Ventura’s first landscape-scale publicly accessible nature preserve, protecting vibrant coastal sage scrub shrublands and live oak woodlands.

Aiming for formally opening to the public in 2025, Mariano rises steeply above downtown Ventura, with dense coastal sage scrub shrublands and extraordinary vistas.

A stunning section of the Ventura River with perennial surface water, riparian woodland, and dynamic aquatic habitats.

Since 2012, VLT has been cleaning up this 9-acre property to maximize environmental and community benefits for the Ventura River estuary.

This small preserve straddles an ephemeral section of Canada Larga Creek and supports key VLT programs.