Helping the Los Padres Forest and Forest Users Since 1979
The Los Padres Forest Association has applied for funding to complete projects in the Ojai and Mt. Pinos Ranger Districts. All projects support the OHV program within the Los Padres National Forest. The opportunity for public review and comment is now open. Please select “Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program – 2024” and search for Los Padres Forest Association to access preliminary applications. Thank you.
Green meadows are calling…
Hello Friends,
It’s officially green out there. Backcountry season is in full swing and LPFA is kicking off our spring trail working season with a project on the Potrero Trail. For those who joined our work on the western Hurricane Deck last fall, you may remember it to be hot, brown, breezeless and full of face flies. Well not anymore! Right now it’s just about as good as it gets up there.
LPFA will be leading a backcountry project out of Potrero Camp on the Manzana Trail from March 8th to 10th where we will be brushing our way up the Potrero Trail to the Hurricane Deck Trail. This project is part of a group of upcoming (and past) projects to open up the western portion of the Hurricane Deck Trail. Come help us open up the Deck!
While we’d love for you to join for the whole project, you’re welcome to come for as long as you can. Sign up via the button below and stay tuned for more info in the days leading up to the project. And if you can’t make this one, check back in for more Manzana-adjacent projects this spring…there will be PLENTY!
Shades of winter in the Dick Smith…
Hello Friends,
We hope you’re off to a Los Padres-filled start to the New Year and taking advantage of the break in the weather to enjoy the green grass and flowing creeks the year-end storms left behind. And if you need a little encouragement, LPFA is here to offer ample opportunities for you to get your winter nature fix! Join us as we enter a ~somewhat~ dry January and set off into the Forest for some trail maintenance fun while the weather allows. From the Sespe River Trail, to Agua Blanca Creek, to the Santa Ynez Rec Area and back down to Matilija Canyon, we’ve got all your southern Los Padres trail work needs covered. We hope you can make one or even better, all of the volunteer days shown below. See you out there!
Jan 11-15: Sespe River Trail
Join us in the Sespe Wilderness on MLK weekend to tackle the Kerr Spring Slide on the Sespe River Trail! LPFA will be backpacking to Bear Creek Camp on Thursday, January 11th and spending the long weekend fixing a particularly nasty slide between Bear Creek and Kerr Spring. This is an overnight trip and volunteers should come prepared to spend the night in the backcountry with their own gear. Details are still taking shape, click below to sign up!
Jan 21: Wheeler Gorge VC Cleanup
After 11 months of being closed, Highway 33 has finally opened between Matilija Road and Ozena Station, and so has our beloved Wheeler Gorge Visitor Center! Join us Sunday, January 21st from 10am – 2pm for coffee and a cleanup at the Center. Family and friends encouraged. Projects will include raking, sweeping, painting, trash cleanup and more! Email us at VOLUNTEER@LPForest.org to sign up and or to get more info!
Jan 26: Matias Connector Trail
LPFA will be beginning work on the Matias Connector Trailthis January. Come join us on Friday, January 26th as we begin brushing the trail open from River Road up toward Matias Potrero. We’ll be meeting at First Crossing at 8am. More details to come, email us at VOLUNTEER@LPForest.org to get on the list!
Feb 11: Super Bowl Trail Day
LPFA will be continuing the tradition of a Super Bowl Trail Project in the Ozena Station area of the Los Padres this February 11th! Exact trail location TBD, but come join us for a day of trail work in Deal Canyon-land and be home in time for the Super Bowl. More details to come, but sign up at the link below!
Ongoing: Agua Blanca/Potholes
Sign up to join ongoing efforts to restore the Agua Blanca Trail within the Sespe Wilderness. Led by Alan Coles, volunteers will be meeting at Lake Piru and heading up the Agua Blanca clearing brush and downed trees. If you are interested in helping or learning more, please sign up and we’ll keep you posted. Click below……
Ongoing: Matilija Trail
Led by another legendary local trail steward named Peter Wilder, the LPFA has continued to work the Matilija Trail on most Thursdays and Saturdays since August. However, there is still much to do! If you are interested in helping or learning more, please sign up and we’ll keep you posted. Click below……
Winter sunsets just hit different. From up on Mt Pinos.
A Big Sunset Across Little Pine, no Photoshop or filters needed….
