Little Pine Mountain and 19 Oaks

Little Pine, at 4506 ft. is a challenging hike to a prominent, pine tree-covered ridge along the Santa Cruz Trail. 19 Oaks is an easy hike along the creek bed.

The hike begins in the Upper Oso campground off Paradise Rd., first following an OHV road, then joining the Santa Cruz Trail. The hike to Little Pine is 10.5 miles round trip, and very strenuous and steep. Especially towards the top. The views of the Santa Ynez Valley are spectacular at the top.

For a shorter hike, you can stop at 19 Oaks at the 2 mile mark, a short overnight destination for backpacking.

For a much longer backpack, continue along the trail that heads toward the summit, then go down into the canyon behind Little Pine Mountain to Santa Cruz Camp. Santa Cruz Camp features a Forest Service cabin, which is locked. You can camp out behind it where there are picnic tables and a fire ring The valley is shaded and beautiful, with a flowing creek and wildflowers in the spring.

You will need an Adventure Pass to park.

Little Pine Mountain and 19 Oaks Updates

Update trail conditions

Posted: December 13, 2011, 1:35 pm
by: android

Hiked Oso to Little Pine on 11 Dec. 2011-
Started in the morning wearing a light fleece, removed the fleece right before coming out of the creek past 19 Oaks. Hiked to Little Pine in shirt sleeves. The weather was incredibly nice.
Got to the top, cooked up some mashed potatoes and enjoyed the blue skies. Balmy, perfect weather!

Put the light fleece on for the journey back down.

Got back right at dusk, and just missed the neccesity of a headlamp/flashlight. Trail conditions were superb, and the "Super Secret" stock tank was full of cold clear water.

Wildlife- Quail, Hawks, assorted songbirds, and the tracks of either a very, very large Bobcat or perhaps a smaller Mountain Lion (right past 19 Oaks). Great solo hike!

Posted: December 3, 2011, 10:48 am
by: dwm

Our first visit to Santa Cruz since 1999 though we had been up to Little Pine several times over the past few years. The trail up to Anderson Saddle was generally in good shape, but there are areas of brush overgrowth. Once we started down the backside, we were pleased to see that the trail crews had recently worked the slide areas and had done a good job of clearing. However, by the time we arrived at the Happy Hollow/Little Pine Spring spurs, we were bushwacking our way. The spur to LP Spring appears to be completely overgrown. The trail down to the beginning of the 40 Mile Stretch was in a sorry state of disrepair. The 40-mile was as dull as ever, but in decent shape. The switchbacks down to Santa Cruz were fine. Santa Cruz itself was a bit depressing. Many of the campsites were overgrown and neglected, not from lack of effort by the trail crews, but more by lack of visitors. I never thought I would say it, but I am now wishing for MORE hikers and backpackers to use these trails and campsites. The Santa Barbara backcountry has so much to offer, but nobody appears to be enjoying it. The trail logs at Upper Oso and at Santa Cruz indicate that maybe one hiker per month passes thru Santa Cruz. Kind of sad, really. The result, unfortunately, seems to be a slow deterioration of facilities and trails. I sure hope this trend reverses soon, before some of these trails disappear completely.

Posted: August 1, 2011, 11:38 am
by: Cross Tie Walker

As part of a longer trip (see http://www.santabarbarahikes.com/community/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=884&sid=b56ca68812c70a19e9420f5d0e7e7a13), ZK and I hiked the length of the Santa Cruz Trail week before last.

From Little Pine down to Upper Oso, the trail's in pretty good shape, though grassy for that first mile from Alexander Saddle to the stock trough. The trough was full and still trickling.

Still a fair amount of water in Oso Creek; the crossing just above 19 Oaks was running and we grabbed some water there and cooled off a bit. Everything from 19 Oaks down is in great shape.

CTW

Posted: July 12, 2011, 11:01 pm
by: lugee

Hiked this trail with my girlfriend and a good buddy of mine. Started at Upper Oso and ended at Happy Hollow Campground. The crossing is flooded and was about ankle to knee deep (2 ft max).

The beginning of the trail was an easy hike towards 19 oaks. The hike gets more difficult as you head up towards the top. There seems to be some trail work, but recent rains have caused parts of the trail to collapse with loose gravel covering the trail. Crossing is easy if you stay light footed, be careful, and move fast. the last 3-4 miles towards Happy Hollow were especially difficult. The trail has not been maintained and gophers have destroyed the trail. There is quite a bit of bushwhacking till the last 1/2 mile to Happy Hollow. Watch for ticks!

Unfortunately, Happy Hollow recently burned down and is quite overgrown. There is no water in the camp site so filter some at the last crossing (just passed 19 oaks).

Tons of wildlife out there, we were visited by quite a few critters at night (as evidence on our bear canister).

While trail conditions weren't the best, this was definitely worth it:

Posted: June 30, 2011, 11:57 pm
by: Cross Tie Walker

Picked around Lower Oso Cyn, Upper Oso Camp, and the Camuesa Road up to the Connector trailhead Saturday before last (6/18/2011). Warm, but great weather and still nice to have it mostly to ourselves with First Crossing closed. Have never seen the day use areas so crammed full of people, litter, and loud music. Can't imagine what this Independence weekend will hold.

