Los Angeles, California

Murphy Ranch: The Secret Nazi Compound of Rustic Canyon

Los Angeles, California, United States

By the Wicked Cool Places editors · Published Fri, Aug 28, 2026

Why it’s cool

This sprawling ruin hidden in a Los Angeles canyon was built as a multi-million dollar survivalist bunker for Nazi sympathizers before being raided by federal agents in 1941.

West Coast Hidden Gem

A small, abandoned stone building covered in colorful graffiti sits nestled among trees in a wooded canyon.

Tucked away in the dense brush of the Santa Monica Mountains, a crumbling concrete staircase leads down to a site of profound historical strangeness. Murphy Ranch was once a multi-million dollar survivalist compound built during the 1930s.

While the property was officially purchased by a mysterious figure named Jessie Murphy, the actual development was spearheaded by Winona and Norman Stephens alongside a German national named Herr Schmidt. Schmidt was a man of intense convictions and a suspected Nazi sympathizer.

He persuaded the Stephens to pour a fortune into the canyon floor to create a fortress capable of operating independently from the rest of the world. The original plans included massive water cisterns, fuel storage, and multiple power generators.

The goal was to endure years of isolation, fueled by the belief that the United States would eventually fall to a new global order. This vision was cut short in December 1941 when federal authorities raided the property immediately after the country entered World War II.

Why It Stands Out

The site is a bizarre intersection of high-stakes conspiracy and modern urban decay. Another local site defined by decay is the Sunken City.

After the war, the compound transitioned from a paranoid fortress to a peaceful retreat for an artists' colony during the 1960s and 1970s. Today, the remains are a canvas for local street artists.

Visitors can wander through the skeletal concrete structures and see the massive piers of the power house, all while surrounded by the quiet beauty of Rustic Canyon. It serves as a physical reminder of a strange chapter in Los Angeles history where international politics and local isolationism collided.

Before You Go

Accessing the ruins requires a hike. Hikers may find these remains similar to The Witch’s Castle.

Most visitors start from the end of Capri Drive where it meets Casale Road. From there, follow the Sullivan Fire Road until you find the concrete staircase on your left.

This descent involves more than 500 steps and drops over 200 feet into the canyon. Alternatively, you can continue on the fire road to a set of stone gates that mark the original driveway.

While the city has demolished some structures, significant portions like the concrete house still remain visible.

Questions worth answering

How do we get down to the ruins?

The descent involves a concrete staircase with over 500 steps. It drops more than 200 feet into the canyon floor.

What was the original purpose of this place?

It was a survivalist compound built to function independently during a global collapse. The owners installed massive cisterns and power generators to endure years of isolation.

Is there a way to avoid the stairs?

You can stay on the fire road until you reach the stone gates. That path marks the original driveway leading into the property.

What is left to see at the site today?

The city demolished several buildings, but the concrete house and power house piers remain. Local street artists have since covered the skeletal structures in graffiti.

Visit Snapshot

To reach the ranch, take Sunset Boulevard to Capri Drive and continue north until it ends at Casale Road. Park in the neighborhood and walk west on Casale to reach the Sullivan Fire Road.

You can enter through the stone gates or take the steep staircase down into the canyon.

Location

Los Angeles, California

Know before you go

From Sunset Blvd., turn north onto Capri. Follow Capri until it ends in a T-intersection with Casale.

Park and walk west on Casale, which will turn into Sullivan Fire Road. Walk through the stone gate and follow the driveway to the bottom of the Canyon.

Editorial source

Rustic Canyon's Murphy Ranch

Hidden under dense foliage and down a treacherous decaying flight of hundreds of concrete stairs lies a World War II-era enigma. The now heavily graffiti-tagged Murphy Ranch sits nestled on a canyon floor between Will Rogers State Park, a Boy Scout camp, and a substantial, upscale housing development.

Local journalists and at least one historian speak of the wonder and mythology of this fascinating historic ruin. Now the property of Los Angeles City parks, Murphy Ranch was originally developed to be a self-sustaining compound in the 1930s.

It was originally purchased in 1933 by Jessie Murphy -- a person never seen nor documented elsewhere. Despite the phantom owner, the property was developed by Winona and Norman Stephens and a German national by the name of Herr Schmidt.

The design implemented was an installation of several buildings, fuel tanks, and multiple massive cisterns. The entire complex, according to the plans of Herr Schmidt, was to be self-sustaining even if it suffered years of isolation from the outside society.

Schmidt's motivations, however, remain the focus of the lore. A suspected Nazi sympathizer, Schmidt had a domineering personality.

He convinced the Stephens to pour some $4 million in the construction of the ranch in Rustic Canyon. Despite a commanding presence, Schmidt was limited in his ambitions by the Stephens' assets.

Plans to expand the compound were halted as the Stephens -- though still loyal to Schmidt -- ran dry. Schmidt, according to legend, persisted in pursuing his dream of a Nazi holdout in America until the end of the war.

This dream was shattered in December of 1941. Immediately after entering the war, United States Federal Agents raided (or are said to have raided) the compound hidden in the woods.

Schmidt and his followers lost their dream, as they had the entire time been under the watchful eye of intelligence officials. Abandoned for decades after the war, Murphy Ranch experienced a brief revival in the 1960s and 1970s.

An artists' colony started itself there, just outside of the reach of bustling Los Angeles and Santa Monica. Wildfires in the canyon system ended the Ranch's renaissance, however, driving out the artists' colony permanently.

There are two popular approaches to Murphy Ranch. One is for hikers coming from neighboring Will Rogers State Park.

The other is from the residential road Capri Drive. Hike north along Sullivan Fire Road until you reach a concrete staircase on the left after about 2/3 of a mile.

If you miss it, don't worry, there is another, more roundabout entrance at a set of stone gates that follows the old driveway down. Using the staircase route makes the hiker feel like Rocky Balboa, descending over 500 steps some 200-plus feet in elevation.

At the bottom, you'll see tucked away under the trees -- like a lost temple of old -- the tagged piers and vacant windows of the remains of Murphy Ranch. The city has approved tearing down Murphy's Ranch for February 23, 2016, however major structures of the ranch still exist.

Get out there and experience it before it's gone! Update November 2016: Parts of the ranch have been demolished .

Other parts, such as the popularly photographed concrete house, still stand.

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