Los Padres National Forest

The Santa Barbara and Monterey National Forests  merged in December 1936 to form Los Padres  National Forest. In 2011, the Forest celebrated its 75th anniversary of managing these special lands and preserving them for future generations to enjoy. Los Padres National Forest provides Southern California and the Bay Area with a variety of terrain, vegetation, and recreational settings. There are 1,257 miles of maintained trails which provide both day-use and extended backpacking opportunities. Much of the forest is unroaded and primitive and has 10 congressionally designated wildernesses comprising approximately 875,000 acres or about 48% of the forest. These include the Ventana, Silver Peak, Santa Lucia, Machesna, Garcia, San Rafael, Dick Smith, Sespe, Matilija and Chumash wildernesses.