Location: Ventura County, about 16 miles south-southwest of Frazier Park, 90 miles from Los Angeles

Maps

Auto Club: Ventura County, Los Angeles and Vicinity

Forest Service: Los Padres National Forest: Mt Pinos, Ojai and Santa Barbara Ranger Districts

USGS Topo: Topatopa Mountains 7½, Lockwood Valley 7½

HPS: Route(s), waypoints and explanation of usage

Nearby Peaks: Lockwood Peak, San Guillermo Mountain, Thorn Point (LO)

Distance: 11 miles round trip on trail, and cross-country

Gain: 3200' total, 1500' out plus 1700' on return

Time: 6-7 hours round trip

Rating: Class 1, strenuous

Navigation: Very difficult

Leader Rating: "I", normal conditions

Original: George Wysup, November 2001

DRIVING ROUTE 2

• Go north on I-5 to the town of Gorman. Get off on the signed Gorman exit.
• Turn left at the bottom of the off-ramp and go under the freeway.
• Go 0.1 mile to Peace Valley Road. Turn right.
• Go 1 mile to the entrance to Hungry Valley Recreation Area on your left (paved). Turn left. Note your odometer and go as follows:
• At 0.2 mile, entrance station. If manned, you can avoid payment of the fee by telling the State Park employee that you are passing through to Alamo Mountain.
• At 5.2 miles, intersection. Turn right (west) toward "Piru Creek", signed.
• At 11.2 miles, improved car camping area on right, with toilets. Often used as a meeting point.
• At 11.4 miles, Piru Creek crossing. There is a seasonal gate just before this stream crossing.
• At 13.4 miles, the pavement ends.
• At 17.8 miles, fork to the left. Keep right.
• At 17.9 miles, junction with the Alamo Mountain Road. Turn left. (To the right leads to Twin Pines Campground and Alamo Mountain Route 2.) Note your odometer again and go as follows:
• At 3.3 miles, fork immediately beyond a small road cut through the ridge. (To the right leads to Alamo Mountain Route 1.) Turn left on 6S01.
• At 4.0 miles the Little Mutau trailhead on the right. Park here.

HIKING ROUTE 2

• From the parking area (6750'), follow the obvious trail to the south steeply uphill for about 1/2 mile, where it fades into intermittent use trail. (Proceeding east along the ridge from this point leads to McDonald Peak.)
• Continue down the southwest trending ridge for about 1 1/2 miles, reaching Little Mutau Creek at about the 5800' contour, just north of point 5969'.
• Follow Little Mutau Creek (can be very wet in the spring) for about 2 miles to about the 5200' contour where a tributary creek enters from the south (UTM coordinates 165343). (Continuing west along the Little Mutau trail would lead, in about 3/4 mile, to Route 1 at saddle 5729'.)
• Turn southwest, crossing the creek, and bushwhack through thick willows up the tributary for about 200 yards, where the tributary bends to the southeast.
• Leave the creek to the right and climb southerly up the north trending ridge about a mile to the saddle just west of the summit. Take care to note your route for the return trip down this ridge.
• Hike east along the ridge to the summit.