William S. Hart Park and Museum

I expected the home to be larger and more grand and the buffalo to be more impressive, but I found the place unfortunately a bit underwhelming.
The tour was short and sweet (and free!) and the tour guide was great, but the place itself leaves a little something to be desired.

There Is No Place Like Home!
The museum is a Spanish Colonial Style house that was built in 1926 – 1927 for the silent-​screen star, William S. Hart. It is located in 24 151 Newhall Avenue, Newhall, California on a 265 acre ranch. The highlight of the museum is the spacious living room filled with Navajo rugs, Indian costumes, guns and Western paintings, and sculptures.
As I’m listening attentively to the Tour Guide about Mr. Hart’s autobiography, I remembered a song that talks about walls and windows do not make a house a home. The cozy fire does not guarantee there is harmony at all. But, love, laughter, and prayer make a house a home. They also keep the family warm during the storm (problems in life).
After the tour, I’m glad to be home. There is no place like home.
Important Info.:
It’s free! For educational purposes, you must see it once. Please take the paved path up the hill to avoid rattlesnakes. Free tours every half hour. Bring your lunch, snacks, and drinks. Enjoy the small beautiful park. Don’t forget to feed the animals.

Me and my husband and daughter love coming here to go on hikes and see the bison and animals, today I got there at 4 and before I knew it the security had closed all the gates and locked me, my husband and daughter inside William S Hart Park. The sign says it closes at 5 and all the gates were closed at 4:55. We went to the office and they were no help. Said they didn’t know the security officers number and could not do anything. Suggested to call the sheriffs which we did. The sheriffs came about 45 minutes later and me and my daughter were getting tired and had to use the restroom which were locked to. Very annoying experience. Ps the security officers car was parked right next to us when we got there and he closed the drive way gate that leads up to the hiking trails the get out knowing our car was there??? 3 stars because this place is so pretty and a nice workout, but horrible help here and wasted a good hour of our time.

Very pleasant afternoon with a 6-​year old. He enjoyed feeding the animals in the petting zoo, and the short hike up to the house museum. The docent-​led tour was interesting, lots of anecdotes about the former owner and his pets. I liked the «snapshot in time» aspect to the house tour – nice to see historic places with original furniture, décor, and memorabilia. Take water – it can be warm up on the hill!

I would personally think that the William Hart House is pretty much the crown jewel of Historical things to do in the Newhall area. I’ve been a handful of times, and was quite shocked that I never actually wrote a Unilocal review on the place. This is just another one of California’s many free lil museums.
I discovered the place thanks to our good friend Huell Howser. I saw that he was in my area, and decided to visit the place myself. The park is pretty big, with 160 some-​odd acres of space. The tour of the house meets up at the tippy top of the hill. There’s a clearly marked path that goes up up and more up. It about 5−10−15 minutes of an uphill trek all the way up to the house. Up along the path there are the dog graveyards, Fritz’s gravesite, and a collection of American Bison given to Bill by Disney before he passed. Personally, I usually check those things out after the tour of the house.
The tours start up at noon, and again every half hour. They are completely free to join. Knowledgeable docents lead incredibly detailed tours, answering any stupid questions, and telling amusing anecdotes about the man, his family friends and pets. It’s fun because each Docent tells different anecdotes, and different stories. Each tour I’ve been on has had some new and different information told. The Man himself was pretty cool. He had a good life. He also had some pretty famous friends. The house is also pretty amazing. 10,000 square feet of Spanish Colonial Revival Style. The tour went through 7,000 square feet of the house. Bill Hart was a vastly different man from the other famous house tours I’ve been on. After the tour, walking down the hill you can stop and check out the herd of Bison, as well as the graveyards for Bill’s beloved pets.
At the base of the hill there is a Bill’s ranch house, with even more artifacts of his life. That is a self-​tour deal. The gift shop is in the parking lot area, and is only open on the weekends. A barnyard with 80 or so animals is also in the parking lot, and that’s open all week. Most of the animals can be fed with the food purchased from the vending machines. (So remember to bring some change on your visit if you’d like to feed the animals)
It’s a great place to go. It’s a beautiful park, it’s really fun, it’s completely free and you get to see the Newhall of yesterday. I’ve always loved to see what older periods in time had to work with. How they spent their free time. Well worth it, and I’ll absolutely be back again and again and again in the future. I do hope the house stands another 95 years.
For More Information:
Huell Howser’s Visit:
Tumbleweeds Movie:

The William S Hart Museum is the best house museum there in the Greater Los Angeles County. The 10,000 square foot Spanish style mansion was built by famous silent movie star William S Hart in 1927. The guides are very VERY knowledgeable and tours are FREE of charge.

My family and I went there today. It’s beautiful from the outside. I only know it’s beautiful on the outside and not on the inside since we were denied entrance. I had my teenage children my infant son and my toddler. From the minute the security guard walked out and saw my toddler he started giving me dirty looks. He took out his note pad and started writing stuff and kept looking at my little girl. While the docent started talking my daughter started getting fussy, she said if she was fussy inside that o could just tell the security guard and he would walk me out. No problem. As we’re walking in he just points a finger at the door and shakes his head. He wouldn’t let any of us in. By that point my daughter was ok and I would of been fine taking her outside and letting the others in my family go in but he kept pointing at the door to get out. So yeah, this was my experience here. I really wanted to see this place but I’ve never been treated so disrespectfully. I won’t try to go again.

