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** Use at Your Own Risk **
06H |
San Rafael Mountain |
6593' |
Location: Santa Barbara County, about 21 miles north of Goleta, 135 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 | San Rafael Mtn 7½, Figueroa Mtn 7½ |
| Official HPS Maps | TPO file - Save to your computer then open with National Geographic TOPO! |
| Viewable JPG file - Approximately 420K | |
| 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: McKinley Mountain, Santa Cruz Peak
ROUTE 1
(USFS Adventure Pass may be required)- Distance: 20 miles round trip on road and trail
- Gain: 3400'
- Time: 11 hours round trip
- Rating: Class 1, very strenuous
Original: Howland Bailey, February 1968
DRIVING ROUTE 1
- Take US 101 to just west of Santa Barbara. Turn north on SR 154.
- Continue north and then west about 22 miles past Lake Cachuma, to Armour Ranch Road on the right. Turn right, note your odometer and go as follows:
- At 1.3 miles, fork with Happy Canyon Road on the right. Turn right.
- At 12.9 miles, Cachuma Campground.
- At 15.3 miles, Cachuma Saddle and a ranger station on the left. Park in the large parking lot south of the ranger station.
Sometimes Happy Canyon Road is closed by a slide. In this case, continue farther west on SR 154 to the town of Los Olivos and then go north on Figueroa Mountain Road, which joins Happy Canyon Road at Cachuma Saddle.
HIKING ROUTE 1
- From the parking area (3100'), cross the highway and hike in on 28W01, a dirt road to the east, 7 1/2 miles to McKinley Spring at 5600'. The spring is below the road on the left. This is a good camping spot.
- Hike 1/2 mile farther east on 28W01 to the saddle between McKinley and San Rafael. This is also the turnoff for McKinley Mountain and Santa Cruz Peak.
- A trail starts on the east end of this saddle. Follow this trail up along the ridge.
- After about 1/2 mile the trail leaves the ridge and goes along the left (northwest) side of it for about a mile, then comes back onto the ridge. Continue about 1/4 mile farther, past a shallow saddle and along the north side of the ridge.
- Where the trail gains the ridge again, turn sharp right at a trail junction and follow it about 50 yards up to the summit.
SPECIAL CONDITIONS
McKinley Mountain, Santa Cruz Peak, and San Rafael Mountain are together known as "The Big Three". They are normally done as a two day backpack. Water is usually available at McKinley Spring though it should be treated.
History of Summit Signature
Climbing Archives
Please report any corrections or changes to the Mountain Records Chair.