“Come to the land of booming creeks, deep swimming holes, high mountain pine forests, crystal clear” – Dennis Gagnon describing the Santa Cruz, 1981
If you’ve spent any time exploring the Santa Barbara Backcountry then no doubt your path has taken you along the Santa Cruz Trail, which extends 20 single-track miles from just above Upper Oso Campground to the pine studded splendor of Mission Pine Basin. What an incredible trail! Santa Cruz is (was once) one of the most popular trails in the SB Backcountry; used daily by dozens of hikers, mountain bikers, backpackers, equestrians, peak baggers, bird watchers, trail runners and hunters. Santa Cruz Trail is the main backcountry entrance for the southern San Rafael Wilderness and passes many famous camps including Santa Cruz Station, Mission Pine Basin, Little Pine Spring, Flores Flat, Kellogg and 19 Oaks. While backpacking and camping are popular along the Santa Cruz Trail, the majority of trail users are either day-hikers seeking the grand views from atop Little Pine Mtn or mountain bikers enjoying the epic Little Pine Loop ride. Santa Cruz Trail was one of the best, until……
On Thursday August 18, 2016 an oak tree near White Rock Day Use Area off Paradise Rd fell across a power line. The downed power line landed in a grassy field which ignited and thus began the Rey Fire. The Rey Fire would burn for the next couple of weeks eventually destroying 32,606 acres across mostly Los Padres Forest land. Included in the destruction was 5.6 miles of the Santa Cruz Trail between Upper Oso and Little Pine Spring. A total of just over 7 miles of trail along the Santa Cruz Trail network were damaged when including the 19 Oaks and Happy Hollow (Little Pine) spur trails.
With the help of the Forest Service, the LPFA has been working to restore the Santa Cruz Trail. Since the Rey Fire, we’ve reopened the trail from Upper Oso to 19 Oaks Camp (three times 2017, 2020, 2023). Cleared the trail another couple miles up through a white rock area known affectionately as the ‘Cliffs of Insanity’ to the base of the Cribwalls (twice 2020, 2023, 2024). We’ve also worked from Alexander Saddle down towards Upper Oso and simultaneously back towards Little Pine Spring (2021-2022) while also working up from Santa Cruz Station towards the infamous 40-Mile Wall (2018-2022). We also fully restored the trail from Santa Cruz Station to the Grapevine Trail (2021-2022). In addition we partnered with multiple local scout troops to restore the camping area at 19 Oaks (2019) and reestablish the Upper Oso Canyon Geologic Tour (2020). Many thanks to all the volunteer trail workers, guidance from the Forest Service and generous public donations as well as grant acquisitions that have contributed to all this work being accomplished.
TRIVIA TIME: Did you know that the Santa Cruz Trail is one of only two federally recognized National Recreation Trails (NRT) within the Los Padres National Forest? The other is the Gene Marshall – Piedra Blanca Trail located within Ventura County.
In 2021 and 2022, LPFA continued to work the upper portions of the Santa Cruz Trail through combined efforts from our Trail Crew and volunteers. We staged Working Vacations at Santa Cruz Station and Flores Flat Camp and opened the trail between Santa Cruz Station and Kellogg Camp. This section of trail was looking GREAT, even the always overgrown Romo Potrero above Santa Cruz Station was weed whacked up to the wilderness line….
The burned portions of the Santa Cruz Trail were closed in 2016 due to damage from the Rey Fire. Thanks to all the aforementioned trail work, we were collectively able to reopen most of the trail by the end of 2022. That being said, the cribwalls on the south side of Little Pine have been closed since 2016.
By the end of 2022 the Santa Cruz Trail was open from Upper Oso to 19 Oaks, closed from 19 Oaks to Alexander Saddle and then open from Alexander Saddle to Mission Pine Basin. The idea was to get the trail fixed to the cribwalls and then work on a solution to the cribwalls after that.
Then came the January 2023 super storms. In the first two weeks of January 2023, two back-to-back atmospheric rivers hit the central coast. Localized rainfall totals for some areas of the Santa Barbara frontcountry and backcountry surpassed 20 inches in 48 hours. The Buckhorn Road, the primary admin vehicle access road to stage trail projects further in the backcountry, was washed out and has not been fully repaired since. The winter of 2023 ended up being one of the wettest on record for this area. Much of the Santa Cruz Trail sustained substantial damage and was fully closed in January 2023 due to storm damage.
In Spring 2023, the LPFA in conjunction with the Forest Service began restoring the storm damaged Santa Cruz Trail once again. LPFA crews and volunteers worked to reopen access to 19 Oaks and up through the Cliffs of Insanity to the base of the cribwalls. By June 2023 the trail was reopened up to 19 Oaks. Here’s a drone video showing most of the trail work accomplished above 19 Oaks as part of the spring 2023 trail season.
The Santa Cruz Trail is currently open from the trailhead above Upper Oso to 19 Oaks Camp, closed from 19 Oaks to Santa Cruz Station and then open again from Santa Cruz Station to Mission Pine Basin.
The Buckhorn Road was repaired from Upper Oso to Little Pine in summer 2025 as part of a Lake Fire suppression repair project. To our knowledge, no sanctioned trail work is planned along the Santa Cruz Trail. The restoration of the cribwall remains a major obstacle which needs to be repaired before the Santa Cruz Trail can be fully reopened. If anyone has ideas on how to fix the cribwall slides, we are all ears. Let us know! We’re happy to answer any Santa Cruz or forest related questions as well.
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
- Los Padres National Forest, Santa Barbara Ranger District
- Santa Barbara Foundation
- American Trails Legacy Trails Program
- REI Santa Barbara
- Sierra Club, Los Padres Chapter
- National Fish & Wildlife Foundation
- Draughtsmen Aleworks
- Sage Trail Alliance
- Boy Scouts of America & Girl Scouts of the USA
- and all our volunteers, donors & trail users that make this all possible….
