The preserve contains oak woodlands, savanna, riparian areas, grassland, vernal pools, and an Ecology Pond, all of which support more than 200 bird species and numerous mammals, amphibians and reptiles.

In the 1990s, former Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson, other community leaders, and environmental organizations worked together to create the Chatsworth Nature Preserve.

The preserve's wildlife population includes large and small mammals: desert cottontail rabbit, gray fox, coyote, and raccoon, plus occasional bobcats, mountain lions, and mule deer.

[3] Among the CNP's various natural habitats are oak woodlands and savanna, riparian areas, chaparral, grassland, pond water and fringing marsh, seasonal ponds, and vernal pools created by seasonal rains and streams, including Woolsey Canyon Creek and Box Canyon Creek, which drain into the preserve from the steep rocky Simi Hills.

The pond is the core for a complex of habitats along its shores, including mudflats during lower water periods, a fringing marsh of cattails, bulrushes, nettles, and other water-associated plants.

On slightly higher ground, the pond waters also support dense thickets primarily of mule fat and willows that could not exist in drier areas.

The pond, mudflats and marsh provide foraging, roosting, and nest sites for numerous bird species, and are used by various mammals, reptiles and amphibians.

Also known as the Chatsworth Calera, monument #141 is a centuries-old kiln used for burning limestone in the making of lime for concrete, mortar, and whitewash, a step in the construction of bricks and tiles.

The CNP contains evidence of at least 1,000 years of human culture: native tribes made sacred use of the land, and the Fernandeño and Chumash people ground acorns and seeds in the sandstone outcroppings.

Spanish missionaries processed limestone for use in plaster coatings of adobe buildings, and in the 19th century the land was used by Mexican cattle ranchers and Basque sheepherders.

Movies filmed on the land now designated as the CNP include The Ten Commandments, Donovan's Brain, The Palomino, Susanna Pass, Sioux City Sue, Man from Rainbow Valley, Out California Way, Home on the Range, Hell's Angels, Tess of the Storm Country, Three Word Brand, and The Karate Kid.