Admiring Botanical Face of Figueroa Mountain

Figueroa Mountain, located in Los Padres National Forest 25 air miles behind Santa Barbara, is one of the most botanically intriguing areas in Southern California.

The mountain’s upper slopes are forested with Coulter pine, yellow pine and big-cone spruce. Spring wildflower displays on the lower slopes often are exceptional. Among the more common roadside and trailside flowers are fiddleneck, Johnny jump-ups, shooting stars, lupine and cream cups.

Tree lovers will find a variety of arboreal companions, including large specimens of California bay laurel, big-leaf maple and picturesque coastal, valley and blue oaks.

At lower elevations are abundant digger pine. Its distinguishing features are long needles in bunches of three and the forking, broomlike appearance of its trunk. The pines are named for a poor tribe of Indians in California’s gold country, disparagingly called “digger” by the Forty-Niners.

On higher slopes grows another three-needled pine--the yellow pine. It’s a tall, regal tree with a reddish bark that looks fashioned of rectangular mosaic. Yet another three-needled pine is the Coulter, which produces huge cones, the largest and heaviest of any native conifer.

Davy Brown Hike

One good way to explore the mountain’s flora and colorful history is to take a hike on Davy Brown Trail, which ascends cool, moist Fir Canyon, climbs to the headwaters of Davy Brown Creek and visits the Forest Service fire lookout atop 4,528-foot Figueroa Mountain. The mountain honors Jose Figueroa, Mexican governor of California from 1833 to 1835. Anyone who climbs to the mountain’s lookout--where there are grand views of the San Rafael Wilderness, Santa Ynez Valley, Point Conception and the Channel Islands--will agree that having such a mountain take your name is indeed an honor.

The trail, as well as a camp and a creek, is named for William S. (Davy) Brown, who kept a cabin here during his retirement years, 1880 to 1895. Born in Ireland in 1800, Brown was 80 years old by the time he arrived in the Santa Barbara backcountry with his two white mules, Jinks and Tommy. If even half of the accounts of his early years are true, he certainly had an adventurous life. He was reportedly an African-slave trader, Indian fighter, hunter with Kit Carson and meat supplier for California’s Forty-Niners. Though he was considered a recluse, many said he welcomed visitors into his humble cabin. Davy Brown died in the sleepy Santa Barbara County town of Guadalupe in 1899, having fully experienced the 19th Century. His 16-by-20-foot cabin burned in a 1930 fire and is now the site of Davy Brown Camp.

Directions to the trailhead: From U.S. 101 in Santa Barbara, exit on California 154 and proceed 14 miles over Cachuma Pass and past Lake Cachuma to Armour Ranch Road. Turn right and drive 1.3 miles to Happy Canyon Road. Make a right and wind 14 pleasant miles to Cachuma Saddle Station. To reach the lower Davy Brown trailhead, you’ll bear right at the saddle onto Sunset Valley Road and proceed five miles to Davy Brown Campground. To reach the upper Davy Brown trailhead, bear left at Cachuma Saddle Station onto Figueroa Mountain Road and drive five miles to a turnout and signed Davy Brown Trail on your right.

You also can get access to both trailheads by exiting U.S. 101 north of the Buellton turnoff on California 154, turning left on Figueroa Mountain Road and driving 15 miles to the upper trailhead. During wildflower season, consider a drive up Figueroa Mountain Road and down Happy Canyon Road--or vice versa--to make a scenic loop through the Santa Barbara backcountry.

The hike: From the northwest end of Davy Brown Camp, you’ll pass a green gate and a vehicle barrier and join the unsigned trail. You’ll head west through forested Munch Canyon, cross Davy Brown Creek a couple of times, then begin angling southwest up Fir Canyon. Actually, no firs grow in Fir Canyon, but its Southern cousin, the big-cone spruce, is plentiful here.

About 1 3/4 miles from the trailhead, you’ll descend into a blue oak-shaded draw and arrive at the ruins of chrome miner Harry Roberts’ cabin, built in the 1920s. A large big-leaf maple shades the cabin. The cabin is a good lunch stop, or turnaround point if you’re not feeling too energetic.

Beyond the cabin, maple-shaded Davy Brown Trail crosses and recrosses the creek. Keep a sharp lookout right for the unsigned side trail leading to Figueroa Mountain Lookout. (If you see signed Munch Canyon Spur Trail on your left, you overshot the trail; double back a hundred yards.)

Those wishing to follow Davy Brown Trail to its end will continue ascending along Davy Brown Creek through a wet world of mushrooms and banana slugs under the shade of oaks and laurel. Half a mile from the top of the trail, you’ll step carefully over a splintered, white Monterey shale outcropping at a point where the canyon makes a sharp turn. Old-timers called this bend the Devil’s Elbow.

Davy Brown Trail climbs to the headwaters of Davy Brown Creek, then out onto a grassy slope dotted with digger pines and buttercups. You might encounter a herd of bovine forest users on this grassy slope. Trail’s end is Figueroa Mountain Road.

Figueroa Mountain Lookout-bound hikers will head right at the above-mentioned junction. The path gains elevation rapidly as it climbs out onto a drier slope cloaked in chaparral--toyon, ceanothus, black sage, scrub oak and mountain mahogany.

The trail descends for a short distance to a tiny meadow, then immediately climbs steeply again. As the trail nears the top, notice the progression of pines from digger to Coulter to yellow.

The trail intersects a road to Figueroa Peak. Bear left on the road half a mile to the lookout. Enjoy the far-reaching views of the major peaks of Los Padres National Forest and of the coast and Channel Islands.

Davy Brown Trail

Davy Brown Camp to Harry Roberts Cabin: 3 1/2 miles round-trip; 900-foot elevation gain.

Davy Brown Camp to Figueroa Mountain Road: 6 1/4 miles round trip; 1,700-foot gain.

Davy Brown Camp to Figueroa Mountain Lookout: 7 1/2 miles round trip; 2,400-foot gain .