Los Padres National Forest
Los Padres National Forest
4.5
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Monday
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Tuesday
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Wednesday
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Thursday
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Friday
8:00 AM - 4:30 PM
About
Covering 1.75 million acres and more than 220 miles in two different counties, the land is semi-desert in the interior while the coast is lined with redwood forest.
Duration: 1-2 hours
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William E
Los Olivos, Ca150 contributions
May 2014 • Family
Wildflowers, snow season and summer campouts are the seasonal high notes for Figueroa Mountain, a wilderness paradise accessible from the Santa Ynez Valley. Trails, horseback riding, off road vehicle use, mountain biking, fishing, camping and backpacking, seasonal hunting, shooting and photography are all popular recreational uses on the mountain. Be prepared to bring your own water and firewood and have an appropriate vehicle for a dirt/gravel road if you plan to travel past the front side. All roads past the base of Figueroa Mountain Road are narrow, frequently steep with little shoulder room, and require cautious driving. Figueroa is part of the Los Padres National Forest, and if you plan to park and hike or camp, you may have to be be carrying a U.S. Forest Service Adventure Pass in your vehicle, it's in the courts. The passes are available at the Forest Service office in Goleta, and can be purchased for the day or for a year. There is also an overnight camping fee for use of the campgrounds. Here are directions for how to get there and some highlights for visitors. How to get there: From Santa Barbara, travel to Los Olivos via Hwy. 154 or take Hwy. 101 to Hwy. 154. (Approximately 45 min to 1 hour drive time). Turn left or right, depending on your route, onto Figueroa Mountain Road, which crosses Hwy. 154, and becomes Grand Avenue in Los Olivos. Follow Figueroa Mountain Road past the Chamberlin Ranch, Neverland Ranch, and Midland School. At the base of the mountain, you will pass a wide dirt turnout and go around a sharp right turn and over a cattle guard. The ascent up the mountain road begins immediately. It is about 10 miles to the top of the mountain, at which point you can continue to the campgrounds (right fork) or fire tower (left fork, dirt road, sometimes closed) or turn around.
The loop drive: If you want to continue your trip in the car on the famous loop drive that will take you all the way back to the Santa Ynez Valley via Happy Canyon, continue past the Figueroa Mountain Campground and ascend to Ranger Peak. After this last climb, you'll make a precipitous descent, but be treated to fabulous views of the backcountry, Cachuma Lake, and the surrounding mountains, like McKinley Peak. You'll want to make a right turn when you get to the Sunset Valley Road Junction to get back to the SYV via Happy Canyon. If you turn left, you'll head up to the Nira and Davy Brown campgrounds and trailheads. This is one of the most beautiful parts of the drive, and a great place to spot bears, deer and other animals.
Campgrounds: The main Figueroa Mountain campground, closest to Los Olivos, is a traditional forest camp with no water, pit toilets, and Manzanita groves surrounding the campsites. It often gets cold and windy at night, so pack accordingly. You can almost always find a site up here, no matter what day of the week or holiday weekend it might be. Water has been turned off in the campground for several years, so be sure to bring your own with you. There are picnic tables and BBQs, but fires are often prohibited in the summer months due to fire danger, so check before you go. This campground is best for tent/car camping, with a few sites that can accommodate a small RV. Best things to do in the area are to hike the Davy Brown trail (see next paragraph) or go up to the fire lookout. Not far from the campground are a few small forest cabins, used seasonally by private owners.
The Davy Brown and Nira backpacker's camps are further into the wilderness, smaller, and more likely to be filled up if you're trying to get a spot on a weekend. (Everything on the mountain is first come, first served.) Davy Brown is an especially sweet spot, with about 10 campsites tucked in along a pretty creek. During hunting season however, expect loud music and hunters partying late into the night. Nira is the end of the line, as far as the road goes, but backpackers and horse-packers often head out from here to go on extended trips into the wilderness. Both of these camps are highly recommended, especially if you are really looking to get away from it all and can take a weekday trip.
Hiking and Biking: The best route for easy mountain biking on Figueroa Mountain is the Catway, which starts from a spur close to the Figueroa Mountain Road Y split and goes all the way to Zaca Peak. This is a maintained fire road, so it's easy to ride without too many rocks. The best hike on the mountain is the Davy Brown trail, which jumps off down the hill about a half mile left of the Figueroa Mountain Campground. A parking area and a rusty old metal sign mark the trailhead. This trail traverses a narrow canyon, crossing several times over a beautiful stream that is dry in the summer months, and ends at the Davy Brown campground. Downhill all the way until you have to turn around and come back. If you are in good shape, this hike is a must.
