Pulling into remote Toad Springs Campground in mid-May, I found out that there were no toads and no oozing springs at the pristine 5,700-foot Kern County U.S. Forest Service campsite.
My teaching colleague and I searched for traces of the threatened arroyo toad (anaxyrus californicus) down among the reeds in the intermittent streambed. A true toad species, it’s pretty large and spectacularly slimy, so the dried-up springs would have induced them to leap to wetter locales.
But heck, although we steered the Toyota Tacoma truck 110 long miles from Santa Barbara, it paid off when we discovered four of the five lovely little campsites were available. (Scroll down for the 4-1-1 for complicated driving directions.)
Although there is no water available at Toad Springs, the federal government offers a (very rickety) table, a legal fire ring (which we used) and a place to park at each campsite.
The sites are really close together on a small slanted potrero, so if it’s crowded or if visitors are noisy, Toad Springs Campground wouldn’t be so pleasant. There is no trash bin, no pit toilet but also no charge (carry out all of your refuse and trash, as we did).
During the two-hour, 45-minute drive in, passing through parts of the Cuyama Valley on lonely Highway 166, we ended up in the 14,000-acre Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, part of the larger Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge. It was here in these barren hills that the last wild female condor was captured in 1986 (since successfully reintroduced).
The Bitter Creek refuge protects habitats such as grassland, oak woodland and piñon pine, and it’s a refuge for federally listed endangered species such as the giant kangaroo rat, the western spadefoot toad, the western horned lizard, the tri-colored blackbird, the San Joaquin kit fox and many more, including the arroyo toads.
We overnighted at Toad, where the open campsite area is lined with surrounding cottonwoods and piñon pines. The incredible quiet helped me hear the wilderness more clearly and relax more deeply in my tiny one-person tent.
I’m not a big campfire aficionado, but I chose to counter the early 5:30 a.m. cool with a small fire to accompany hot coffee and instant oatmeal at breakfast.
Not all of the hiking ideas work out, so I admit to being stumped by some trail markers and could not figure out how to hike the Apache Canyon Nettle Spring route to San Emigdiano Mesa Spring: trail 21W03. I will be back soon to figure out this conundrum!
While out exploring around Toad Springs in the truck, we managed to reach a much higher, beautiful campground at 8,300-foot Cerro Noroeste (aka Mount Abel). I must have been out hiking when I missed the backcountry “news” in the 1970s when they changed the Mount Abel moniker for the sweet Cerro Noroeste.
My colleague laughed at my confusion when I finally called out, “OH, I see — Mount Abel IS Cerro Noroeste!”
The sensational and new-to-me campground called Camp Alto is, in fact, right on the broad mountaintop of Cerro Noroeste. With 17 captivating drive-in campsites, well-spaced with tables and firepits, the towering Jeffrey and ponderosa pines include precious old-growth sections.
While there is no available water, the outhouse is OK, and the clean pine-scented air and huge area make this an Eden-like aerie. Camp Alto is 35 miles west of Interstate 5, and fairly difficult to access even with a truck and clear directions (see 4-1-1). Click here to reserve sites at Camp Alto.
This isolated and beautiful campground literally occupies the summit of Cerro Noroeste Mountain at 8,300 feet, and I really felt the elevation there. Sometimes the name is written cerronoroeste, and it’s in a line of tall mountains named Iwihinmu (aka Mount Pinos, 9,000 feet), Grouse Mountain and Frazier Mountain.
From this campground, I sought a specific trail (San Emigdiano Mesa Springs Trail 22W01) to let us hike 5.7 miles to beguiling San Emigdiano Mesa Springs Camp; however, we couldn’t locate the trailhead.
So I tramped about in the spacious Camp Alto Campground after lunching at one of the tables. No one was there, but with two exceptions. A party of six Asians, with a translator guide, was camping out and hiking around the summit, exclaiming at this and that. I admired them for getting so far off the beaten track.
May 13 was a perfect day on top of enchanting Cerro Noroeste Peak. Surprisingly, while my colleague and I were casually looking about for the western end of the Tumamait Trail (21W03), from out of nowhere a large black bear rushed across our field of vision, within 30 yards or so!
Despite almost 50 years hiking and backpacking locally, I’ve observed one of these magnificent California bears only twice before, and this vision stirred the imagination. We had somehow frightened it.
It wasn’t a good sign that it was hanging out in the deserted Campo Alto Campground.
What a spectacular sight! I whipped out my handy camera but to no avail, as the beautiful monster ran right down the mountain.
4-1-1
» Driving: Motor 91 miles on Highway 101 south to Highway 33 heading on past Ojai and Pine Mountain and eventually turning right on Highway 166. It’s then another 20 miles on Highway 166 and then another right onto Hudson Ranch Road until you see the signed Quatal Canyon Road (N909). It’s a final rugged half-mile drive on rutted dirt track down to Toad Springs Camp. We did not have four-wheel drive, and it was barely sufficient on the final half-mile. There were no vehicles on Hudson Ranch Road. I know two longer driving routes to get to Toad Springs, but if you choose Quatal Canyon Road from much earlier down on Highway 166, you encounter more than 22 miles of rutted dirt road — and four-wheel drive is needed for this choice. Do not take this route after rain or in winter.
» Trail: The western end of the Tumamait Trail (21W03), located near the Campo Alto Campground entrance, accesses the fabulous Chumash Wilderness, which was our hiking goal, but the trail numbers appeared mixed up or the trailhead has been closed. We found 21W01 but not the needed 21W03 path. Sigh, but we’ll be back. The San Emidgiano Mesa Springs Trail is listed as a 5.71-mile trek into the Chumash Wilderness, bringing the visitor to Mesa Springs Campground, which we did not locate on this trip.
— Dan McCaslin is the author of Stone Anchors in Antiquity and has written extensively about the local backcountry. His latest book, Autobiography in the Anthropocene, is available at Lulu.com. He serves as an archaeological site steward for the U.S. Forest Service in Los Padres National Forest. He welcomes reader ideas for future Noozhawk columns, and can be reached at cazmania3@gmail.com. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
