Inside Disney’s secret 700-acre ranch near Santa Clarita

It’s a very exclusive Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Disney owns a sprawling 708-acre ranch used as a film set and testing site for amusement park rides — but it’s kept largely secret and out of sight from fans.

The tucked-away Golden Oak Ranch in Placerita Canyon is near Santa Clarita and just 20 miles north of the company’s studio in Burbank but it’s off limits to the public, SFGATE reported.

The property has been part of the House of Mouse’s portfolio since the late 1950s when the studio first used it to shoot “The Adventures of Spin and Marty for The Mickey Mouse Club.”

Walt Disney liked the land so much — and feared the golden age of movie ranches was disappearing — that he bought it outright in 1959 to preserve it for productions.

The secluded property features multiple permanent backlots, including Old West sets, a small-town downtown, residential neighborhoods, and natural landscapes used for film and television productions dating back to the 1950s.

The ranch — originally a 315-acre spread that Walt Disney bought for a measly $300,000 — also houses the historic so-called Guest House once used by Walt Disney himself, the report said.

Disney uses the grounds to test future theme park attractions, while it also grows hay for Disneyland horses — some of which end up retiring on the grounds, according to SFGATE.

But Golden Oak Ranch is strictly backstage territory with no tours, no park days and no public access, the news site noted. The ranch is marked by “No Trespassing” signs and is closely guarded to keep the ride testing and filming secret from the public, SFGATE said.

Disney has rented out the property to other studios, with series like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Little House on the Prairie” using the ranch, while films like “Back to the Future” have also shot there, according to SFGATE.

It’s not all lost magic for Disney die-hards, though.

The ranch’s name is used at a food stand called “Golden Oak Outpost” in Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and it’s also referenced in the Golden Oak, an ultra-exclusive gated community near Orlando, the report said.

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