The fire lookout: A fire lookout, at the tip top of Figueroa Peak, is a great spot to get a view of all of the Los Padres backcountry without making the full loop drive. You'll also be able to see all of the Santa Ynez Valley below you. To get to the lookout, you'll go left at the mountaintop fork in the road (if the road is open). There is a picnic spot/former campground just below the fire lookout road, which is a good place to park. Walking up to the lookout is a short quarter mile hike from the picnic area. You can't access the lookout itself, but it's the sort of spot a heroic but lonely seasonal fire spotter would have manned for long summer months before budget cuts did away with such services.
This review was written by and is posted courtesy Leah Etling.
The loop drive: If you want to continue your trip in the car on the famous loop drive that will take you all the way back to the Santa Ynez Valley via Happy Canyon, continue past the Figueroa Mountain Campground and ascend to Ranger Peak. After this last climb, you'll make a precipitous descent, but be treated to fabulous views of the backcountry, Cachuma Lake, and the surrounding mountains, like McKinley Peak. You'll want to make a right turn when you get to the Sunset Valley Road Junction to get back to the SYV via Happy Canyon. If you turn left, you'll head up to the Nira and Davy Brown campgrounds and trailheads. This is one of the most beautiful parts of the drive, and a great place to spot bears, deer and other animals.
Campgrounds: The main Figueroa Mountain campground, closest to Los Olivos, is a traditional forest camp with no water, pit toilets, and Manzanita groves surrounding the campsites. It often gets cold and windy at night, so pack accordingly. You can almost always find a site up here, no matter what day of the week or holiday weekend it might be. Water has been turned off in the campground for several years, so be sure to bring your own with you. There are picnic tables and BBQs, but fires are often prohibited in the summer months due to fire danger, so check before you go. This campground is best for tent/car camping, with a few sites that can accommodate a small RV. Best things to do in the area are to hike the Davy Brown trail (see next paragraph) or go up to the fire lookout. Not far from the campground are a few small forest cabins, used seasonally by private owners.
The Davy Brown and Nira backpacker's camps are further into the wilderness, smaller, and more likely to be filled up if you're trying to get a spot on a weekend. (Everything on the mountain is first come, first served.) Davy Brown is an especially sweet spot, with about 10 campsites tucked in along a pretty creek. During hunting season however, expect loud music and hunters partying late into the night. Nira is the end of the line, as far as the road goes, but backpackers and horse-packers often head out from here to go on extended trips into the wilderness. Both of these camps are highly recommended, especially if you are really looking to get away from it all and can take a weekday trip.
Hiking and Biking: The best route for easy mountain biking on Figueroa Mountain is the Catway, which starts from a spur close to the Figueroa Mountain Road Y split and goes all the way to Zaca Peak. This is a maintained fire road, so it's easy to ride without too many rocks. The best hike on the mountain is the Davy Brown trail, which jumps off down the hill about a half mile left of the Figueroa Mountain Campground. A parking area and a rusty old metal sign mark the trailhead. This trail traverses a narrow canyon, crossing several times over a beautiful stream that is dry in the summer months, and ends at the Davy Brown campground. Downhill all the way until you have to turn around and come back. If you are in good shape, this hike is a must.
The fire lookout: A fire lookout, at the tip top of Figueroa Peak, is a great spot to get a view of all of the Los Padres backcountry without making the full loop drive. You'll also be able to see all of the Santa Ynez Valley below you. To get to the lookout, you'll go left at the mountaintop fork in the road (if the road is open). There is a picnic spot/former campground just below the fire lookout road, which is a good place to park. Walking up to the lookout is a short quarter mile hike from the picnic area. You can't access the lookout itself, but it's the sort of spot a heroic but lonely seasonal fire spotter would have manned for long summer months before budget cuts did away with such services.
This review was written by and is posted courtesy Leah Etling.
Written May 28, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
TZSB
Santa Barbara, CA18 contributions
My husband and I have been to Los Padres Ntl Forest twice - first for Xmas 2002 and then the following summer in August 2003. Wow what a difference between the two seasons!
December was lush, green, warm days and very cold nights - beautiful hiking and amazing sunrises. Not much to do besides hike and when the sun sets beware - sitting around playing games is hard - it gets cold enough you need to be near the campfire at all times. Who knew such a serene locale could be 10 miles outside of Santa Barbara...it is stunning in the winter.
