In 1956 the owner of Paramount Ranch decided to build a road-racing facility on the property. He engaged Ken Miles and Dick Van Laanen to design the circuit. They laid out a paved figure-eight course with 11 turns incorporating uphill and downhill sections, a bridge and underpass, and a lake positioned opposite the start-finish line. Bob Bondurant, who raced at the venue, described the course as "unforgiving but a real challenge."
A total of seven events were held at Paramount Ranch across 1956 and 1957. Five were organised by the California Sports Car Club (CSCC) and two by the United States Auto Club (USAC).
The inaugural event on 18–19 August 1956 drew entrants including Richie Ginther, who won the modified under-1500cc category in a Porsche Spyder, and Bruce Kessler, who took Formula III and Consolation wins in a Cooper-Norton and Cooper M IX respectively. The over-1500cc main event was won by Harrison Evans in a Ferrari Monza.
The first USAC event, on 4 November 1956, was a 250-mile National Championship Stock Car Road Race won by Sam Hanks driving a red and white 1956 Mercury, finishing ahead of Johnny Mantz.
Ken Miles was a recurring winner at the circuit. In the November 1956 CSCC event he won both the modified under-1500cc and modified over-1500cc classes driving a Porsche Cooper. He claimed the under-1500cc main event again at the June 1957 round in a Porsche 550 Spyder, though he was later disqualified after judges ruled he had made a brief pit stop in a restricted area to accept a drink of water. Runner-up Jack McAfee, also in a Porsche 550 Spyder, was declared the winner. In the December 1957 finale, Miles won the under-1500cc main event.
The April 1957 USAC event, a 100-mile National Championship Stock Car race, was won by Troy Ruttman in a 1957 Ford, finishing 41 seconds ahead of Sam Hanks.
At the June 1957 CSCC event, Chuck Daigh claimed the over-1500cc main event in a Troutman-Barnes Ford Thunderbird — the first time a Ford V8-powered car had won a major sports car race in the United States.
Dan Gurney also made an appearance at the circuit during the December 1957 finale, winning both a preliminary race and the over-1500cc main event in a Ferrari 375 Plus. Ronnie Bucknum won a modified class race at the same event.
The December 1957 event proved to be the circuit's last. During race three, Hugh Woods crashed his Corvette into a guardrail at turn 1. The steel railing penetrated the car and severed his right leg, also causing fractures in both arms. In the next race, George Sherrerd driving a Jaguar XK120 struck the same guardrail — still projecting from the earlier impact — which sheared through his car and killed him instantly. It was subsequently established that the guardrail had been installed facing the wrong direction.
Later in the same event, Jim Firestone lost control of his Frazer Nash Bristol near turn 2 during the final race, struck a tyre stack, and was ejected from the car when it flipped. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Northridge Community Hospital.
The accumulation of deaths and serious injuries across such a short period led directly to the permanent closure of the circuit after two seasons.
The National Park Service acquired Paramount Ranch and maintains it as part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. By 2015 the bridge on the old circuit still stood but had been blocked to vehicles, while overgrowth and hillside development had obscured much of the original layout.
In November 2018, Paramount Ranch suffered near-total destruction during the Woolsey Fire.
The racetrack's unusual history and layout attracted attention from the sim racing community; a recreation of the circuit was developed for the game GTL by a community modder and subsequently converted for use in GTR2, making the track accessible to modern racing game players.
The racetrack appeared in several films shot in the 1950s and 1960s, including Devil's Hairpin, Spinout, and Munster, Go Home! It was also featured in a 1965 episode of the television series Perry Mason, "The Case of the Runaway Racer."