Directions to Santa Paula Canyon Punch Bowls.

From Los Angeles take I5 north to Highway 126 West. Exit 10th street in Santa Paula make a right turn at the exit. From 10th street take Highway 150 North to Ojai, Ca. At the Thomas Aquinas College park across Highway 150 and the hike starts in the College. Follow all rules and signs at the College, they are very strict and you can be asked to leave if you do not follow the posted signs. Proceed into Ferndale Ranch and once you reach the gates you will be at the trailhead. From Ventura take the 101 Freeway South then take Highway 126 East to Santa Paula exit 10th Street make a left at the exit and take Highway 150 North to Ojai, Ca. Park across the Highway and follow the signs at the college. Once you enter Ferndale Ranch you will be at the trailhead.

Click on image to print map or to get more information about this location.

Hiking directions after you reach the Trailhead.

Park in either of two dirt parking lots off Highway 150 adjacent to the entrance of Thomas Aquinas College. Walk up the college road. Please respect signs to stay on road and do not cut across open areas of campus. The road eventually splits off to the right from the college and continues through a ranch and oil well site. Approximately 1.3 miles from the highway and after the oil wells, the route enters dense sycamore and alder stands along the creek bottom. During the winter floods of 2005, much of the trail and road was eliminated due to high waters. Since this trail receives heavy use on weekends, we recommend hiking it on a weekday. The main attractions are a narrow gorge and beautiful waterfalls that cascade into deep pools of water. Be very careful when hiking this trail due to the many steep drop-offs and high cliffs. After 3.4 miles, the trail passes Big Cone Camp that has campsites set in a shady grove of big cone Douglas-fir with year-round water close by. A great alternative less then a mile further up the trail is Cross Camp. This camp offers secluded, nicely arranged camp-sites on Santa Paula Creek (year-round water). At 1.8 miles from Cross Camp a trail turns off to the right and drops down to Jackson Camp. The main trail continues another 0.2 miles to Jackson Hole. For the adventurous, a non maintained trail picks up at 0.4 miles up-canyon from Jackson Hole and continues on to Last Chance Camp and Topatopa Mountains. The trail is not passable to stock beyond Big Cone Camp.