I got a call back after noting how unpleasant one of the staff was on my first visit. The gentleman was very kind, empathized with me and apologized on behalf of their staff to my daughter. I was surprised by the rapidness of the response and the attention. Still four stars due to the effect on my daughter but thank you.

We were on vacation and went here with our 1 and 3 year olds. They loved it! There is an area with animals to see up close and feed including a gigantic guernsey cow named Norman, turkeys, potbelly pig, chickens. They have a little museum with various furnished rooms that were in the actor’s home. You can take a nice ¼ mile hike up a hill to see the actor’s mansion and get a tour of that. along the way you will see bison (which are not buffalo).

This is my new favorite place to be. I enjoy the short trail there and the grounds are very well kept.

Visited the museum last weekend. Very interesting. Enjoyed the tour. The guide was excellent and very friendly and well-​informed.

Be ready for a hike to get up to the house. I recommend checking out the barnyard prior to taking the tour. That way you’ll have a nice warm up before taking the hike up the hill.
The tour is awesome and really cool you get to stand in Harts living space and see all the artifacts.
Bring water on a hot day

Absolutely loved this place. My daughter is 4 and she was interested in the tour and of course all the animals. Definitely a must go with your kids it’s free and educational what’s better?

I have been to this tour twice now when I come to this area. There are free tours presented every ½ hour. The staff is knowledgable and appear to genuinely care about preserving the history here. Don’t forget to check out the stables in the lower part of the hill where they first lived. Just keep your little ones off the walls and artifacts or they will call you out.

My son had to write a report on WIlliam S. Hart. So we took a family outing to the museum/​property, went on the tour, etc. What a fun day. Gorgeous property. They even had some buffalo? bison? in the back behind the mansion. The tour guide was very friendly.

I bring my dogs here for a hike once ot twice a week. They scratch their backs on the grass and then we head up the paved road, pass the bison and head up to the hike. There’s a bench where you can sit and look at the views before continuing on the hike. There’s a few different paths you can take. It’s a good short hike for my older dogs.

Nice hike to museum if you park down below. Parking up at museum is very limited. Loved the tour. Great place to hang out with family for a few hours. Nice and breezy up at museum and the view was pretty good… Overlooking santa clarita.

Santa Clarita’s Griffith Park. William Hart Park is the former home and 260-​acre ranch of the silent film actor. It’s located next to Heritage Junction Historic Park and Hart Park Camp Grounds. It’s a nice place to spend the afternoon with the kids or go for a run or a hike. Tour the home, visit the pet cemetery, observe the farm animals, hike the short, kid friendly, trails and view Walt Disney’s bison.
If you have enough time, and you’re interested getting some exercise, I recommend hiking the loop starting from Fritz Trail located in the back of the Hart home, continuing on to Lisbeth Trail, passing through the 7 Hart Park Campgrounds, and ending in Heritage Junction Park.

First off:
Do not use Unilocal address link as direction, it will lead you to a deserted road.
Instead, use their website address:
24 151 Newhall Avenue
Newhall, CA 91 321
We had an unexpected trip to Santa Clarita over the weekend and during our downtime, this place was suggested to us by our hotel concierge.
I was not expecting much from this park considering I have not heard about it nor do I know who William S Hart was. So, I must say, I was pleasantly surprise.
The place seems deserted when we first arrived but after an hour, people started to come around. By the time we left, the park was alive with children and their families. Theme here is of course, western and throwback — pretty neat. There’s a mini zoo, park for picnics, gift shop, and a trail that is perfect for novice hikers like us. The trail to the museum was short but eventful; seeing wild squirrels, bunk house, pet cemetery, Bison’s and etc. along the way. There’s warning sign for rattlesnakes, which thankfully we did not encounter.
The Museum or William S. Harts home is itself the highlight of our day. It did not look big on the outside but inside, it was huge — 22 rooms and that’s being generous, they say. The decorations were also quite impressive. The furniture and Mr. Harts belongings are all originals and well preserved. We joined the tour which was informative and interesting. I really enjoyed the stories and the short biography of William S. Hart.
Overall, it was truly a fun experience. One I did not regret. Had we not been in a hurry to meet someone for late lunch, we would have definitely stayed longer.
NOTE: We really came unprepared :(- I had the impression that the museum was just a stone throw away from parking lot so we left our belongings in the car. Big mistake! Bring lots of water, esp. if you plan to browse all over the trails or if you plan to stay longer up the hill where the house sits. They do have water fountain up there if needed. So, invest 3 hours of your time here, at the very least. The hike to the museum and the tour is at least 1.5 hours. There’s really a lot to do around there. The best part is, it is FREE and there’s cell phone signal all throughout!
~A

I like the short day trip to this place. Nice and fuckin’ quiet. Since L.A. is nothing but ghetto birds, L.A.P.D. sirens, mariachi music, garbage truck routes, just a cacophony of background noise. So, every once in a while a very nice calm trek to the William S. Hart museum replenishes the brain and ears.
The place is a nice short hike. I would suggest, if you are obese or think you have a glandular problem, not to go during summer. You will hate life. And the smell of animal dung will prob make you hurl. I like taking models here and shooting photographs. It’s got a great view of the canyon, if you make it to the top. I didn’t get a chance to go into the museum/​home, but for those who are silent cowboy movie fans… yer in for a treat. ‘Cause that’s all there is. Memorabilia from Mr. Hart.
I give him full and total credit for everything he did for the movie industry. To this day, he kept this location so ANYONE, without permit or permission can shoot on his property. He had a kind heart to the cinephiles.