Plenty of water in Oso Creek; sat in the ravine beneath the sandstone formations and had lunch with my old reliable uber-hund. Good times.







CTW

Posted: May 27, 2011, 1:05 pm
by: carp_nb

Hiked from the first crossing on the SY River to Santa Cruz Creek and back (5/23-25). The gate is still closed, so it adds a mile or two of road walking to get to Upper Oso. Lots of water in Oso Creek right now, we stopped on our way out at a couple of nice pools just downstream from the 19 Oaks turnoff.

The trail from the OHV road to the top of Alexander Saddle is in pretty good shape. There's a few sections through the grass and wild mustard where things get a little brushy and overgrown and some small scree slides along the section where all the nice crib walls are built, but otherwise it's easy walking.

From Alexander Saddle to the Little Pine Spring turnoff, the trail is okay. As Diane mentioned, there are a few somewhat sketchy washouts, a blowdown or two, a few overgrown sections that require some bushwhacking and few sections where the tread is getting pretty faint through the grass. We didn't bother with the Happy Hollow Connector or the trail to Little Pine Spring; both looked very overgrown and difficult to follow.

From Little Pine Springs to the 40-mile wall, the trail is okay. A few more faint sections and some more bushwhacking through vegetation that has encroached on the trail, but otherwise, it's nice.

The 40-mile wall section is absolutely riddled with gopher holes and overgrown with grass. It's tough to see your footing and find firm ground to walk on. There's also a few slides, a copule of which are a little exposed.

The switchbacks down to Santa Cruz Creek are in good shape other than one nasty blowdown on about halfway down that's a real pain to climb up and around.

Camp looks great. Lots of water in the creek and some pretty good-sized trout. Spent some time on Monday and Tuesday exploring up and downstream. Good stuff, I'd recommend it!

Posted: April 17, 2011, 8:14 pm
by: Diane

Trail from Alexander Saddle down toward Little Pine Spring has some blowdowns and some pretty severe washouts. It can be hiked, but with some difficulty, especially in the washouts.

We explored the trail near Little Pine Spring trail up to Happy Hollow. We lost the trail and spent 2 hours bushwhacking. We found the trail again and it appeared we were on our way to Happy Hollow and then lost the trail again in a big pile of downed trees. We spent another hour bushwhacking about 1/4 mile for an hour.

If you want to go to Happy Hollow, go from Alexander Saddle, not from Little Pine Spring. The trail from Alexander Saddle was fine.

Posted: November 6, 2009, 10:56 pm
by: TheBeeman

Hiked to Santa Cruz Station to check on the "40 mile wall". Trail is in excellent condition from Alexander Pass to Santa Cruz Station. CCCs have worked this trail and put in some great crib walls.

Water report:

1. No water in creek from SC trailhead to 19 Oaks; no water in water trough at camp.

2. Stock Trough - water dribbling out of spring pipe: water in trough for stock.

3. Water at Little Pine Springs Camp

4. Lots of water in Santa Cruz Creek.

This is the best time to hike to Santa Cruz Station. Grass is starting to grow. Cool temps. No flies or mosquitos.

Pics of our trip at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/beemancron

Happy Trails

The Beeman

Posted: April 22, 2009, 12:36 pm
by: GoldenBear

Now that I have (somewhat) learned how to post photos online, you can view my pictures at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pr77x/sets/72157617097910990/detail/

Posted: March 27, 2009, 8:36 pm
by: GoldenBear

:D
Does it get any better than my hike from Upper Oso to Happy Hollow, via 19 Oaks, on Tuesday, March 24th?
Skies? -- Sunny, blue, and clear
Temperature? -- High 60's
Wind? -- Light breeze
Flowers? -- In peak of bloom
Water levels? -- Coming a few days after a major rain storm, the Oso Creek was flowing well and clear
Trail condition? -- Easy to follow, with only one noticeable problem
Trail crowding? -- Not one other person seen
Pictures? -- Got several photos I doubt I could match

The trail has been well described in above posts, so I'll just give an update, and note things that might help a first-timer (like me).

The damage from the Zaca Fire can still be seen, particularly at Happy Hollow -- where it will be obvious for YEARS to come. However, the regenerative power of the creation is also easily viewable, when you see green all around you.

You cross Oso Creek twice before coming to 19 Oaks Campsite Spur Trail, and once more just after passing it. Even with about two centimeters of rain having fallen two days before, a crossing was not difficult.

There are two spur trails going up to 19 Oaks, and only the second one (as you head north) is marked. This latter one is much more heavily eroded, so maybe it would be best to use the first. As noted above, the third crossing of Oso Creek is just beyond the spur trails.

The spring at 19 Oaks is running quite well.

About 80% of the way up, you come across an area where inevitable slides of small bits of shale have buried the trail. You can walk across these piles IF you maintain your balance. Expect to get pebbles in your boots. You do NOT want to slip at this point; it's only for those with good balance. There's a shovel and rake on the trail to clear this debris, but you'll feel like King Canute ordering the tide to go back.

Several kinds of wildflowers are right on or near the trail, including California poppies. If you've ever wanted to see this area in bloom, now is the time.

Had no real problem with any kinds of insects, but this may have been due to the breeze.