The Santa Monica Mountains were a east-west transverse mountain range in Los Angeles County, California, separating the inland San Fernando Valley from the Los Angeles basin and the sea. The mountains were something of a wilderness, covered in brush but crisscrossed with trails that nature worshippers used. Mountaingate Drive and the Vanderbilt Complex were also situated in the mountains, overlooking the Interstate 405 and the Los Angeles basin. The Santa Monica Mountains Preserve was a wide tract of land that ran along the backbone of the mountains. (Cat's Claw)