Location: Ventura County, about 15 miles south of Gorman, 85 miles from Los Angeles

Maps

Auto Club: Ventura County

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

USGS Topo: Cobblestone Mtn 7½, Black Mountain 7½, Alamo Mountain 7½

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

Nearby Peaks: Alamo Mountain, McDonald Peak, Sewart Mountain, Snowy Peak, Black Mountain #2, White Mountain #2

Distance: 14 miles round trip on road, trail, and steep loose cross-country

Gain: 5200' total, 2700' out plus 2500' on return

Time: 8-10 hours round trip

Rating: Class 2, very strenuous

Navigation: Difficult

Leader Rating: "I", normal conditions

Original: Warren E. von Pertz, January 1974

DRIVING ROUTE 1

• 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 miles, 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.
• At 4.0 miles, the road continues east at the Little Mutau trailhead. Past this point the road can sometimes be poor but is usually passable.
• At 6.3 miles, the parking spot for McDonald Peak.
• At 7.2 miles, a dirt berm, a sign indicating no further motor vehicle traffic, and a large parking area, suitable for car camping. Park here.

HIKING ROUTE 1

• From the parking area (6500'), pass the gate and hike east on the old road for 1 mile to the obvious high point of the road. This is the summit area of Sewart Mountain.
• Continue downhill on the old road for about 0.5 mile to a fork with an obscure road on the right, signed "Sespe Wilderness". Turn right onto this road (continuing straight leads to Snowy Peak and Black Mountain #2).
• Follow this overgrown road as it first descends steeply south to a saddle, turns east over bump 6043', then proceeds downhill in roller-coaster fashion.
• After about 2.5 miles the overgrown road turns to trail. Follow the trail eastward onto the northern slopes of a forested ridge, looking for a side trail coming steeply in from the right, possibly signed "Cobblestone Trail".
• Turn right on this side trail, which is very deteriorated and should be considered cross-country travel.
• Take this old trail as it goes southeast up a ridge. After a long 1/2 mile it comes to a fork in a shallow saddle with the remains of a sign (5840'+). Continuing straight along the ridge goes to White Mountain #2. Cobblestone Mountain can be seen directly to the south.
• Take the right fork and follow an overgrown, rough trail down through a saddle (5300'). Beyond the saddle the trail is primitive, with occasional ducks, and is essentially cross-country. It passes first through a break in the large buttress south of the saddle, then ascends steeply to and then through a series of loose steps composed of conglomerate rocks that give the peak its name, and finally exits onto forested slopes near the summit. The summit has a very fancy register box.