensive history as an ancestral Native American village site, and major go-to location for the filming industry,” Davies said. “With the discovery of these trace fossils, we hope to engage the scientific community to study these special and fragile resources. Most of Vasquez Rocks is made up of sedimentary sandstone rocks, so they are delicate. They can easily erode in years of high rainfall, or extreme wind events, so documentation is the key to preservation.”

For researchers who wish to conduct non-invasive studies at Vasquez Rocks, a permit or agreement is required by LA County Parks, she said.

As caretakers of Vasquez Rocks Natural Area, LA County Parks is honored to care for this treasured landmark, Davies said. Perhaps more discoveries are on the horizon for these storied sandstone formations.