CITY ANNOUNCES ADDITION OF BEALE'S CUT TO OPEN SPACE DISTRICT 

Perry Smith
October 30, 2025

The city of Santa Clarita added 670 acres to its open space Tuesday, including the historic Beale’s Cut off Sierra Highway, which will now be a part of the city’s Open Space Preservation District. 

Since the city initiated the start of its open space program in 2007, the city has put together more than 12,000 acres for preservation, according to the city’s most recent figures. Covering 18.75 square miles, it’s an area just larger than the city of Burbank. 

Mayor Pro-Tem Laurene Weste said she wanted to thank former state Sen. Scott Wilk, who worked with her on the effort to secure the funds from the state.  

The money helped purchase a property she described as part of the wildlife corridor between the Santa Susana and the San Gabriel mountains, as well as what she called the last significant SCV historical site to be protected, Beale’s Cut.  

Beale’s Cut represents the first real stagecoach pass for the SCV, which historians described as a 90-foot-deep, hand-cut gash through the mountain southeast of Sierra Highway and what’s now known as Newhall Avenue, in the Newhall Pass, according to SCVHistory.com.  

It was being used for stagecoaches in the 1850s, and by 1910, the Newhall Tunnel replaced it, which begat the modern-day Sierra Highway in 1938, according to the historical website.  

It’s currently about half its former depth, with the remaining walls forming a V shape versus a U shape, per the website.  

“We’ve been talking about possible city ownership of Beale’s Cut for over 30 years,” said Leon Worden, a local historian who also helps run the city’s public-access TV station, in thanking the city for the acquisition Tuesday. Worden said he wanted to express his gratitude to the City Council and staff for “never taking their eye off the ball.” 

“It was 1991 when a development project came forward, (Assistant City Manager) Frank (Oviedo) might remember that, he was a little kid … and the development project never happened. Beale’s Cut has just kind of sat there in limbo.” 

The agenda for the council meeting held Tuesday describes the locations of its latest additions: the LaBelle Property consists of approximately 180 acres located northwest of the city in the Castaic area along Charlie Canyon Road, near the Tesoro Highlands open space dedication area; the Vartanian property consists of approximately 145 acres located northeast of the city along Davenport Road and Sierra Highway; the Chaleff and English properties consist of approximately 49 acres northeast of the city, along Burton Road and Vasquez Canyon Road; and the Forum Engineering Property consists of approximately 13 acres located within the city limits near the Needham Ranch open space area.

From the Newhall Signal of October 30, 2025.
See here: https://signalscv.com/2025/10/city-announces-addition-of-beales-cut-to-open-space-district/