USE AT YOUR OWN RISK
Location: Santa Barbara County, about 21 miles north-northwest of Ojai, 170 miles from Los Angeles
Maps
| Auto Club | Santa Barbara County |
| Forest Service | Los Padres National Forest: Mt Pinos, Ojai and Santa Barbara Ranger Districts |
| USGS Topos | Cuyama Peak 7½, Rancho Nuevo Creek 7½ |
| Official HPS Maps |
TPO file - Save to your computer then open with National Geographic TOPO! |
| | Viewable JPG file - Approximately 3.4 megs |
| | GPX file or Google Earth KML file to
download to GPS units and other map software (How to use GPX and KML files) |
| | Routes as shown on
CalTopo using the above files (How to use CalTopo) |
Nearby Peaks: Cuyama Peak (LO)
ROUTE 4
(USFS Adventure Pass may be required)
- Distance: 12.5 miles round trip on trail and cross-country
- Gain: 3300'
- Time: 7 hours round trip
- Rating: Class 1, strenuous
- Navigation: Moderate
Original: George Christiansen, Laura Newman, September 2018
DRIVING ROUTE 4
- Drive north on I-5 past the Grapevine to the SR 166 off-ramp. Turn
left (west).
- Head west 36.5 miles, passing through Maricopa, to the junction with
SR 33 south.
(There is a junction with SR 33 north in Maricopa that
you will pass.) Turn left (south).
- Go 2.7 miles to Foothill Road on the right.
This intersection may also be reached by traveling north from Ojai or
from Lockwood Valley.
- Set odometer here, and turn
right (west) onto Foothill Road.
- Go 2.1 miles, then
turn left onto Santa Barbara Canyon Road (9N11).
- At 5.0 miles, turn right at an intersection just past a ranch house.
- At 9.3 miles, fork with Santa Barbara Ranch visible ahead. Go right
and cross a creek. This is the "Reyes Ranch Gate." The pavement ends. The gate is subject
to seasonal closures.
- At 12.5 miles, turn left at Dry Canyon Road (sometimes called West Dry Canyon).
- At 18.0 miles, just where the road switches back to the left (up to Cuyama LO), there
is a gated trail on the right, marked "Tinta Trailhead." Park here. This is the same parking area
as Route 1.
HIKING ROUTE 4
- From the parking area (4600'), hike down the Tinta Trail past the barrier about 1/3 mile.
You will cross the creek once; back into the creek for a short distance and across; back into
the creek again and across; then two direct crossings. After the second direct crossing, you will
be headed south (the right side of the creek) and then west directly toward the ridge up to Peak 5840.
- There is a large boulder (approximately 2 feet in diameter), and perhaps a cairn if not removed by hunters,
just to the right after a small side stream enters on the right.
- Follow the use trail up the ridge, steep at first, and then connecting to an old road bed up
to Peak 5840.
- After reaching Peak 5840, backtrack about 100 yards and head southeast on the ridge past Tinta
Benchmark and Peak 5621 to the ridge coming up from Upper Tinta Campground. This is the intersection
with Route 1, at approximately 4.5 miles, and it is the high point of Route 1.
- Continue, following Route 1 to Lizard Head, and return the way you came.
As an alternate on the return, follow Route 1 down to Upper Tinta Campground. This makes a nice
loop trail and saves some distance and elevation gain by not revisiting Peak 5840.