Hello Friends ~ Happy Holidays!
You’re likely getting inundated with year-end emails so we’ll keep this short but we needed to share a couple Los Padres updates before the end of the year. Let’s do this…..
Highway 33: OPEN
CalTrans reopened Hwy 33 after it had been closed for the previous 11 months. While the highway is open, there are lane closures and some campgrounds and trails remain closed. For more info click here….
Fire Restrictions
The Forest Service lifted fire restrictions; campfires are now allowed in most parts of the forest with a valid California Campfire Permit. See details and more information here….
Last but certainly not least, we need to thank all the dedicated LPFA volunteers who spend their free time in support of the forest. This includes volunteers at the Visitor Centers, our Board of Directors and of course all of you who spend time with us on the trails and within the forest. We also want to give a huge shout-out to our hard-working professional Trail Crew who spend all year helping the trails. They’re out in the forest 10 hours a day through the summer heat, the winter freeze and everything in between. Also a big thanks to all the donors, partners and grantors who support our mission in all ways imaginable. We truly could not do what we love to do without all of you!
Thank you everyone for a great 2023 with an even better 2024 on tap….
Thanks again everyone! Now go find some time to enjoy the forest, get a backpack in, go ride your favorite trail or take your family for a drive to a trailhead you’ve never visited. Safe travels and see you next year….
Hello Friends,
Let’s talk a little Ventura Backcountry. Highway 33, which is the primary road used to access the Ventura Backcountry, has been closed since January due to storm damage. Hwy 33 is used to visit many special places including Pine Mountain, Matilija, Rose Valley, Piedra Blanca and large portions of the Sespe Wilderness. The latest update from CalTrans is that Hwy 33 is expected to reopen sometime around the end of the year – that will be great, we can’t wait!
Unfortunately, so many of the trails accessed from Hwy 33 remain in very bad shape. Not only are there trail-gobbling landslides, washouts and sinkholes resulting from the winter rains but the plants have also been growing like crazy, exploding with trail-guising regrowth. We’ve helped survey many of the trails off Hwy 33 and most of them need a lot of work clearing slides, brushing back the scub oak and helping to once again define where the trail should go.
We’ve started with some of the trail restoration work and have led trail projects this year on the Sespe, Piedra Blanca, Matilija, Chorro Grande, Reyes Peak, Boulder Canyon and Alder Creek Trails but we’ve just scratched the surface of what is truly needed for this amazing network of trails.
With your support this #GivingTuesday, we’d like to make a huge push over the coming months to get as many of the gnarly sections of trail cleared and back in good shape.
First on our trail priority list would be repairing the Kerr Spring slide along the Sespe River Trail. This section of trail just upstream from Kerr Spring has been a problem for decades but was hit exceptionally hard this past January. Over a hundred yards of trail was buried by a landslide of rock and mud. It’s a disaster and certainly hard to navigate in its current condition. We’d love to organize a combination of volunteers and hired trail professionals to camp at nearby Bear Creek and spend a couple weeks clearing this slide and reopening the Sespe. Please considering helping this #GivingTuesday.
We’ll also be continuing our work on the Matilija Trail (come volunteer too!), we’d love to clear Lion Cyn again, work the GMPB up towards Pine Mtn Lodge and hack away at both Potrero John and lower Chorro. No shortage of work to be done, we can’t wait to get out there and do what we do best.
Your support today goes a long way to helping repair the trails across the Ventura Backcountry. Thanks everyone! See you in the forest and on the trails…..
PROJECT FULL
We’ll be working the Alder Creek Trail in the Sespe Wilderness above Fillmore all of next week as part of a large scale Working Vacation. The project is full but we’re looking to clear the trail from Dough Flat out to Cow Spring and hopefully down a couple miles towards Alder Creek. Should be fun, with us luck!
PROJECT FULL
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
We’ve been chipping away at the Matilija Trail for the past few months and are now up about 2 miles from the lower trailhead. We’ll continue our regularly scheduled Thursday and Saturday volunteer days. The canyon is beautiful and we really appreciate all the hard work from the volunteers. Join the fun!
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
This coming Sunday will be the second of many trail days this season pn the Agua Blanca Trail. The ABT is located above Lake Piru in the Sespe Wilderness. Super Volunteer Alan Coles will once again be leading the charge and we’ll hopefully continue pushing up towards the Devil’s Gate. Hope you can make it!
