Los Padres A Zone Opening Weekend & Volunteer Events Ahead

Hello Friends,

This weekend (Saturday August 12) kicks off the opening weekend of A Zone South General Deer Season, which is the most popular hunting season here in the Los Padres. A Zone encompasses just about all of the Los Padres from Monterey down through Ventura County – click here to see the A Zone South map.

With the onset of A Zone, there will be a lot of hunter activity across the forest over the coming weeks; in particular during the early weekends of the season and especially this opening weekend. If you have plans to hike, backpack, ride or visit the forest this weekend, be aware that it will be very busy within A-Zone and you should expect to see hunters camping at most of the trailheads, turnouts and campgrounds that provide access into the forest. If you’re not a hunter and are looking for solitude then you might want to rethink your plans and head elsewhere. This could be a great excuse to explore some of the wonderful trails and camps outside of A Zone including many of the high elevation destinations within the Chumash Wilderness, Alamo Mountain and all the trails off Lockwood Valley Road.

If you are heading into A-Zone, be sure to wear brighter colors than you might normally wear and be courteous of the other forest-users. If you’re starting up a trail and come across some hunters, it’s always a good idea to ask where they are going and let them know where you are going so as to prevent any surprises further up the trail. Most hunters are very knowledgeable about the Los Padres and have been enjoying the forest for generations.

Due to the continued storm related trail and road closures, we are expecting an even more impacted opening weekend as many of the beloved trails, roads and hunting areas are more difficult to access this year. Remember that the LP is currently in fire restrictions and campfires are only permitted within designated campfire use sites.

Good luck everyone, be good and stay safe!

VOLUNTEER WITH US!

MATILIJA: Summer – Fall

The LPFA will continue to lead twice weekly volunteer projects each Thursday and Saturday just outside of Ojai along the North Fork Matilija Trail. Matilija was hit quite hard in the January 2023 storms and needs as much TLC as we can give. We’d love the help. Please email to learn more or click here to sign up and get on the Matilija list…..

MANZANA: August 18-20

The LPFA will be leading a multi-day trail project August 18-20 along the lower Manzana Trail focusing on clearing downed trees between Horseshoe Bend and the Manzana Schoolhouse. We will be camping at the Manzana Schoolhouse and will have opportunities for you or your gear to grab a ride. For more click here or email us at VOLUNTEER@LPForest.org. This will be a lot of fun, hope you can make it!

Los Padres: We Have Fire Restrictions!

   LOS PADRES FIRE RESTRICTIONS   

Hello Los Padres Friends,

Effective today (August 1, 2023) the Los Padres National Forest is going into what might be considered Stage 1 fire restrictions. Please read the Forest Order but here’s a basic rundown of what is included:

Thanks to our wet winter, fire restrictions dropped a little later this year than what we’ve seen the past couple of years. For comparison, Fire Restrictions were announced on June 1 the past two years and we think you might have to go all the way back to 2011 to see Fire Restrictions announced any later than August 1. For those of us who continue to visit the backcountry despite the summer heat, rest assured, basic REI style cooking stoves are still allowed. This is great news for those needing their morning coffee fix.

Contrary to what some believe, campfires are not needed for evening enjoyment while camping. Here are a few links to different sites that contain ideas, games and suggestions for how to camp without fire. And last but not least, lets do our collective best to not screw up and cause additional levels of fire restrictions. Follow the rules, be fire smart in and out of the Designated Campfire Use Sites and be a good steward of the forest. We got this!


Big Sur Visitor Use Workshops

The Forest Service, along with various Big Sur stakeholders and agencies, will be hosting a series of three workshops in August designed to discuss, educate and ultimately solve many of the visitor use (overuse) issues impacting coastal Big Sur. You can read more about the workshops here on the FS website and of course Big Sur Kate covers these meetings marvelously on her blog as well. Remember, if you’re not part of the solution then you’re certainly not going to be a part of the solution. Or something like that. Make your voice be heard.


MANZANA TRAIL WORK CONTINUES

Thanks to the combined effort of LPFA volunteers, the LPNF and the LPFA Trail Crew, we’ve been able to restore much of the storm damaged Manzana Trail within the San Rafael Wilderness. The Trail Crew has been braving the heat and spending “cooler” weeks continuing our work along the Manzana. The Trail Crew is out there again this week focusing on brushing and clearing slides up near Manzana Narrows and hopefully onward towards Happy Hunting Ground and White Ledge. It sure is nice having good water this late into the season! Our ultimate goal this year is to restore the Manzana so that it is once again stock-passable from NIRA out to South Fork. If all goes according to plan, we’ll be hosting a large-scale Working Vacation at South Fork either this fall or spring. More on that in the coming months. In the meantime, if you’d like to help support these efforts, please consider making a donation For the Trails. Thanks everyone for your support….


     Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities     

Los Padres Forest Association
PO Box 1282  | Goleta, California 93116 | info@lpforest.org