Field Trips

Mt. Pinos, one of Ventura County’s Sky Islands, at 8,847 feet in elevation, is the highest point in the Transverse Ranges west of Tejon Pass.  Flowering there is at its height in late June.  This mountain offers a unique assemblage of habitats including montane meadows, Southern California Subalpine Woodland and Rabbitbrush Scrub.  Botanist Rick Burgess will lead us on a hike through an iris-filled meadow (Iris missouriensis), Jeffrey pine forests (Pinus jeffreyi), and subalpine sites at the peak with contorted limber pines (Pinus flexilis) and ground-hugging plants like Eriogonum kennedyi and Astragalus purshii.  If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to see the Sierra Nevada crest in the distance.

We will meet at the Chula Vista parking lot next to the Nordic Sports building at 10:00 A. M.  Caution: be advised that some of us may experience difficulty breathing at these high elevations.  Bring water and a lunch. Also bring hiking boots, sunscreen, sunglasses, and a hat. Face masks are requested, and please don’t attend if you’re not feeling well.  The nearest public restrooms are located at Chula Vista walk-in campground and McGill campground.  If desired, there is camping at these nearby Los Padres National Forest campgrounds.  Hike ends at 3:00 P.M.

Reserve ahead: Call 805-794-5334 to RSVP.

Directions: From Santa Barbara and Ventura, take the 101 Freeway to Hwy. 33 and go north (toward the mountains) roughly 49 miles.  Turn right on Lockwood Valley Road and drive about 27 miles to Cuddy Valley Road.  Turn left on Cuddy Valley Road and continue to a fork in the road.  Take the left branch (Mt. Pinos Highway) to Mount Pinos’s Chula Vista parking lot (next to the Nordic Sports building) and park there.  An alternate route is east on Hwy. 126 from the 101 Freeway to north on Interstate 5, then left on Frazier Mountain Parkway until you get to Cuddy Valley Road, where you turn right and proceed to the junction with Mt. Pinos Highway.  Total travel time is about 2 hours.

photo credit: Catherine Perman