A colored line with an epic view deep within the green, photo CHorgan
Hello Friends,
We all love maps. Look below at the map of South Central California and you’ll notice how the Los Padres Forest is a huge green polygon surrounded by roadshields, cities and civilization. It’s so nice to have that large green polygon. Don’t you agree? It’s vital to have designated green for nature to thrive, for critters to roam and for water to flow. People seldom live in the green but having the ability to visit is also essential. The green is a space for us to reconnect and disconnect (no ports or plugs please), to recreate and educate, and the setting where we become the best version of ourselves. While seeing the green from afar is fine, it’s even better to get inside the green and soak up the forest from within.
Leading to and within the green are colored lines which allow visitors access to explore, to watch, to witness and to be challenged. These lines are more commonly called trails and they lead to many cherished wonders within the green. The lines are used by bikers, hikers, runners and equestrians for nature viewing, backpacking, soaking and adrenaline. Most of us don’t get the chance to venture along the lines and into the green as much as we’d like. Yet we have faith that the green and the lines will be there when we need them.
If you like to visit the green polygon and use the colored lines within, then please consider donating to the LPFA this #GivingTuesday. We are out in the green along the lines just about every day (223 days and counting this year) working to ensure that the green stays green and the lines stay colored.
We truly appreciate all the continued encouragement from our volunteers, supporters and donors and are honored to be doing what we are doing.
See you on the lines and in the green……
Hello Friends,
We hope this email finds you well heading into what should be a lovely Thanksgiving Weekend. Thanksgiving is a fun time of year in the Los Padres. We’ve got peak fall colors across most of the forest and wild temperature swings where the daily highs and lows might vary by 40+ degrees. Certainly lots to be thankful for right here in our own backyard.
#GivingTuesday is just around the corner and the LPFA will be focusing our attention this year on a particularly needy portion of the Los Padres Forest – the trails of the Ventura Backcountry.
Highway 33 connects Ojai with the Cuyama Valley and provides most of the public access into the Ventura Backcountry. As you likely know, Hwy 33 was slammed this past winter during the early January storms and sustained significant structural damage. Despite all the hard work CalTrans has put in over the past 10 months, Hwy 33 remains closed with an expected reopening date of sometime between December 2023 and January 2024. Knock knock, we’re certainly hoping it reopens sooner rather than later.
While the pavement is being repaired, most of the trails off Hwy 33 have not been so fortunate. The LPFA has hosted some trail days on portions of the Ventura Backcountry including Pine Mtn, Reyes Peak, Chorro Grande, Piedra Blanca, Matilija, Alder Creek and the Sespe Trail, but the vast majority of trail miles have a whole lot of work needed. Slides need to be cleared, downed trees bucked, brush cut back and camp areas cleaned. Let’s get to it!
With your support this #GivingTuesday, the LPFA will make a push to maintain as many trails as we can along Hwy 33, the Sespe and the Ventura Backcountry. Any help either through donations or volunteering to help along the trails would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
#GivingTuesday for the Sespe and Ventura Backcountry Trails!
The gift giving holidays are up next and what better way to say YOU ROCK than hooking up the Los Padres lover on your list with a sweet 2024 LP wall calendar! The calendars go to print next week and they are amazing, the best yet! We will have a limited amount so get em while you can. Twelve months of Los Padres awesomeness! Heck yeah…. And thanks to all of you who submitted photos this year, you all rock too!
The weather is looking great this weekend. Last weeks rain knocked back some of the trail dust. It’s a terrific time to put in some post Turkey Day trail miles! If you are looking for trails to explore or new camps to stargaze from, look no further than HikeLosPadres.com for the latest and greatest information on the trails, water and camps across the Los padres. Check it out before you go and share after you get back! Have a fun and safe weekend everyone!
The LPFA just wrapped up an incredibly successful 5-day Working Vacation based at the Manzana Schoolhouse. In addition to the usual top-notch trail work, our volunteers also replaced the decrepit roof on the Schoolhouse itself. The previous roof was last replaced in 1990 and was breaking apart and littered with holes. The structure was at risk of falling over and potentially being lost forever. We’ve been working with the Forest Service for most of the past decade trying to get the necessary approvals to replace the roof and at long last it finally all came together. Bravo! and just in time as we have rain coming in just a few days!
