Everything about Los Padres National Forest totally explained
Los Padres National Forest is a forest located in southern and central
California, which includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast from Ventura to Monterey, extending inland. Elevations range from sea level to 8,831 feet.
Geography
The forest is approximately 1,950,000 acres (7890 km²) in area, of which 1,762,400 acres (7,132.18 km²) or about 88% are public lands; the rest are privately owned
inholdings. The forest is divided between two noncontiguous areas. The northern division is within
Monterey County and includes the beautiful
Big Sur Coast and scenic interior areas. The "main division" of the forest includes lands within
San Luis Obispo,
Santa Barbara,
Ventura and
Kern Counties, with a small extension into
Los Angeles County in the
Pyramid Lake area, between
Castaic and
Gorman. Mountain ranges within the Los Padres include the
Santa Lucia Mountains,
La Panza Range,
Caliente Range (a small part),
Sierra Madre Mountains,
San Rafael Mountains,
Santa Ynez Mountains, and
Topatopa Mountains; the highest parts of the forest are not within named mountain ranges, but are adjacent to the western
San Emigdio Mountains and include
Mount Pinos,
Cerro Noroeste, and
Reyes Peak. The forest is also adjacent to the
Angeles National Forest, which is in the
Los Angeles County in Southern California and is nearby
Carrizo Plain National Monument in eastern
San Luis Obispo County. Forest headquarters are located in
Goleta, California.
Many rivers in Southern and Central California have their points of origin within the Los Padres National Forest, including the
Carmel,
Salinas,
Cuyama,
Sisquoc,
Santa Ynez,
Sespe,
Ventura, and
Piru.
Several wilderness areas have been set aside within the Los Padres National Forest, including the
San Rafael Wilderness, the first primitive area to be included in the U.S. wilderness system after the passage of the
Wilderness Act in 1964. Another large wilderness created in the 1970s was the
Ventana Wilderness in the Santa Lucia Mountains.
More recent wilderness areas created in the Los Padres include:
Wildlife and vegetation
Many threatened and endangered species live within the Forest. Probably most famous among them is the
California Condor (
Gymnogyps californianus). The American
Peregrine Falcon is also entirely dependent on the Forest for its survival. The
California Mule Deer may be the most common large mammal.
Many vegetation types are represented in the Los Padres, including
chaparral, the common ground cover of most coastal ranges in California below about 5,000 feet (1500 m), and coniferous forests, which can be found in abundance in the Ventana Wilderness as well as the region around Mount Pinos in the northeastern portion of the Forest.
Use restrictions
Los Padres exhibits an extreme risk of forest fires; in
1965, a truck driven by country singer
Johnny Cash caught fire, and burned several hundred acres in Ventura county. Because of this risk, there are many restrictions on building fires in Los Padres National Forest. Some portions of the forest are closed entirely to public entry during the fire season (including the entire
San Rafael Wilderness). Normally the fire season extends from June 1 each year until the time of the first autumn rains, which is usually in mid-November.
A
National Forest Adventure Pass is required for parking in most locations of the Los Padres National Forest, as well as other National Forests in
Southern California, and may be obtained from local merchants, visitor centers, or online. It isn't required in the Monterey Ranger District (Ventana Wilderness and Silver Peak Wilderness).
Further Information
Get more info on 'Los Padres National Forest'.
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