Matilija Falls Trail

Matilija Falls

I struggled with a label for this post. I guess it has been settled that the newly worked section of trail up the infamous Matilija Canyon will now be called the Matilija Falls Trail. Earlier maps have it referenced as 24W06 Bald Hills Trail and for good reason as the original route (according to earlier Los Padres Recreation maps) a little over 3 miles in from the Trail-head never dropped back down to Matilija Creek as it does today but instead broke Northwest to Bald Hills Camp and beyond to eventually connect back with Potrero Seco. My ramblings may make more sense in the photos below. 

 Pictured above is the 1938 Los Padres National Forest Recreation Map. Center Black line is Matilija Canyon with O2 being Wild Mare Camp, O61 very hard to make out but I believe it's Rich's Flat Camp and below to the left O3 Bald Hills Camp. Notice the red dotted trail line (24W06) leading up Matilija then as I described above breaking Northwest to Bald Hills Camp and approaching very near the summit of Cara Blanca before terminating onto Potrero Seco.

Here it is much clearer on the 1969 Los Padres National Forest Recreation Map. Notice 24W06 again taking the same path however this time the trail appears to dead end near where Bald Hills Camp would have been. Wild Mare, Rich's Flat, Bald Hills Camps and the connection with Potrero Seco now removed from most modern maps.

Plans are in the works for a future loop trip to push all the way up the Main Gut of Matilija Canyon  to connect with the upper portion of the old Bald hills Trail and descend 24W06 back to the Trail-head. We hope to Summit Cara Blanca and search for any evidence of Rich's Flat, Wild Mare and Bald hills Camps. If you just read all that and are thinking dammit Chris I came here for waterfalls I'll get back to that now.

Matilija Trail-head  Parking N34° 30' 18.8" W119° 22' 28.7"

Reaching the falls is fairly straight forward begin by parking along the road Southeast the locked gate at the Matilija Trail-head. There is also a parking turnout to the left however after recent rains will look more like a lake. Pass through the gate and stay on the road as you immediately cross through the private in holding of Matilija Canyon Ranch. In about .6 of a mile is the first creek crossing. Water was flowing strong this morning, looks like it will be wet feet for us right out the gate. Moving along in less than 300 feet to your right you will pass the junction with the North Fork Matilija 23W07 and we will call it another 500 or so feet even further to your left the junction with Murietta Canyon 24W07. 

Stay left as the sign indicates for all trails.

Very shortly after Murietta upon approaching the Blue Heron Ranch is where most folks not familiar with this area may get confused. Stay left at the junction sign pictured above to skirt the western side of the property. Immediately after this junction is the one shown below where you make a right continuing your Northwest trek through the legal public easement on the ranch. 

Stay right here at the junction making your way through the Blue Heron Ranch

Years past there was a legal battle going on between the land owner in the area and KAMFO (a group of conservationists and hikers basically over the public rights to cross through the private lands. Some of the old shenanigans may still be apparent in the sign above. Notice the No trail circled on top, then the bottom with an arrow pointing left for roads (5N13) yet the pointed arrow head removed from the white line indicating trails to the right. Click the photo to zoom in and you'll see what I'm talking about or better yet go check it out for yourself. Fortunately everyone is now on the same page and the public can freely pass through with no more risk of confrontation. 

Gate open for all to freely pass through

Just after your right at the no trails sign we discussed above is the main Blue Heron Ranch Gate. Notice the open side to the right as weird as it may feel at first go on ahead and pass through the gate, again this a legal easement onto public forest lands. Do respect the property though and stay on the road. Some angry looking German shepherds (more bark than bite) are around to ensure people do. 

Stay left here along the road

Before reaching the mouth of Old Man Canyon is the last gate encountered on the Northern reaches of the Ranch. Do not pass through the locked gate. Stay on the road to your left. Studying older maps I am fairly confident at one time the old trail 24W06 did indeed go right through the gated area here and down onto the creek. Maybe somebody much wiser than me can answer that with certainty sometime. 

Good water flow from Old Man Canyon.

Not long after the locked gate the road turns to single track and thanks to recent work from the LPFA and friends the trail is in excellent condition and very easy to follow. After crossing Old Man Canyon the path leads you high above Matilija Creek along the northern Banks. Plenty of early morning shade here and great views to be had up and down canyon. A touch over 3 miles and you begin the decent from the switchbacks and back onto Matilija. Before dropping in look down onto the eastern bank and you will spot one of the user created Camp Sites.

View from the switchbacks looking down on the Campsite

Once at the bottom and directly across the creek at the 3.5 mile mark is a couple camp sites with fire rings that I labeled MF Camp #1 and MF Camp #2 on the map below.  

