| Statistics: |
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| Difficulty: 2
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Route Finding: 1.5
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| Distance One Way
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0.91
miles |
| Trailhead Elev
734 feet |
Elev Gain 267 feet |
| Avg Time One Way
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20 minutes |
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| Waypoints: |
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| Trailhead |
N 34° 13.654 W 118° 53.619
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Santa Rosa Trail
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N 34° 13.919 W 118° 53.236
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Trailhead/End of trail
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N 34° 13.919 W 118° 53.236
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Topographic Route Map |
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Elevation Profile |
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By Scott Legal
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The Lower Butte Trail is a fairly short trail located in the northeastern part of Wildwood Park. The trailhead begins on Wildwood Avenue, north of Big Sky Drive. Shortly after entering the trail the trail climbs a steep hill. Along the way up the hill there are many cholla cactus, particularly on the north side of the trail.
Near the top of the hill there is an unnamed trail that heads south toward a large rock outcropping. This point offers some very nice views of northwestern Thousand Oaks.
After reaching the top of the hill the trail descends fairly quickly toward a retirement community. The trail was rerouted when construction began on this community. This is a small paradise lost story. The land that the community was built on once had a very prominent raptor nest in a tall tree. There was also a small riparian area near Olsen Road that has been largely bulldozed.
Once you reach the bottom of the hill the trail turns north. It was along this short section of trail that I had one of my two mountain lion sightings. This lion was only ten feet away from me when I realized what I was looking at. Fortunately, the lion did nothing more than look at me.
The trail ends at the northeastern end of the Santa Rosa Trail. To get back to the Wildwood Avenue trailhead you can either back track on the Lower Butte Trail or head back to Wildwood Avenue via Camino de Celeste.
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Heading up |
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Looking up at the butte |
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Nearing the top |
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Looking down at Wildwood |
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Paradise lost. This area was a lot nicer before all of the houses were built. |
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