In August for the return we brought our two labrador retrievers with us. The dirt bowl took us by surprize - I mean, we knew California turned into a bit of a desert in the summer - but the lack of green and the 90 degree heat made us wonder how we were still allowed to build campfires without restriction!
Salvation came when we found the clean and inviting swimming hole just across Paradise Road from our camp ground off of a day use area. Not sure if we or the dogs had more fun in the river! Plan to avoid summer hiking and stick to the river in the summer. Also, make your summer reservations early or you'll get stuck with a site right on the road which offers no privacy and a lot of noise.
Would love it if someone would offer pictures and better information on campsites...no good free resources out there on the web. Maybe it's in a book?
Anyhow - recommend it in any season - and we've now scoped out the best spots in all the local campsites - so wave to us when you go by in the Spring!
December was lush, green, warm days and very cold nights - beautiful hiking and amazing sunrises. Not much to do besides hike and when the sun sets beware - sitting around playing games is hard - it gets cold enough you need to be near the campfire at all times. Who knew such a serene locale could be 10 miles outside of Santa Barbara...it is stunning in the winter.
In August for the return we brought our two labrador retrievers with us. The dirt bowl took us by surprize - I mean, we knew California turned into a bit of a desert in the summer - but the lack of green and the 90 degree heat made us wonder how we were still allowed to build campfires without restriction!
Salvation came when we found the clean and inviting swimming hole just across Paradise Road from our camp ground off of a day use area. Not sure if we or the dogs had more fun in the river! Plan to avoid summer hiking and stick to the river in the summer. Also, make your summer reservations early or you'll get stuck with a site right on the road which offers no privacy and a lot of noise.
Would love it if someone would offer pictures and better information on campsites...no good free resources out there on the web. Maybe it's in a book?
Anyhow - recommend it in any season - and we've now scoped out the best spots in all the local campsites - so wave to us when you go by in the Spring!
Written August 28, 2003
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
HeartSummer
Newcastle-under-Lyme, UK76 contributions
Sep 2013
Having spent time researching ways/maps/diagrams on how to get to the neverland ranch gate, we were sure using our knowledge learnt and following our gps would get us to the Correct location. The GPS recognised the neverland address in Los olivos and took us to the address for it to state 'you have now arrived at your destination' when we were in the middle of a field with no gates in sight in any direction! We then asked the sat nav/GPS to recalculate, it did so, so we followed the 'new' route. The new route took us into the los padres national park. The GPS took us on a 2 maybe even 3 hour road trip into the national forest nearby! The roads were Treacherous, dangerous beyond your imagination. The roads were so so ridiculously narrow that hardly 1 car could fit through yet alone 2! (Note these roads are meant to be two way and not 1!!!!). Twists and turns every two seconds with stomach curning cliffs at a ridiculously high elevation. We ended up driving at approx 10 mph as the road was so dangerous and we were worried we could miss the turn, or the road would become too narrow that the car may topple over down the cliff, orrrr that another car may come and hit us front on. This may sound like I'm being dramatic but I can promise you we really aren't. Neverland nor the beautiful views of Los padres are worth this dangerous and life threatening drive. We do believe the GPS took us to the back of his ranch (as it is acres in size). Our GPS was taking us in one massive circle. In the end we were that frightened we recalculated the GPS to take us back to our hotel, and it was a mission getting back onto the main highway. We even saw hunters with riffles...being from the UK where gun laws are different, it was rather scary seeing these massive men with massive riffles...we are not accustomed to it. If you want to live do not bother as much as the views are lovely.
Written September 21, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
LEE G
Rancho Palos Verdes5 contributions
Mar 2012 • Solo
Los Padres National Forest is in CALIFORNIA north of Santa Barbara, NOT Washington DC!!!! The page on trip advisor states that Washington DC and all of it's attractions are nearby, NOT SO! Calofornia is on the others side of the continent for all of you geowizards out there.
Written February 2, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Phyllis117
Kerrville, TX3 contributions
Jul 2013 • Family
Excellently maintained campground. We were in a rented RV, many others were tent campers. The lake has a marked off swim area and boats for rent, as well as boat ramps for those who have their own boats. Coin operated showers and laundry facilities, as well as a small store that carried basics.
Facility was very clean and the staff very accommodating, we will definitely return.
Facility was very clean and the staff very accommodating, we will definitely return.