MF Camp Site #1 

MF Camp Site #2

Jeff showcasing right about where the trail ends.

After the Camp as you continue along the East bank further up Canyon the trail slowly begins to disappear and rock hopping along the path of least resistance becomes name of the game. I noted it was just under the 4 mile mark where we had the last of real tread. During higher water as we had this morning keeping your feet dry is entirely out of the question. Make it easy on yourself and bring some good water shoes. 

No trip to Matilija Falls would be complete without a stop at West Falls. Approximately 4.5 miles in Matilija Canyon and West fall Canyon converge. Once at the junction hang a quick left, it's less than a few hundred feet to reach West falls. Here elaborate sandstone wall formations surround the tiered waterfall, a beautiful site indeed. 

Junction for West Falls

West Falls

Fire ring on a bench just below the falls

 Finished at West Falls we continued on up Matilija Canyon as temperatures warmed and the sun made it's way directly overhead the clear cool water at our feet was a welcome reprieve. Plenty of deep pools abound for wading and relaxing and the scenery is damn hard to beat. While all the people were packed in on the lower trails surrounding the Trail-head (not social distancing) we had this tranquil beauty up here all to ourselves. After leaving West falls it's really only about half mile further, give or take the 5 mile mark until you reach Matilija Falls.

Matilija Falls

Lower fall with rope to reach the next level

What we got upon arrival was pristine conditions, water gushing over the falls made for excellent photo opportunity's and just an all around perfect day. Really what more could you ask for. The lower waterfall has a cave behind it and a rope as seen in the photo above to reach the next level. The west bank of the upper falls also has a sketchy old rope to get one high above and in position for what some people might be using as a small cliff jumping spot. Note I do not know the depth of water in the upper pool and I am not recommending you jump in. I climbed it and I would consider it dangerous and not suited for most to attempt. This is for the majority of hikers (not all) the end of the line. It is difficult to climb further beyond this point. We spent a good amount of time with ropes looking for various safe ways around with a heavy pack for an upcoming trip. In the end we got what we were looking for. With that the first scouting session is complete. I suspect a few more to come in the very near future. I have our total out and back mileage for the day at 10. More if you count all the climbing up and down we did. Some more highlights pictured below.

Jeff descending a steep chute

Purple nightshade perhaps ?

Me on the West Falls

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North Fork Matilija

North Fork Matilija

What do you do when everyone is flocking up Hwy 33 to play in the snow ? I'll tell ya stay in the lower sections and beat the crowds. Two weeks ago we were here summiting White Ledge Peak, in the last 14 days the temps have noticeably changed. The Surrounding peaks are all now covered in snow, providing a new incredibly beautiful perspective from lower Canyon. 

Precisely 2 weeks ago we were standing atop that ridge

A look back at the parking area.

 Reece and I got to walking from the Matilija Trailhead at 6:45 am. Once again we parked along the road just before the gate next to the parking lake. It was cold and we were both regretting forgetting our gloves. With frozen hands we marched on past the gate and through Matilija Canyon Ranch making sure to respect the private property and stay on the road. In a short .7 of a mile you come to the junction with the North Fork Matilija Trail (our intended route). This junction needs a new sign marking the start of the trail especially as it sits so near private property. No need to have folks wandering around in search of it. 

Assuming at one time this may have been the trailhead sign

Start of the North Fork Matilija Trail 23W07

Exit the road and follow the North Fork Trail here (pictured above) across the creek, in about .2 of a mile you cross into the Matilija Wilderness. A Wilderness boundary sign would be useful here and make for a great scout project hint hint Troop 111 ;). 

Aside from the obnoxious amount of pink flagging on both sides of the creek observed in the lower portion of the Canyon here the scenery is really pretty and hard to beat. The trail is in excellent condition and easy to follow. Meandering its way up canyon with numerous stream crossings through a shaded little evergreen forest. As can be seen above the year-round creek is flowing great right now with the perfect amount of water. We were able to navigate every crossing without getting our feet wet. 

Matilija #1 (Camp Coordinates N34° 30' 54.6" W119° 22' 49.4")

View from Matilija #1 Looking across the creek to Reece on the trail

I consistently seem to have a full plate and abnormally large agenda with most of my trips into the backcountry and today was no exception. My ambitious hopes were to make it the 15.5 mile round trip up to Maple Camp and Back surveying all the trail camps along the way, assessing the fire and flood damage beyond Middle Matilija Camp and paying a visit to a special place that I will keep unnamed. For this report I will label the different Forest Service and user created Campsites as I see fit. Forgive me if something is not historically correct. I have limited experience in the Matilija Watershed, as of late trying to change that though. First camp up and closest to the trailhead is Matilija. All denoted miles will be from our parked vehicle. At 1.3 miles in you arrive at what I labeled Matilija #1 (pictured above). The site sits on a flat across the creek from the trail on the east bank. There is a fire ring and some makeshift bench/rock seating. The Camp is not all that easy to access and if not paying attention one could pass right by it. This is not part of the original Matilija but at some point a user created adition. (Guerrilla Site). A short distance up trail maybe 600 feet is what some may refer to as lower Matilija Camp. For the sake of keeping my map orderly I have called this Matilija #2. (Pictured below) 

