San Vicente Mountain Park, California

Where Gumbo Was #203

Congratulations goes to George G and PortMoresby for correctly identifying that Gumbo was at San Vicente Mountain Park, a former Nike Missile Radar/Control Site. It's located between the San Fernando Valley and Brentwood off the famous Mulholland Drive. From it, you can see the San Fernando Valley, Palos Verdes and Downtown LA.

From 1956 to 1968, a team of U.S. Army missile control specialists manned radar towers on San Vicente Mountain and kept watch over Los Angeles' northern and western horizons to protect the city from Soviet bombers. It was one of 16 Nike missile launch sites in Los Angeles during the cold war.

In the late 1960s, intercontinental ballistic missiles replaced bombers as an atomic threat, and the Nike program was dissolved. Eventually, Nike base LA96C was declared surplus federal property and offered to California as parkland.

They did a great job preserving the site and you can really tell why the site was chosen to defend LA. It's a great place to get a overview of the city and get a brief respite from the busy city. You can also access the trails of the "Big Wild" wilderness area.