Written July 7, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
lallan329
New Kensington, PA60 contributions
Nov 2018 • Couples
During breakfast at our B&B we learned about the drive up Figeuroa Mountain. We drove from Santa Ynez up to Los Olivos, then found the road that took us past Neverland (it is an unmarked gate) and on up into the national park and up the mountain.
It was an incredible drive, but sitting shotgun and seeing the drop off to the right is terrifying. In many places there is no room for vehicles to pass.
The views go forever. We visited during a 6 year drought and saw how dry much of the area was. No doubt during normal weather the views would be lush.
Do this before you visit the wineries.
It was an incredible drive, but sitting shotgun and seeing the drop off to the right is terrifying. In many places there is no room for vehicles to pass.
The views go forever. We visited during a 6 year drought and saw how dry much of the area was. No doubt during normal weather the views would be lush.
Do this before you visit the wineries.
Written November 30, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ron Y
Corona del Mar, CA2,163 contributions
Apr 2017 • Couples
After a long and enchanting drive up through the Carrizo Plain, we kept a lookout for a place to pull over to have a picnic lunch. And this was the spot.
Written April 22, 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Alan S
Kaiserslautern, Germany31 contributions
Oct 2013 • Friends
Not so much a park as more of a wilderness area, I would highly recommend the Los Padres National Forest for the more experienced adventurers out there. I spent 3 years exploring the area around Figueroa Mountain and was constantly amazed at the varied terrain, the amazing diversity of plant and animal life, and the adventure lurking around every corner. The park is rugged with few amenities and the roads are not always in the best shape, but any seasoned wilderness explorer should have no trouble here.
The less experienced adventurers should stick to the main roads (Figueroa Mountain Rd in Los Olivos will take you through the wilderness) and should have no problem with some mild day hikes (please get a map from a ranger station). This is a HUGE wilderness area, so the possibility of getting lost is VERY real - always be prepared with plenty of water, snacks, sun screen, and if possible a GPS unit/compass/map.
The wildflowers come out in full force in late winter/early spring and are absolutely stunning.
The campsites are well maintained and safe, and generally not crowded.
The less experienced adventurers should stick to the main roads (Figueroa Mountain Rd in Los Olivos will take you through the wilderness) and should have no problem with some mild day hikes (please get a map from a ranger station). This is a HUGE wilderness area, so the possibility of getting lost is VERY real - always be prepared with plenty of water, snacks, sun screen, and if possible a GPS unit/compass/map.
The wildflowers come out in full force in late winter/early spring and are absolutely stunning.
The campsites are well maintained and safe, and generally not crowded.
Written July 12, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
PROF.HARAGOPAL MATHSYARAJA
Hyderabad, India826 contributions
Aug 2014 • Family
We reached to this place in the evening. Our interest was to go to the beach and see if we can swim. However I could play in the Ocean water and tides and enjoyed the scenic beauty of the place. It also a nice place to walk on the shore, preferably bare foot to feel and enjoy the sand.
This is not a really good place to swim as seen and experienced, but a lovely place .
One has to climb down on an uneven path. It is advisable to make it traveller friendly by making it easily accessible to all.
This is not a really good place to swim as seen and experienced, but a lovely place .
One has to climb down on an uneven path. It is advisable to make it traveller friendly by making it easily accessible to all.
Written August 26, 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Harold W
Upland, CA546 contributions
May 2019 • Solo
I drove the Figueroa Mountain loop starting from Los Olivos in mid-May. There was a nice variety of wildflowers, but they were well past their peak. The scenery was beautiful and varied as you passed from farmland up into the mountains and back. The short stretch of dirt road was rather rough and the "mountain portion" of the road was very narrow - fortunately on a week-day, I had the area much to myself and didn't have to pass any cars coming from the other direction. I would NOT recommend driving this road to anyone not comfortable driving on twisty mountain roads. If you go, take your time, stop at pullouts and enjoy the scenery and know that there are no services along the way.
Written July 8, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
are the wildflowers out at figueroa mountain
Written March 11, 2022
does it snow in Los Padres National Forest. planning to drive hwy 33 in Dec.
Written August 15, 2017
Hi Tripadvisor Community,
My family of 4 (2 kids 6 and 4) will be taking a week and 1/2 long trip from Long Beach to San Francisco in August 2016. One of our planned stops is Los Padres National Forest. What town/mid range hotels are recommended for a 2 day stay in and around the park? We won't have camping equipment so can't stay inside and I don't see cabins. We would like to stay at a gateway town from which we could drive into the park each day. Thank you!
Written June 5, 2016
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