Turnbull Canyon, an east-west canyon in the Whittier Hills near Whittier, combines a steep creek drainage, riparian woodland of sycamores, and slopes of coastal sage and mixed grasses with a semi-arid climate moderated somewhat by the nearby ocean. Part of it lies within the Puente Hills Preserve, including a four-mile loop trail. Named for Robert Turnbull, a Scottish immigrant who bought the canyon in the eighteen seventies to raise sheep and later sold it back to Quakers, the area later saw oil exploration in the eighteen nineties and road building that was paved by 1913. Its natural scenery, views, and long association with local legends have made it distinctive.