Los Padres National Forest is a

United States national forest In the United States, national forest is a classification of protected and managed federal lands that are largely forest and woodland areas. They are owned collectively by the American people through the federal government and managed by the ...

in southern and

central California Central California is generally thought of as the middle third of the U.S. state of California, north of Southern California (which includes Los Angeles and San Diego) and south of Northern California (which includes San Francisco and San Jose, ...

. Administered by the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...

, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast from Ventura to

Monterey Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census. The city was fou ...

, extending inland. Elevations range from sea level to .

Geography

The forest is approximately in area, of which or about 88% are public lands; the rest are privately owned inholdings. The forest is divided into two non-contiguous areas separated approximately from one another. The northern division lies within Monterey County and includes the Big Sur Coast and its scenic interior areas. This is a very popular area for hiking, with of

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. Ho ...

s and 11

campground Campsite, campground, and camping pitch are all related terms regarding a place used for camping (an overnight stay in an outdoor area). The usage differs between British English and American English. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an ...

s (ranging from very rugged to suitable for recreational vehicles). The larger, so called main section of Los Padres lies further south, within

San Luis Obispo ; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...

, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Kern Counties, with a small extension into

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

in the Pyramid Lake area, between Castaic and Gorman. The

Santa Ynez Mountains The Santa Ynez Mountains are a portion of the Transverse Ranges, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges of the west coast of North America. It is the westernmost range in the Transverse Ranges. The range is a large fault block of Cenozoic age created ...

, which are within the Los Padres, rise above the Gaviota Coast, a series of

alluvial plain An alluvial plain is a plain (an essentially flat landform) created by the deposition of sediment over a long period by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A ''floodplain'' is part of the process, bei ...

s along the last undeveloped stretch of the Southern California coastline. Other mountain ranges within the Los Padres include the Santa Lucia Mountains, La Panza Range, Caliente Range (a small part), Sierra Madre Mountains, San Rafael Mountains,

Topatopa Mountains The Topatopa Mountains are a mountain range in Ventura County, California, north of Ojai, Santa Paula, and Fillmore. They are part of the Transverse Ranges of Southern California. Etymology A name for the mountains was first inscribed within t ...

, and a tiny section of the

Sierra Pelona Mountains The Sierra Pelona, also known as the Sierra Pelona Ridge or the Sierra Pelona Mountains and originally known as the Liebre Mountains, is a mountain ridge in the Transverse Ranges in Southern California. Located in northwest Los Angeles County, t ...

; the highest parts of the forest are not within named mountain ranges, but are adjacent to the western

San Emigdio Mountains The San Emigdio Mountains are a part of the Transverse Ranges in Southern California, extending from Interstate 5 at Lebec and Gorman on the east to Highway 33–166 on the west. They link the Tehachapis and Temblor Range and form the southe ...

and include Mount Pinos,

Cerro Noroeste Cerro Noroeste is a mountain located in Southern California's Kern County, a mile north of the Ventura County border. It is located a few miles southwest of the community of Pine Mountain Club, at an elevation of 8283 feet (2525+ m). The mou ...

, and

Reyes Peak Reyes (Spanish, 'kings') may refer to: *Reyes (name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Reyes, Bolivia, city capital of the José Ballivián Province in the Beni Department * Reyes rendering, a computer software architecture ...

. The forest is also adjacent to the

Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest (ANF) of the United States Forest Service is located in the San Gabriel Mountains and Sierra Pelona Mountains, primarily within Los Angeles County in Southern California. The ANF manages a majority of the San Gabri ...

, which is in Los Angeles County in Southern California and is nearby

Carrizo Plain National Monument The Carrizo Plain (Obispeño language, Obispeño: ''tšɨłkukunɨtš'', "Place of the rabbits") is a large enclosed grassland plain, approximately long and up to across, in southeastern San Luis Obispo County, California, United States, abo ...

in eastern San Luis Obispo County. Forest headquarters are located in Goleta, California. There are local ranger district offices in Frazier Park, King City, Ojai, Santa Barbara, and Santa Maria. Many rivers in Southern and Central California have their points of origin within the Los Padres National Forest, including the Carmel, Salinas, Cuyama, Sisquoc, Santa Ynez, Coyote Creek, Sespe, Ventura, and Piru. Several wilderness areas have been set aside within the Los Padres National Forest, including the San Rafael Wilderness, the first primitive area to be included in the U.S. wilderness system after the passage of the

Wilderness Act The Wilderness Act of 1964 () is a federal land management statute meant to protect U.S. Wilderness Area, federal wilderness and to create a formal mechanism for designating wilderness. It was written by Howard Zahniser of The Wilderness Socie ...

in 1964. Another large wilderness created in the 1970s was the Ventana Wilderness in the Santa Lucia Mountains. The Los Padres Condor Range and River Protection Act of 1992 expanded existing wilderness by and designated of new wilderness that provides habitat for the condor. A total of 48% of the total area within the forest has a wilderness designation.

