| Statistics: |
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| Difficulty: 3.5
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Route Finding: 2
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| Distance One Way
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4.46
miles |
| Trailhead Elev
1191 feet |
Elev Gain 1174 feet |
| Avg Time One Way
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1.5 hours |
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| Waypoints: |
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| Trailhead |
N 34° 09.759 W 118° 52.701
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Los Robles Trail East
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N 34° 09.759 W 118° 52.701
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Janss Fire Road
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N 34° 09.759 W 118° 52.701
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Bench Trail
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N 34° 09.780 W 118° 52.838
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Bench Trail
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N 34° 09.864 W 118° 53.193
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Spring Canyon Trail
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N 34° 10.221 W 118° 53.260
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Spring Canyon Trail
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N 34° 10.220 W 118° 53.330
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Los Robles Trail West
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N 34° 09.913 W 118° 55.124
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Rosewood Trail
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N 34° 09.913 W 118° 55.124
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Trailhead/End of trail
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N 34° 09.913 W 118° 55.124
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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 central section of the Los Robles Trail.
What I define as Los Robles Trail Central is the segment of trail that runs between the Janss Fire Road to the east and the Rosewood Trail to the west. For this trail review I've chosen the Janss Fire Road as the starting point. In all actuality most people probably access this section of the Los Robles Trail via the Spring Canyon Trail, beginning their hike at the trailhead located at the corner of Moorpark and Greenmeadow. We're going to take the straight through shot rather than approaching the trail from the middle. In order to reach the trailhead you'll need to take either the Janss Fire Road or continue on the Los Robles Trail from its eastern section. Either way you will have logged over a mile and a fair amount of climbing before reaching the trailhead.
The beginning of the trail takes you up a short hill. Shortly after reaching the top of the hill you'll reach an intersection with the Bench Trail to your right. The Bench Trail, named (by me) for a bench the was put in along the trail that offers nice views of Thousand Oaks, will rejoin the Los Robles Trail further ahead. So if you want additional climbing and distance along with better views then by all means feel free to take this route.
After passing the Bench Trail the trail heads down a short gentle grade before passing a wildlife water hole. The trail then heads up a longer, yet gentle uphill. You reach a short steep grade that will take you to a trail intersection. To the right is the other end of the Bench Trail. Straight ahead is a fire Road with a mercilessly steep downhill that you'll find difficult to keep from slipping and falling on, even with good hiking boots. A short distance down this fire Road was a cut off for the old Los Robles Trail. The old section of trail was badly eroded, excessively dusty and very rocky. Back the trail intersection you will take a hard left onto the newer replacement section of the Los Robles Trail that is a much gentler downhill and is also quite a pleasant section of mostly shady trail.
After a half mile you will leave the newer, shady, single track section of trail for a fire road. The trail heads downhill for another half mile. You will see a trail sign marking a fork in the trail. You want to take the left fork. 30 yards later you’ll run into an intersection that requires you to go either left or right. Go left. The trail heads down a steeper section of fire road for about a tenth of a mile. This section of the trail is actually two trails in one – the Los Robles Trail and the Spring Canyon Trail.
At the bottom of the hill the Spring Canyon head of straight ahead and the Los Robles Trail heads off to the left, up a steep single track hill. The trail turns left and levels out briefly, then turns right and heads uphill again on a steep rocky section. A little over a quarter mile into the single track the trail heads downhill for about a tenth of a mile. Warning: At the bottom of the hill there is abundant poison oak on both sides of the trail. Avoid brushing up against plants here or you may be sorry.
At the bottom of the hill the trail crosses a very small wooden bridge and then heads up a long mostly uphill section of trail that lasts for another 1.3 miles. This section is nicknamed “Space Mountain” by mountain bikers because the terrain is somewhat reminiscent to the Disneyland ride. I’ve heard the name for so many years that I have no idea how it originated, but if I had to guess at its origin, I would guess that it was named by someone who rode the trail at night. There is a large contingent of riders, including me, that regularly ride the trail with lights at nighttime. Since the Disneyland ride is mostly dark, it makes sense that a night rider would have nicknamed this section of trail. It is worth throwing out this warning that “Space Mountain” is the busiest section of the Los Robles Trail and the evidence is everywhere that many mountain bikers use this trail. Some (but not most) of those mountain bikers go too fast and show little or no courtesy toward other trail users. So you need to take responsibility for yourself and be alert and be prepared to move quickly if you’re faced with a speed mountain biker barreling around a corner in front or behind you.
The trail tops out at about 1,480’ above see level before heading downhill for about a tenth of a mile. After that the trail is mostly flat for another seven-tenths of a mile, winding left and right around the contours of the hillside that the trail travels along. The trail then heads steeply down a pair of switchbacks. A friend named a switchback on this trail network the Bosnia switchback once, describing the switchback as looking like Bosnia did during their civil war. I thought he was talking about this section, but it turns out he was talking about a switchback on the Rosewood Trail. Actual, the surrounding vegetation on these switchbacks is pretty and a considerable amount of trail work has improved the switchbacks, but they’re still a bit too steep and erode easily. This section of trail is on private property, so beggars can’t be choosers.
At the bottom of the second switchback the trail crosses a private dirt road (Ventu Park) and then head back uphill, continuing below the same ridge that you’ve been travelling below for the past mile plus. The trail wraps around from a westerly course to an easterly course as it heads steeply up a hill. The trail then hits a sharp steep switchback and heads up more steep terrain on a more westerly direction. A half mile past the private Ventu Park road the central section of the Los Robles Trail ends at a junction with the Rosewood Trail. On a clear day this trail junction offers some very nice views of the Pacific Ocean and the Channel Islands. However, you may want to travel another two-tenths of a mile up the Rosewood and Angel Vista Trails where the best views in the entire trail network reside.
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On Space Mountain |
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Oaks Mall view |
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Ridge view |
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A tree tunnel near the private Ventu Park Road |
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About a quarter mile from the Rosewood Trail |
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Near the Rosewood Trail |
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