Climbing to the Condor’s Last Haunts

The San Rafael Wilderness, heart of the Santa Barbara backcountry, inspired the late author/photographer Dick Smith and several naturalists before and after him to roam, explore, behold. This is, or was, and maybe someday again will be condor country, where these survivors from the Pleistocene Age were given their last sanctuary.

Smith spent 15 years roaming the backcountry. He crouched behind improvised blinds for days at a time to observe the great, dark birds with their 10-foot wingspans. Through his book, “Condor Journal” (Capra Press), he alerted the public to the plight of this flying relic. He often likened the condor to a miner’s canary, carried to test the air for escaping gases (if the canary died, the miner was in danger). Smith regards the condor as Southern California’s environmental canary.

This day hike takes you into Smith’s favorite backcountry, up to the crest of the Sierra Madre, where ravens swoop in the wind like dolphins of the sky. From McPherson Peak you will have a commanding view of the San Rafael Wilderness to the south and the stark Cuyama Badlands to the north.

You should be in good shape for this hike, and get an early start. The trail is quite steep and exposed to the full effect of the summer sun.

Directions to the trailhead: As the hawk flies, New Cuyama isn’t all that far from Ventura, Santa Barbara or even Interstate 5, but by car it’s quite a drive. There are a couple of long but scenic ways to reach New Cuyama:

You can exit Interstate 5 near Gorman on Frazier Mt. Park Road, then follow Mil Potrero Road to its intersection with California 33, which at this point is also California 166.

Second, you can exit U.S. 101 in Ventura and follow California 33 about 72 winding miles north to its junction with California 166.

From the junction of California 33 and California 166, proceed 13 miles northwest on the latter route to the signed turnoff for Aliso Park Campground (about 2 1/2 miles past the hamlet of New Cuyama). Leaving the highway, you’ll turn south on Aliso Canyon Road. Drive 1 1/2 miles, bear right at the first fork, then continue 4 1/2 miles more to Aliso Park Campground.

The campground has tables and toilets but no water. From the campground, a dirt road of the forest service leads 2 1/2 miles to Hog Pen Spring Camp. The very rough road is not recommended for passenger cars, though trucks and four-wheel-drive vehicles can negotiate it.

The Hike: As you leave the campground on the forest-service road, you’ll notice an unsigned trail on your right leading south up a slope. This is the trail on which you’ll return from McPherson Park.

Follow the dirt road, which takes you from the shady Aliso Valley up through chaparral. A mile from the trailhead is a gate (be sure to close it so the cows don’t wander). Another 1 1/2 miles brings you to Hog Pen Spring Campground. Hog Pen was named by the McPherson family, who once raised pigs in the area.

Now the real climbing begins as you follow many switchbacks on the ascent to Sierra Madre Road. The unsigned trail, which begins at the edge of the campground, follows the edge of a brushy canyon where frequently are heard the rustlings and crashings of animals below. Perhaps they’re wild pigs, known to roam this section of Los Padres National Forest.

Turn west (right) on Sierra Madre Road and continue 2 miles to McPherson Peak. En route you are given magnificent views down into the Sisquoc River and the cliffs where condors nested and roosted over the centuries.

At McPherson Peak (5,749 feet) you have a commanding view in all directions. Rest and watch the skies. Eat lunch and scrutinize the Sisquoc River Canyon, the marvelous San Rafael Mountains and Hurricane Deck. This was high country for the Chumash, where they hunted, worshiped and even practiced astronomy.

Instead of retracing your steps back down to Aliso Park Campground, search the slope just east below the lookout for the old McPherson Trail. It takes you down through the chaparral along a rib of the peak. After a 2-mile descent, you reach an unsigned junction with an overgrown trail. Bear right and follow it downhill a bit more than 2 miles back to the campground. You might need to do a little bushwhacking, but the views of the Cuyama Valley and Cuyama Badlands make it all worthwhile.

McPherson Peak Trail

Aliso Park Campground to Hog Pen Spring Campground: 5 miles round trip; 900-foot elevation gain.

Aliso Park Campground to McPherson Peak: 10-mile loop; 2,900-foot elevation gain.