Why the entrance to a popular Los Padres trail has moved (and gotten shadier)

A local college has restored an old trail, giving hikers a new shadier, more scenic way into Santa Paula Canyon and the Punch Bowl.

The trail behind Thomas Aquinas College off Ojai Road winds through a popular stretch of the Los Padres National Forest. For the past few decades, however, it started with a climb up a paved campus road.

Now, trail-goers get to trade in the blacktop for a dirt path.

"I probably hiked the trail for the first time when I was 12," said Clark Tulberg, facilities manager at the private Catholic college

Four decades or so later, he helped lead restoration efforts to that old route.

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"It was kind of cool how a bunch of pieces fell into place that allowed the college to do it," he said. "We'd always see hikers kind of suffering on the campus road in the heat of summer up our steep hill."

Last year, the college bought roughly 700 acres adjacent to the campus outside Santa Paula.

Seneca Resources Company, LLC, an oil and gas company, sold multiple parcels to the college on Aug. 31, 2018, according to county records. Based on the transfer tax paid, the purchase price would have been roughly $2.15 million.

College officials said plans call for keeping the area as open space around the campus, which sits on about 130 acres of a former ranch. 

Hikers head out on a newly restored access trail near Thomas Aquinas College.

Most hikers have crossed onto college property to access that section of the forest since the late 1970s. The county issued a conditional-use permit that required the college to allow the access, but also said they could change the route if a better option became available.

Off and on since the Thomas Fire in December 2017, the college and volunteers restored about three-quarters of a mile stretch along the creek.

The trail entrance opened to the public a few weeks ago.

When the Thomas Fire burned through the area, Tulberg said, it left behind obvious signs of the old route in.

This map shows the new location of the Santa Paula Canyon trailhead entrance.

"It's kind of bittersweet," he said. "You're still seeing a lot of remnants of burnt trees from the Thomas Fire."

The college put up signs to the new entrance, located just north of the 10,000 Ojai Road campus. The two dirt parking areas have not changed.

Tulberg cautioned that the newly-restored path is flatter and easy to follow, but it only lasts for the first three-quarters of a mile into the forest. The rest of the hike can be challenging and has led to three helicopter rescues in the past week.

Entrance to a restored access trail to Los Padres National Forest and the Punch Bowl.

Cheri Carlson covers the environment for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at cheri.carlson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0260.