Wild Pete and I had planned for dayhiking in the elevated shade near Reyes Peak, beneath tall conifers, but an unexpected highway closure in early October forced us back to a modest scramble on the banks of rugged North Matilija Creek (behind Ojai).  

Pristine and picturesque, the North Matilija Trail (23W07) winds eight gnarly miles until emerging near Highway 33 again at Cherry Canyon Road.

I’ve only once made it even half the way, halting at Middle Matilija Camp after four miles back in 2016. Today, this beguiling trail is not well maintained, if at all.

Throughout our walking tour, we beheld enchanting views of the intriguing Topatopa Mountains. It’s a short California “transverse range.”

After parking at the barred gate, hike past the last civilized ranch and enjoy crossing and recrossing Matilija Creek’s meandering stream. Please be considerate of those living there. (See 4.1.1. driving directions).

You will pass a dilapidated sign noting that you are now entering the 29,000-acre Matilija Wilderness.

After almost a mile on this dirt road, you can just barely discern the sign on the right side of the road that invites a right turn (east) onto the North Matilija Trail (23W07).

While the mighty Matilija has shrunken 90%, there are still two or three small tributary streams flowing, and the foliage is dense and appealing. Sages, California buckwheat, willows and diverse chaparral bushes appear everywhere in this desert landscape, plus a few sycamores that line the boulder fields.

The vast stretches of dried-out streambed have also been called “washes.” I vividly recall how as an 11-year-old boy I would explore and play in Big Tujunga Creek’s dry wash near North Hollywood and the City of San Fernando. A river called “Tujunga Wash” runs near here, which contributes about 20% of the LA River’s water today. Much of the year, this Tujunga creek, or wash, is utterly dry: a vast field of cobbled stones.

On the North Matilija Trail, we were clambering over similar dry “wash” areas (opening photograph), except there was no human development anywhere. The entire morning that Wild Pete and I hiked, we saw only one other hiker. This young fellow had a backpack and would spend the night in there. Wow. 

In the expansive stony areas, there are no trails. Winter rains have knocked down all of the cairns and the trail itself shifts about. Clambering over acres of small white boulders, sometimes fording the shriveled-up Matilija Creek, the effort is terrific and quite demanding. Hence, please remember the following warning here:

The North Matilija Trail is remote and exceedingly rugged, and the trail itself is barely maintained at all. It’s easy to go off-trail while out in the streambed’s vast boulder fields, thus I always take special precautions. Make sure to take at least two hikers (three is best), heavy boots, twin hiking poles, copious water and a med kit, a wide-brim hat, sunglasses, gloves, ample sunscreen, a map, a cell phone and a GPS device. Certainly tell others where you’re going and when your group will return to Santa Barbara.

Poet Gary Snyder once described our ecosystem as oak – grass – pine. OK, and back there on the dry desert of the fabulous Matilija, I would alter that to (stony) watercourse – oak woodland – low chaparral.

As the Matilija’s wide channel sinuously crossed and recrossed the sketchy remnants of Trail 23W07, we often enjoyed long chaparral-clad ridges separating them. We would carefully pick up the trail again in such land “islands” where it usually became quite evident. I could also see utilizing a GPS device and setting waypoints, but Pete and I have made this trek several times in the past.

We worked ourselves in almost two miles, and the going was glorious but quite demanding. Yes, I had been doing this sort of slow-mo clambering since I was 11 years old as reported, but now it’s over 65 years later and gets even more challenging, which I relish.

Departing from Santa Barbara at 5:30 a.m. meant we could begin our (impromptu) North Matilija scramble at 7:30 a.m. — absolutely critical in the very hot weather we had been experiencing.

There are stretches with tremendous willow clumps and growths, both in the rocky channel and alongside; a sharpened machete would prove useful as well as a pair of small loppers. Picking your way across the trackless fields of rocks and boulders takes considerable time and concentration (see lead photograph) — intense focus on each footstep rewards the spirit with excellent “mind control.” Try doing this for more than two hours and you’ll realize a kind of inner relaxation; you will sleep well that night back in trusty SB.

If you are a pusher and want more than the two-hour ramble we made, and if you feel like a much heavier workout, continue up into narrow North Matilija Canyon for 3.3 more rigorous miles to Middle Matilija Camp. I hiked to Middle Matilija (in North Matilija Canyon) back in 2016.

Wherever you roam along the churning banks of the North Matilija, the feeling arises that you are in a “slot” canyon, and it’s unclear if a cell phone or satellite phone will function properly in here.

If you are backpacking, you can ascend about two miles and almost 1,000 feet on up to 3,800-foot Maple Camp, with Cherry Creek Road and Highway 33 (again) just four more miles. Picturesque Maple Camp is the last overnight spot on the Matilija North Fork Trail (23W07).

We humans need to experience as much awe and majesty as possible; we all realize we’re living in challenging times. Stumbling around behind Ojai along vast rocky streambeds can make one feel very small — and the blue vault of sky overhead appears absolutely huge; the mind likes the spacious feeling, the brain cherishes the colors and the route, and the spirit revels in timeless natural bliss.

(On this venture, I toted 3 liters of water, and all of the gear mentioned except a machete and a GPS device.)

4.1.1.

Directions: Drive south on Highway 101, taking Highway 33 from Ventura inland to Ojai. Continue just a few miles on the windy 33 (here called The Maricopa Highway) to well-signed Matilija Canyon Road (a left). Drive slowly and safely on the six miles to the end at the barred gate visible from the parking spot (room for five cars). Please be respectful of the folks living back here. The best map for this hike is Brian Conant’s “Matilija and Dick Smith Wilderness Backpacking Guide” (map).

My 2022 hike to North Fork Matilija Creek can be found here. 

An alternate trip goes way on out Highway 33 past Rose Valley to the 7,500-foot Reyes Peak area; we were literally blocked from this original venture by the overturned red truck sprawled across Highway 33 as seen in this photograph: