A sugar pine tree sits atop Reyes Peak. 
A view of the Conejo Mountains and Point Mugu from Reyes Peak. 
A Reyes Peak Campground site with a table. 
The sign at the Reyes Peak Trailhead. 
The federal government once maintained an official fire lookout at the boulder-jumbled Reyes Peak. 
The view south from Reyes Peak. 
A geodetic disk from the U.S. Geological Survey at Reyes Peak. 
A view of the Cuyama River and the fabled San Emidgdiano Mesa.
Moderate hikers will love the fairly easy climb up to our highest “local” mountain, Reyes Peak, where there are astounding 360-degree views ranging from Mount Iwihinmu (Pinos) and the southern high Sierra Nevada (north) out to the Channel Islands (south and southwest) and even to Point Mugu toward Malibu.
At 7,500 feet, Reyes is the tallest peak between Big Pine Mountain in the San Rafael Wilderness and Mount Pinos near Frazier Park (Tejon Pass).
While it is an 80-mile drive to the Reyes Peak Trailhead via Ojai and twisty Highway 33, it’s just a steep one-mile trek to the apex. (See 4.1.1.)
Most readers will agree that the cascade of disturbing news both national and international, the omnipresent demands of this “attention economy,” and the Anthropocene’s dystopian drama over climate heating do make us turn away from such dire information.
We should seek respite and rejuvenation “in the hills,” and adding a physical workout certainly helps in restorative juvenescence.
For some, these walks or hikes might mean an afternoon spent with the kids at Skofield Park next to the still-running Rattlesnake Creek. For others, these healing “hills” may be in the high Sierra Nevada or up Salmon Creek off Highway 1.
Yet, in every case, turning off cellphones, laptops and electronic iDominance delivers relief from what some have called the Anthropocene agonies.
Once my colleague wild Peter and I turned off Highway 33 onto Pine Mountain Road, we slowly drove the last six paved miles enjoying the captivating views, and my small truck’s four-wheel-drive wasn’t even necessary (we saw standard cars that had driven in easily).
We motored on by the unlovely Pine Mountain Campground area (no one there) and then past the Reyes Peak Campground area with its seven great car camping sites (only three were utilized by wise campers).
In our summer heat, hiking and camping at higher elevations ensures cool nights at least. The whole conjoined ridge along Pine Mountain and Reyes Peak boasts three springs that I’ve visited: Raspberry, McGuire and Chorro Grande.
About a mile past the last Reyes Peak campsite (see photo), the only dirt portion of the drive, there's a small parking area at the well-marked Reyes Peak Trailhead.
After a short walk, hikers arrive at a three-way junction: 1) the signed trail for the wilderness sloping northeast down the back of the mountain to Haddock Camp on the left; 2) a continuation of the semi-road on which hikers arrived at this junction on the ocean side (right); and 3) the actual unimproved path to Reyes Peak itself heading straight up.
The middle choice (No. 2) that you want for this short but steep ascent isn’t any sort of formal U.S. Forest Service trail, but enough day-hikers use it so that you can easily see the way. March directly up the hill into the pines — always holding onto the high ridge — and later there will be some enticing cliffs on the left.
In the early 1930s, there had been an official, heavily used “Peak Trail” when the federal government maintained an official fire lookout at the boulder-jumbled peak itself between 1927 and 1932. There are a few pipes and remains of the tiny hut still at the top.
The dreaded Matilija Fire of 1932 burned it down — reminding us that we’ve had disastrous fires in the recent past, and that the government maintained a constant fire-season presence here. Since the Great Depression was fully underway by 1932, there were no funds to replace it.
We hiked through beautiful sugar pines with their long spherical cones (lead photo), along with fragrant ponderosa and Jeffrey pines. Scrambling to the top of the rock jumble signifying the actual peak, we found two geodetic disks from the U.S. Geological Survey and continued savoring the enchanting views.
In order to enjoy more outdoor exercise and fun, after Peter and I came down the mountain, we chose to continue on the official Reyes Peak Trail (signed) and enter the Sespe Wilderness on the shady northern side of the mountain.
Although we began hiking at 8 a.m., it was important to amble down on this shaded side amid high pines. This stretch eventually drops steeply down and meets the Gene Marshall-Piedra Blanca National Recreation Trail at Haddock Camp.
It’s nearly six miles to Haddock Camp and weak Piedra Blanca Creek, and neither of us was ready for a 12-mile day plus the 2-mile up and back to Reyes Peak we’d already made.
I have backpacked this fine section with eighth-grade students on a longer adventure from Reyes Peak Trailhead to Haddock Camp to Three Mile Camp to Pine Mountain Lodge, and then finally the third day down to the Sespe River via Piedra Blanca Camp.
All of that is within the Sespe Wilderness — but the higher sections, not along the Sespe River itself.
For our shorter roaming on the northeast slope of the mountain, the first few miles down the Reyes Peak Trail are certainly among the most scenic in the Los Padres National Forest.
Fairly level for almost two miles, you will encounter the bigger Sespe Wilderness sign as you relax amid sweet-smelling conifers. The trail is well-marked, and this section is ideal for children and older friends as the ponderosa, Jeffrey and sugar pines supply deep shade — so wander out there and absorb the thrilling vistas!
Views into the Cuyama area, including the dry white riverbed and the terrifying Cuyama badlands, grip your imagination. Far to the northwest is the fabled San Emigdiano Mesa, which contains many of the finest rock art sites in the American West.
Bring your children along for either the peak ascent or even better descending part of the northside Reyes Peak Trail.
As Jenny Odell points out in her masterful “How to Do Nothing,” immersion in nature has its own digital detox cleansing effect.
As I have often preached, Odell recommends consciously eliminating specific items/topics that will help produce this revivifying effect: no digital technology (OK, I had my camera), networking, iPhones/screens, work-talk, clocks (put your watch in your pack), boss, stress, anxiety and FOMO (fear of missing out). While Peter did carry his cellphone, we had it just to verify whether there was any reception (none), so having one would be mostly useless anyway.
4-1-1
» Drive Highway 101 south to Ventura and take Highway 33 to Ojai and on toward Sespe gorge to the signed Pine Mountain turnoff (right only). After seven miles of good road, park at the Reyes Peak Trailhead sign (restroom there). Craig Carey’s “Hiking & Backpacking Santa Barbara and Ventura” (Wilderness Press 2013), pages 305-308, and Jenny Odell's “How to Do Nothing — Resisting the Attention Economy” (2019) are both available at Chaucer’s Bookstore. Odell’s list is on pages 34.
— Dan McCaslin is the author of Stone Anchors in Antiquity and has written extensively about the local backcountry. His latest book, Eternal Backcountry Return, has been published by Sisquoc River Press and is available at Lulu.com. He serves as an archaeological site steward for the U.S. Forest Service in the Los Padres National Forest. He welcomes reader ideas for future Noozhawk columns, and can be reached at cazmania3@gmail.com. Click here to read additional columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