Wilderness areas

* San Rafael Wilderness () * Ventana Wilderness () * Garcia Wilderness ( in the Lucia District) * Santa Lucia Wilderness ( in the Lucia District, in the Santa Lucia Mountains) * Machesna Mountain Wilderness (, in the La Panza Range in San Luis Obispo County) * Silver Peak Wilderness (, in the Monterey District) * Dick Smith Wilderness ( in the Santa Barbara Ranger District) * Chumash Wilderness ( in the Mt. Pinos Ranger District, just west of Mount Pinos) * Sespe Wilderness (, in both the Ojai and Mt. Pinos Ranger Districts) * Matilija Wilderness ( in the Ojai Ranger District)

Recreation areas

Parts of the National Forest are designated as recreation areas. There are three recreation areas, * Figueroa Mountain Recreation Area * Sage Hill Group Recreation Area * Santa Ynez Recreation Area, in the Santa Barbara Ranger District.

Wildlife and vegetation

Many threatened and endangered species live within the forest. Among them is the California condor (''Gymnogyps californianus''), for whom the

manages the Sespe Condor Sanctuary and the Sisquoc Condor Sanctuary. Also present is the California mountain kingsnake, a California species of special concern. The American

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...

is also entirely dependent on the forest for its survival. The

mountain lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

and California mule deer may be the most common large mammals.

Bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of Ovis, sheep native to North America. It is named for its large Horn (anatomy), horns. A pair of horns may weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates th ...

inhabit the

Sespe Creek Sespe Creek (Chumashan languages, Chumash: S'eqp'e', "Kneecap") is a stream, some long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 16, 2011 in Ventura County, California, Ve ...

region of the forest.

American black bear The American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), or simply black bear, is a species of medium-sized bear which is Endemism, endemic to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. It is an omnivore, with ...

s browse on grasses,

berries A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone fruit, stone or pit (fruit), pit although many wikt:pip#Etymology 2, pips or seeds may be p ...

, and carrion. Coyotes thrive everywhere in this forest. Bobcats can occasionally be seen in the more remote mountainous areas of the forest. Other animals found in this forest are

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the North American, northern or common raccoon (also spelled racoon) to distinguish it from Procyonina, other species of raccoon, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest ...

s, bluebirds,

barn owl The barn owls, owls in the genus '' Tyto'', are the most widely distributed genus of owls in the world. They are medium-sized owls with large heads and characteristic heart-shaped faces. They have long, strong legs with powerful talons. The ter ...

red-tailed hawk The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members of ...

cottontail rabbit Cottontail rabbits are in the ''Sylvilagus'' genus, which is in the family Leporidae. They are found in the Americas. Most ''Sylvilagus'' species have stub tails with white undersides that show when they retreat, giving them their characterist ...

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche ...

s, jack rabbits, California quail,

California scrub jay The California scrub jay (''Aphelocoma californica'') is a species of scrub jay native to western North America. It ranges from southern British Columbia throughout California and western Nevada near Reno to west of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sie ...

s, and

great horned owl The great horned owl (''Bubo virginianus''), also known as the tiger owl (originally derived from early naturalists' description as the "winged tiger" or "tiger of the air") or the hoot owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an extreme ...

s. Many vegetation types are represented in the Los Padres, including

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...

, the common ground cover of most coastal ranges in California below about , and coniferous forests, which can be found in abundance in the Ventana Wilderness as well as the region around Mount Pinos in northern Ventura County. Researchers estimate the extent of old growth in the forest is . It consists largely of

Jeffrey pine ''Pinus jeffreyi'', also known as Jeffrey pine, Jeffrey's pine, yellow pine and black pine, is a North American pine tree. It is mainly found in California, but also in the westernmost part of Nevada, southwestern Oregon, and northern Baja Califo ...

(''Pinus jeffreyi'') forests, although old-growth coast redwood (''Sequoia Sempervirens''),

coast Douglas-fir ''Pseudotsuga menziesii'' var. ''menziesii'', commonly known as Coast Douglas-fir, Pacific Douglas-fir, Oregon pine, or Douglas spruce, is an evergreen conifer native to western North America from west-central British Columbia, Canada southward t ...

(''Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii''), and

white fir ''Abies concolor'', the white fir, concolor fir, or Colorado fir, is a coniferous tree in the pine family Pinaceae. This tree is native to the mountains of western North America, including the Sierra Nevada and southern Rocky Mountains, and int ...

(''Abies concolor'') are also found there. In 2008, scientist J. Michael Fay published a map of old growth redwoods in and around Big Sur as a result of his transect of the entire redwood range.