Matilija Camp #2 (Camp coordinates N34° 30' 59.5" W119° 22' 48.0")

Interesting rock fire ring setup

This streamside Camp sits on a very large well shaded flat with room for numerous tents. Making it a great option for larger groups. Again here I do not feel this is part of the original FS Matilija Camp, though all indications would appear it is currently the most popular and user friendly of the bunch. Another 400 feet further up the trail is what I believe is original Matilija camp.

Matilija Camp (Camp coordinates N34° 31' 02.9" W119° 22' 47.6"

Here you find the classic raised Bbq grill indicative of the earlier camps. A Lot of side canyon rubble is littered about the place and the rather rocky terrain is a bit off putting. No doubt why the lower site is getting most of the attention these days. With a little bit of love this could still be a great place. Last but not least we found one more user created site about .2 of a mile past the main matilija. There's a fire ring and some rock seating in a pinch would make a fine overflow spot on busier weekends. I went ahead and called this Matilija #3. Also note every camp we visited throughout the day had water flowing and readily available for filtering.

Matilija #3 (Camp coordinates  N34° 30' 59.4" W119° 22' 40.0")

After leaving Matilija the narrow canyon widens considerably into an expansive meadow. Fall colors are abundant in the trees and tall grasses. Wide open views await the observer. While the whole way in is uphill this section in my opinion had a gentler feel. It was a nice scenic transition and best of all the tread is well manicured making travel a breeze. 

About 3.2 miles in is another User Created/Unofficial Camp. This site is referenced in Bryan Conant's map of the Matilija and Dick Smith Wilderness. An excellent map I might add. If you don't have a copy you should his attention to detail is by far better than any other I have seen and I'm not just saying that because I like Bryan. I'll be harping on his HLP website a bit later in this post but his maps are damn good, that's a fact.

NFM Unofficial Camp #1 (Camp coordinates N34° 31' 12.1" W119° 21' 28.5")

Rock Formation at the camp

This is an enjoyable camp with a very large flat situated right near the creek. Again would make a great overnight for larger groups or anyone just wanting to get a little further from the lower more popular Matilija without having to go all the way to Middle Matilija. After leaving here you cross the creek as the trail leads you high above onto the south bank and into some excellent photo opportunities. Hope you brought the camera the views are sweet up here. 

 I've taken notice that a good amount of my previous posts have had lots of turn by turn mileage directions. I have kind of been wanting to make it a point of slowly getting away from that style of writing. It is time consuming, probably a tad boring and I don't know how useful my readers really find it. Not a hundred percent getting away from it because there is times that it's needed but just not all the time. This trip reflects that style of writing but being as this was more of a survey work type of outing I felt I would again layout the blog post in semi the same format that I would turn in the Camp/Trail surveys to the forest service where more detail is needed. Would love to hear some feedback from any of my regular readers if you have an opinion on the matter.

North Fork Matilija Trail Sign (Coordinates N34° 31' 20.5" W119° 21' 07.2")

Thus far as mentioned previously the trail has been in real good shape with no major problems. This is about to end. At just over 4 miles you arrive at what I've labeled Middle Matilija #1. It's just shortly before this camp that the trail begins to get messy. I reckon this first site is another secondary user created/Guerrilla site. As you can see from the photos below the camp has a great layout with plenty of seating and space to accommodate multiple tents. The only caveat here is a few of the surrounding trees have been damaged so caution is needed as to where you set up your tent. 

Middle Matilija #1 (Camp coordinates N34° 31' 39.3" W119° 21' 06.9")

Up ahead less than .2 of a mile after rounding the sharp bend in the Creek is what I believe the original Forest Service Middle Matilija Camp. (pictured below) I can all but guarantee this site sees far less traffic than first. What I loved about this one though was the old winged style stove. The only other place I have seen this is at Ellis Apiary. 

