Climbing the Heights of Santa Cruz Trail

Santa Cruz Trail presents a lengthy climb, but rewards the hiker with a superb view of the Channel Islands and the Pacific. The trail tops Little Pine Mountain, an ecological island of conifers that one might expect to find only in the High Sierra. Another of this day hike’s destinations, ponderosa pine-shaded Happy Hollow Camp, tucked between Little Pine Mountain and a sister peak, is appropriately named.

Hikers can work up quite a sweat while ascending the hot, exposed slope of Little Pine Mountain. Start trekking in the cool of the morning when the trail is shadowed and enjoy your lunch at the top beneath the boughs of a big cone spruce. An ocean breeze usually keeps the mountaintop cool.

Families with young children may enjoy the easy part of Santa Cruz Trail--the first stretch leading to the quiet pools of Oso Creek and to picnicking at Nineteen Oaks Camp. Hikers in good condition or those looking for a good conditioning hike will relish the challenge of the climb to the top of Little Pine Mountain. But the upper stretches of the trail--as it nears the summit of Little Pine Mountain--are no places for acrophobics! If you have a fear of heights, you may want to end your hike at Alexander Saddle.

Pack lots of water; the only dependable water source on this day hike is at the trailhead.

Directions to trailhead: From U.S. 101 in Santa Barbara, exit on California 154 and proceed northwest 11 miles over San Marcos Pass. Turn right onto Paradise Road and follow it east for six miles along the Santa Ynez River. Just after crossing the river and passing through a parking area, turn left on Oso Road and follow it a mile to Upper Oso Campground. Hiker parking is provided at the northeastern end of the camp at the trailhead.

The hike: The trek begins at a locked gate beyond the campground and for the first mile follows Camuesa Fire Road which unfortunately is a Forest Service designated “motorcycle route.” The road stays just to the east of Oso Creek, where there are several fine swimming holes. When the road takes a sharp hairpin turn, hikers leave the two- and three-wheeled locusts behind by continuing straight ahead at a signed junction and joining the Santa Cruz Trail.

For the next mile the trail is relatively flat, although it drops in and out of washes on the east side of Oso Creek. Soon the hiker sees a signed spur trail on the right, which leads 1/10th of a mile to Nineteen Oaks Camp. Oaks shade this camp, but not 19 of them. A few tables suggest a picnic. Geologically-minded hikers will note the distinctive outcropings of Franciscan strata and scars in the nearby hills where mercury, also known as cinnabar or quicksilver, was mined.

Santa Cruz Trail heads north, crosses Oso Creek, and begins switchbacking through grassy meadows. Dipping in and out of brush-smothered canyons, you ascend a hill to a saddle between the ridge you’re traveling and Little Pine Mountain.

The trail soon switchbacks north, then west across the south face of Little Pine Mountain and enters a fire-scorched area. Fire is Mother Nature’s way of cleaning house and it’s inspiring to see how quickly the chaparral community is regenerating.

You’ll cross two large meadows, called “Mellow Meadows” by laid-back Santa Barbarans. The tall dry grass is the habitat of deer and even an occasional mountain lion.

The trails climb around the heads of half a dozen canyons before reaching Alexander Saddle. To the left a bulldozed road goes to 4,107-foot Alexander Peak. Santa Cruz Trail continues straight. You bear right on the connector trail that leads to Happy Hollow Camp.

Fabulous Views

From Alexander Saddle, the connector trail climbs steeply at first up the dramatic Little Pine Mountain ridge line. Weatherworn pines on the ridge offer shade and you’ll catch fabulous views of the Channel Islands, Santa Ynez Valley, and Lake Cachuma. Large sugar pines and a few live oaks cling to the north face of Little Pine peak. Farther along the trail you will be among Western yellow pine, spruce, and Douglas fir. The top of Little Pine Mountain is a great place to unpack your lunch or take a snooze.

From the peak, the trail descends a short way to Happy Hollow Camp, nestled among ponderosa pine, fir, and oak. The camp has a few tables and stoves. During the 1930s, this camp was a recreation site for Civilian Conservation Corps workmen. A handsome field station, resembling a chalet, stood here until razed in the mid-1970s. The name Happy Hollow is apt; the camp is indeed in a hollow, and hikers are no doubt happy after a 3,300-foot elevation gain in six miles. What hikers may not be so happy about in this north face camp is the lack of sunlight. The hollow traps the cold. Snow is often found here weeks after a storm, long after it has melted elsewhere.

From Happy Hollow, return to Santa Cruz Trail the way you came and enjoy the long descent back to the trailhead.

Santa Cruz Trail

Upper Oso Camp to Nineteen Oaks Camp: 3 1/2 miles round trip, 600-foot elevation gain.

Upper Oso to Alexander Saddle: 10 miles round trip, 3,300-foot gain.

Upper Oso to Happy Hollow Camp: 13 miles round trip, 3,300-foot gain.