Resource extraction and fire prevention

The U.S. Forest Service decided in May 2020 to thin of land to reduce wildfire risk most of which is within the national forest. The decision memo states the project aims to "to improve forest health by reducing mortality risk, provide safe and effective locations from which to perform fire suppression operations, to slow the spread of a wildland fire". The Reyes Peak Forest Health and Fuels Reduction Project is roughly north of Ojai in the Reyes Peak area on Pine Mountain in Ventura County. Seven environmental groups, the city of Ojai and Ventura County filed three lawsuits in federal court in April 2022 to stop the brush clearance and logging operation. The suit was dismissed with prejudice on July 19, 2023 by a federal judge.

Access

Due to the fire risk, there are seasonal restrictions on building fires. Some portions of the forest are closed entirely to public entry during the peak fire season, which usually extends from around June 1 to mid-November. A National Forest Adventure Pass is required for parking in most locations of the Los Padres National Forest, as well as other National Forests in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. The pass is not required in the Monterey Ranger District including Ventana Wilderness and Silver Peak Wilderness. Restrictions were put in place at times during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

due to crowded conditions in which people were unable to

social distance In sociology, social distance describes the distance between individuals or social groups in society, including dimensions such as social class, race/ethnicity, gender or sexuality. Members of different groups mix less than members of the same g ...

and also the resulting litter and

human waste Human waste (or human excreta) refers to the waste products of the human digestive system, Menstruation, menses, and human metabolism including urine and Human feces, feces. As part of a sanitation system that is in place, human waste is collect ...

that was left behind.

History

' means "the

Father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fat ...

s", referring to the Catholic missionary priests of the Spanish missions who proselytized in and around the area in the 18th and 19th centuries. Los Padres was named Santa Barbara National Forest until December 3, 1936, and was assembled from a number of smaller National Forests, including: * Monterey National Forest (est. June 25, 1906), absorbed by Santa Barbara on August 18, 1919, and which itself had absorbed: ** Pinnacles National Forest (est. July 18, 1906) ** San Benito National Forest (est. October 26, 1907) * San Luis National Forest (est. July 1, 1908), which had absorbed part of: ** San Luis Obispo National Forest (est. June 25, 1906) * San Gabriel National Forest (part) (est. December 20, 1892) * Pine Mountain and Zaka Lake Forest Reserve, (est. March 2, 1898) combined with Santa Ynez on December 22, 1903, to create Santa Barbara Forest Reserve * Santa Ynez Forest Reserve, (est. October 2, 1899) After the consolidation of the forests, the name ''Santa Barbara Forest'' was resented by residents of the other counties for being too closely identified with just the one county. Amidst public pressure, administrators therefore changed the name to ''Los Padres'' to be more representative of the regional history.

Fires

Due to the very dry summers, forest fires in Los Padres National Forest are always a risk. In 1965, a truck driven by country singer

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

caught fire, and burned several hundred acres in Ventura County. In August 1977, the Marble Cone Fire burned "Sequential Changes in Bed Habitat Conditions in the Upper Carmel River Following the Marble-Cone Fire of August, 1977", California Digital Library
/ref> within the Ventana Wilderness and other portions of the Los Padres Forest. In June and July, 2008, the Basin Complex Fire torched in the same region. The Thomas Fire was a massive

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

that traversed the forest within Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. It was one of multiple wildfires that ignited in

southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

in December 2017. The unusually strong and persistent Santa Ana winds were the largest factor in the spread of the fire. The region experienced an on-and-off Santa Ana wind event for a little over two weeks, which contributed to the Thomas Fire's persistent growths in size. At its height, the wildfire was powerful enough to generate its own weather, qualifying it as a

firestorm A firestorm is a conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and sustains its own wind system. It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires and wildfires. Although the term has been used ...

. The Forest Service conducts prescribed burns when favorable weather conditions are present; temperatures must be below 80 degrees, winds lower than 15 miles per hour and relative humidity needs to be above 20 percent.

Marijuana grows

Illegal farming of cannabis in secluded areas has been a problem for a long time in the forest. The practice continues under legalization as the crops are produced for the unregulated market without testing for the illegal pesticides they may be contaminated with. These operations often use pesticides and leave piles of trash such as

drip irrigation Drip irrigation or trickle irrigation is a type of micro-irrigation system that has the potential to save water and nutrients by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either from above the soil surface or buried below the surfac ...

tubing.

References

External links

Los Padres National Forest: US Forest Service official siteLos Padres ForestWatch
- a nonprofit organization working to protect and restore the natural and cultural heritage of the Los Padres National Forest
Ventana Wilderness Alliance
dedicated to the preservation of wilderness areas and other public lands in the Monterey Ranger District of the Los Padres National Forest

a website with maps, descriptions & links of various routes through the forest for wilderness camping on a mountain bike. {{Authority control National forests of California Protected areas of Los Angeles County, California Protected areas of Kern County, California Protected areas of Monterey County, California Protected areas of San Luis Obispo County, California Protected areas of Santa Barbara County, California Protected areas of Ventura County, California California Coast Ranges Transverse Ranges Protected areas of Southern California * Campgrounds in California Big Sur Protected areas established in 1936 1936 establishments in California