Middle Matilija Camp (Camp Coordinates N34° 31' 43.6" W119° 21' 03.7")

Winged style stove like at Ellis Apiary

Fire and flood have ravaged the upper middle portion of the North Fork Matilija Trail. Immediately after leaving the camp the trail becomes overgrown, washed out and difficult to follow. Knowing abouts where you should be at all times and following flagging where possible helps. I reckon Middle Matilija is the end of the line for most folks these days. When in doubt you could always just boulder hop up the creek but during higher water that would be difficult. I was reminded of the East Fork Santa Paula here and thinking in my head I hope this trail does not end up abandoned to the same fate. A good amount of rebuilding needs to take place. I was definitely pleased to hear upon return that plans are taking shape with the Los Padres Forest Association leading the charge to soon get to work on this section. Here's a few shots below showcasing some of the trail through here.

Nothing to see hear sorry no trail just tall grass and brush

About .7 of a mile after leaving middle Matilija keep an eye to the east for the switchbacks. This half mile section climbs the east bank up and around a few small waterfalls and section of narrow creek bed where a trail cold never be built.  From the south the tread leading up the switchbacks is still good, heading north across the top the tread narrows in a few places and is steep and gets crumbly, but nothing that can't be fixed. Eventually it drops you back into the creek in a wall of brush. From the North the switchbacks are hard to spot. Out of sheer curiosity and to really get a feel for the area on the way out we skipped the switchbacks and just bouldered down the creek. I made it priority to follow the trail proper the whole way in to assess its current condition, but until it gets worked on the path of least resistance is the best bet.  

The old trail zig zags back and forth across the creek several times through the upper middle portion

View from high on the east bank

About 1.5 to 2 miles from Middle Matilija Camp the trail opens up and once again becomes easy to follow the whole rest of the way up to Maple Camp. I noted the map below with a waypoint on where you can expect the better conditions. The good news is that really bad stretch is only confined to that small area. The bad news is I trusted the Hike Los Padres Website for my waypoint to Upper Matilija Camp and as is the case with so many online sources for the Los Padres National Forest they have the damn location wrong. Normally I do a lot of research and double check my info across multiple sources but I just figured with this trail being really popular, current in FS inventory and in the past before the fire/flood being well maintained that they would have had the Camp waypoint correct. NOPE. In the end it's my fault but dammit I was disappointed. Don't get me wrong I love and appreciate their website and it is a wealth of knowledge but it is also littered with small trail and camp errors that I have been harping about for some time now. Praying that big website update their getting is coming soon. Before heading out I read a current report that much of the camp washed away and that a large tree fell through the fire pit. LPFA mentioned after nothing remains but an old sign post. Still though I wish I would have been searching in the right general vicinity and not so far north so I could have turned in a proper survey. Worst part of all I'm an idiot and forget that I had Conant's Map in my pocket the whole time. DOH!

One of the many awesome stream crossings

NFM Unofficial Camp #2 (Camp coordinates N34° 33' 03.5" W119° 21' 22.0")

Now that we were back on nice trail and making good time is wasn't long before we came upon our next user designated campsite at the 6.7 mile mark. (shown above). For all intensive purposes I labeled this one NFM Unofficial Camp #2. Here an unnamed drainage comes in from the west. The site has a large fire ring and some pretty sweet little bathing pools in the creek below. Should you feel inclined to brave the cold water. As we climbed higher in elevation the snow got noticeably closer. After approximately 3/4 of a mile past the camp we starting coming upon our first patches of white ground and yet another Campsite. Maybe an overflow for Maple or just a little further getaway from the North this little camp surrounded by conifers was tucked away just east of the trail and covered in snow. A couple short bucked tree pieces made for nice seating. The fire had a small steel grate and the flat was spacious. This site had a great feel to it. 

NFM Unofficial Camp #3 or South Maple (Camp coordinates  N34° 33' 27.8" W119° 21' 25.0")

About another half mile or so up trail we reached our final destination Maple Camp. Total mileage thus far about 7.8 all uphill and well earned. It was exactly 11:45am when we pulled in and sat down for lunch. 5 hours from the car is not bad especially considering all the stops we made to gather survey data plus the one small unmentioned side excursion. 

Maple Camp 

 

While I enjoyed all the sites we visited today Maple was my favorite. This massive flat covered in snow with it's Ice Can stoves pulled at my heart strings. Definitely on my list of places to return. In Fact in the Spring when things warm up a bit I'll come in from the North with the Family. It was hard to keep my phone in my pocket, around every bend I was wanting to take another picture. The North Fork in winter is a magical place, don't believe me go see for yourself. You wont be dissapointed. After finishing up at Maple we made our back down Canyon exiting the same way we came in. Obviously heading downhill and with less stops our time improved. I want to say it was 3:45pm when we arrived back at the car. GPS had the the total mileage at 15.4 and I felt every bit of it. I was sore. 2020 will have me turning 40. Gotta do the hard stuff now while I still can. Oh man I almost forgot on the way out we ran into another great Los Padres Wanderer Tony Calderon and his family. Tony If you're reading this it was great finally meeting up with you brother. 

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