| Statistics: |
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| Difficulty: 3
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Route Finding: 1
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| Distance One Way
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2.36
miles |
| Trailhead Elev
973 feet |
Elev Gain 1053 feet |
| Avg Time One Way
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1.5 hours |
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| Waypoints: |
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| Trailhead |
N 34° 09.328 W 118° 56.500
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Felton Trail
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N 34° 09.836 W 118° 56.050
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Rosewood Trail
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N 34° 09.910 W 118° 55.123
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Los Robles Trail Central
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N 34° 09.910 W 118° 55.123
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Trailhead/End of trail
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N 34° 09.910 W 118° 55.123
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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 Los Robles Trail is a very long trail that spans a mountain ridge that runs much of the length of Thousand Oaks. The eastern trailhead is located on Foothill Drive in Westlake Village, behind the now closed Kmart. The trail ends over 10.5 miles later at Potrero Road. Most people only travel on parts of the trail at any one outing. In consideration of this fact and to enable me to provide more map detail, I’ve divided the trail up into three sections and associated adjacent trails to those sections. This trail description is for the western section of the Los Robles Trail.
What I define as the western section of the Los Robles Trail begins at the trailhead at Potrero Road and ends at the junction with the Rosewood Trail. I consider this trail as having the second best views of all trails on the Los Robles Trail network. In my opinion Angel Vista has the best views, but since the end of this section of the Los Robles Trail is less than a tenth of a mile from Angel Vista, this is a close second for best views. Why are the views good? Because this trail has excellent views of the ocean and the Channel Islands along with good views of the surrounding mountains.
In order to enjoy the great views that this trail has to offer, you're going to have to work for them. Starting at the Potrero Road trailhead you will climb up a grassy hill, cross a paved access road to a water tank and continue up a severely eroded section of trail for another hundred yards or so.
You reach the top of this uphill just above the water tank about two-tenths of a mile into the hike. The trail gets easy for a while. For the next nine-tenths of a mile the trail gently rolls up and down as it conforms to the contour of the hillside that it travels along. This is the section of trail that offers the most shade that you'll get along the western section of the Los Robles Trail before heading up toward the higher elevations of the trail, which are also more exposed.
The gentle terrain ends abruptly when you reach the junction with the Felton Trail. Past this junction the trail begins a long somewhat winding ascent. The trail levels out just long enough to show you how steep the trail is about to get. On the trail map this is the long nearly straight section of trail. With how meticulous the builders of the surrounding trails have been about cutting along hillsides to lessen the potential for erosion, this section of trail seems like a huge departure from that discipline. There is a good reason for this departure. The trail passes through private property and this is the land that the land owners have allowed COSCA to use. So you get what you get. Unfortunately, that means you have to go up and down several steep hills to get through this section. Along the way there a number of signs reminding you that you are on private property and warning you not to leave the trail.
Now that I’ve painted a sufficiently disapproving picture of this section of trail I’ll paint a much more positive picture. If you’re hiking on a clear low haze day, be sure to turn around and take in the view when you get to the top of the first steep hill. You will get your first of several good views of the ocean and Channel Islands from here. So despite the poor condition of this section of trail, the views make the trip up worthwhile.
Alas, you will finally leave this straight, poorly laid out section of severely eroded trail about eight-tenths of a mile past the Felton Trail junction for some better laid out switchbacks. After another four-tenths of a mile you’ll reach the end of the western section of the Los Robles Trail. Shortly before reaching the junction turn around and check out the views. If it's a clear day you will be able to see the Channel Islands once again. This is the best view of the ocean from anywhere along the Los Robles Trail.
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One of the few oaks along the trail |
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A shady spot along the trail |
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One of the straight, steep climbs |
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Rolling ups and downs |
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Early season wildflower |
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One fine view |
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