We want to thank everyone who participated but especially Greg J and Mark B who have sat through years of planning meetings and had the patience and expertise to pull this off. We’ll be sharing more about this project and other planned historic structure repairs in the coming weeks as well. Stay tuned…..
As mentioned, there was more accomplished in addition to the awesome work on the Schoolhouse. Our stupendous volunteers were able to repair tables around the campground and restore approximately 1.5 miles of the incredibly overgrown western Hurricane Deck Trail. If you know the Deck, you know how much work was needed to just get it cleared that far. (round of applause please) For those of you who missed out on the fun, don’t worry, we’ll be back soon with plans to finish the Deck up to the Potrero Trail junction. STAY TUNED!
Tis the season for volunteer Working Vacations and we’ve got another great one planned for December, this time in the Sespe Wilderness! We are planning a Working Vacation based at Dough Flat from December 1-10 working the Alder Creek Trail. The plan as of now is to have both a car-camping option as well as a backpacking option. The car-camping portion of the project would be based at Dough Flat working the first 4 miles of the trail out towards the Bucksnort junction. The backpacking portion would be based at Cow Spring Camp and working down from there. Lots of details need to be worked out ahead of time and we may even have a combo option where half the project is at Dough Flat and half at Cow Spring. TBD.
If you are interested in learning more or to sign-up, email us at VOLUNTEER@LPForest.org or click the link below. As usual, the LPFA is planning on providing all food and tools. We’ll likely do some cleanup at Dough Flat as well and could use help with painting, cooking, etc… Sign up if interested and we’ll provide details in the coming week or two. THANKS!
It’s always great to hear from trail users who use the trails we help maintain. Here is a group of backpackers from Midland School enjoying a section of the Sespe River Trail that the LPFA Trail Crew restored over two hard weeks in May 2022. Many thanks to all of you who donated as part of #GivingTuesday so that we could repair this trail. Looking forward to #GivingTuesday 2023! photo Dan Susman
The big news across the forest right now is the impending rain stormset to hit the Los Padres next week. Forecasts are showing significant rain that will likely initiate the seasonal gate closures across the forest. Don’t shoot the messenger…..
Thanks to all of you who helped support yet another successful LPFA Used Camping Gear Sale! We were able to set records for both most money raised as well as most happy forest-users leaving with awesome gear. Cheers to Gossamer Gear and Rik’s everlasting spirit.
Wow, did we get a bunch of great photos for this years 2024 Los Padres wall calendar! We actually have 517 photos submitted ~ it’s going to make selecting the photos really really hard. Good problem to have and the calendar is going to be something special this year. The calendar is currently for sale, if you’d like to reserve your copy and/or copies for all your friends and family, please click here to order. Thanks. this photo Wayne Spada
With the temperatures falling and water still flowing, the LPFA Trail Crew and LPFA Volunteers will be busy working trails this fall and winter. We have work scheduled on the following trails: Pothole, Agua Blanca, Alder Creek, Sespe, Matilija, Santa Barbara Cyn, Sisquoc, Sweetwater, Manzana, Hurricane Deck, Santa Cruz, Aliso, Matias, Arroyo Burro, Cold Spring, Blue Cyn, Franklin, Davy Brown, Trout Creek and anywhere else trail work might be needed. Click here if you’re interested in learning more about the Trail Crew.
In addition to the larger scale Working Vacations mentioned above, we have the following volunteer projects scheduled as well:
Hello Trail & Forest Friends,
Like it or not, the clock keeps ticking and the calendar pages keep turning. In order to help with this Sisyphean cycle, the LPFA will be once again produce a Los Padres themed wall calendar. Originally conceived by LPFA President Jasonn, the LPFA calendars have become a staple for Los Padres enthusiasts to not only keep track of time but to also have twelve months of Los Padres wall candy to look forward to. This will be at least our 10th year of producing Los Padres calendars and we’re hoping to make 2024 the best to date…..
CALLING ALL LOS PADRES PHOTOGRAPHERS
We are currently looking for photo submissions for the 2024 Los Padres Calendar. We’re sure most of you have some great Los Padres photos that hopefully you’d like to share. Interested? Here’s the details:
We see so many great photos on Instagram and Facebook, if you have any to share, please let us know. THANK YOU EVERYONE!
