The Garden of the Gods sounds as if it should be located in a valley somewhere in Greece. In reality, it’s a lot closer, and its importance in history is not cemented by Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, but rather by William S. Hart, Tom Mix, and John Wayne.
Located in the northwest corner of Chatsworth, this 23-acre portion of the famed Iverson Ranch, with its distinctive sandstone rock outcroppings, has been the setting for more Western motion pictures than any other single location.
From 1912 through the mid-1960s, the sound of stagecoach wheels clattering over the rocks, the ricocheting of six-shooter bullets, and the cadence of horses’ hooves on the dusty trail were the prevailing sounds of this area of the ranch.
Some of the Western stars whose films were shot in the Garden of the Gods included Hoot Gibson, Roy Rogers (whose ranch was just five miles from the Garden), Randolph Scott, and John Wayne.
The area also stood in for Asia, Africa, and the South Seas. A few non-Western films shot partially or completely at the Garden of the Gods include Man-Woman-Marriage (1921), Buster Keaton’s Three Ages (1923), Noah’s Ark (1928), The Fighting Seabees (1944), The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent (1957), The Female Animal (1958), Panic in Year Zero! (1962), Panic in the City (1968), and The Harpy (1971).
One of the most popular television programs of all time was The Lone Ranger, whose opening and closing scenes were filmed on the ranch.
It was near the Nyoka Cliff area that perhaps the most iconic footage in all Western television history was shot: the 40-second opening sequence of The Lone Ranger, with Silver, the “fiery horse with the speed of light,” rearing on his hind legs to the strains of Rossini’s William Tell Overture. The masked rider opens the program in front of what is now known as the Lone Ranger Rock, located in the Lower Iverson Gorge on the southeastern side of the gorge next to Nyoka Cliff.
The Garden of the Gods appears at the end of each Lone Ranger episode when he and Tonto ride up the trail, away from camera, ready for their new adventures. They are riding up between the two large rock formations that make up the Garden of the Gods.
But it wasn’t only Westerns that the Garden hosted. Republic Pictures, headquartered at the old Mack Sennett studio, less than a dozen miles from Iverson, used the area for dozens of serials. One of these was Perils of Nyoka, a 1943 Republic serial starring Kay Aldridge, which was likely the most popular of the jungle-set films of the era. The serial ran a total of 261 minutes over 15 chapters, just perfect for the Saturday-morning matinees.
The plot: Nyoka (Aldridge), with help from Larry Grayson, attempts to discover the golden tablets of Hippocrates, which contain the medical knowledge of the ancients and are buried with a treasure trove. In search of the tablets, they travel from the African jungle to the Arabian desert where Queen Vultura (Lorna Gray) and her Arab cohort are also searching for them. Of course, Larry saves Nyoka from the usual Saturday morning cliffhanging perils, including being captured by Vultura and her pet gorilla, Satan.
Larry and Nyoka track down Vultura, who has found the tablets. While Larry and the other expedition members engage Vultura’s men, Nyoka and Vultura battle each other in one of the rare female-against-female fights in serial lore. The battle ends when Satan hurls a spear at Nyoka, misses her and unintentionally kills Vultura. Larry wins the battle against Vultura’s men, shoots Satan, saves Nyoka, and retrieves the tablets.
And what ties Perils of Nyoka to The Lone Ranger? Clayton Moore. Kay Aldridge’s friend Dr. Larry Grayson is played by Clayton Moore, in his 10th film role. He later gains fame playing the Lone Ranger for many years.
The Garden of the Gods is the only area of the Iverson Ranch that still allows public access; street parking is available on Redmesa Road in Chatsworth. The easy hiking trail of the Garden of the Gods is available for those who want to “return to those thrilling days of yesteryear” and imagine what it was like in the heyday of the Iverson Ranch.
Martin Cooper, President of Cooper Communications, supervised public relations for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for 10 years; held executive positions with Disney and Universal Studios; and was Board Chairman of the UCLA Film & Television Archive. He is a Fernando Award Honoree and Past Chairman of VICA. An award-winning author, he has written four books, two of them on the San Fernando Valley. His fifth book, The ‘Reel’ Hollywood: The San Fernando Valley, the history of motion pictures in the Valley, will be out January 2026.