Used Outdoor Gear Sale: Sunday Oct 22
The LPFA Used Outdoor Gear Sale is this Sunday October 22 at 11am, Tucker’s Grove Site #2. This event is a great way for LPFA members and supporters to pick up some really sweet deals on lightly used outdoor gear from Gossamer Gear and others including backpacks, tents, sleeping systems and all the fixings you might need for your fall journeys here in the Los Padres. See you there….
Manzana Schoolhouse Working Vacation
We are now just over a week away from the Manzana Schoolhouse Working Vacation! We’ll be out at the Schoolhouse from Nov 1-6 working to restore the roof at the Schoolhouse and maintain the nearby trails. If you are interested in helping, there is still time to sign up. If you’ve not been on a Working Vacation before, they are A TON OF FUN! Please email Volunteer@LPForest.org for more information…..
D13 Hunting Season
D13 general deer season has started in the southeastern Los Padres and will last through November 12. This is the second busiest hunting season in the LP. Click here to see a map of Zone D13 but it’s basically the Ventura Backcountry north of the Sespe Creek, east of Hwy 33 and west of I5 including most of the Mt Pinos Ranger District. If you are headed into D13 over the next couple weeks, expect to see quite a few hunters and busier trailheads than normal. Stay safe everyone and enjoy the fall colors!
MANZANA SCHOOLHOUSE WORKING VACATION: Nov 1-6, 2023
Hello Friends,
Lets get right to it! The days are getting shorter, the nights are getting cooler and we know what that means:
BACKCOUNTRY SEASON IS HERE!
This fall should be perfect in the backcountry as there is still so much water out there. Pick your favorite trail, bag your favorite peak or go explore a new corner of the forest; it’s gonna to be a great fall season here in the Los Padres! Go get it!
Backcountry Season also means that the LPFA will be hosting some really fun backcountry volunteer opportunities. We’ll be sharing more in the coming weeks but up first is a November 1-6 Working Vacation at the Manzana Schoolhouse.
The Manzana Schoolhouse was built in 1893 and if any of you have visited the Schoolhouse over the past couple decades, then you certainly know how close it is to collapsing and being lost forever. The LPFA has been working with the Forest Service for most of the past decade trying to get the necessary approvals to repair the Schoolhouse roof. Finally, thanks to some really super volunteers, the ‘fixing of the roof’ is scheduled to happen early next month and we could use your help….
If you are interested in learning more or to sign up, please click here and/or email us at VOLUNTEER@LPForest.org.
And last but not least, in case you aren’t available or able to help at the Schoolhouse, you can always support by donating. We’re going to have quite a bill between food and roofing supplies and any donations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Hope to see you out there and remember to email us with any questions…..
VOLUNTEER CLICK HERE – DONATE HERE
The LPFA will be hosting our 7th Annual Used Outdoor Gear Sale on Sunday October 22nd at 11am, Tucker’s Grove Site #2. The Used Gear Sale is a great opportunity for LPFA members and supporters to get some killer deals on lightly used gear including a whole bunch of Gossamer Gear backpacks and at the same time also donate gear towards the cause. All proceeds from the Gear Sale go towards the LPFA Trail Care Fund.
This year we will be celebrating the memory of our dear friend Rik Christensen. Rik founded the Used Gear Sale many years ago and his expertise and passion for the forest, the trails and gear was always on full display during these events. He’ll certainly be there with us in spirit on October 22nd…..
– The LPFA continues to lead twice-weekly volunteer trail projects on the Matilija Trail outside of Ojai. For more information or to sign-up, click here.
– Save the date, a second LPFA Working Vacation, most likely in the San Rafael Wilderness, is being planned for December 1-10, 2023, email for details.
– Save the date 2x, the LPFA will be leading a weekend volunteer project off Hi Mtn Road in SLO in November. Interested? Email us, dates TBD.
– The Ojai Ranger District is looking for volunteers to help at the front desk at the Ojai Ranger Station. Email Maria for more information.
– Our buddies at the Ventana Wilderness Alliance will be leading a series of volunteer projects along the Pine Ridge Trail in Oct and Nov. Check this link for more information.