Ventura County Highpoint Trip Report

Mount Piños (8,831 feet)

Date: May 7, 2001
Author: Dave Covill

We drove a rental car N on I-5, turned off at Frazier Park, and drove ~ 16 miles to the parking area. The sign at the interstate said "Mt. Pinos - 12 miles". It's not! There is a Nordic recreation center building at a parking lot, and the primitive dirt road is gated ~ 200' uphill.

There was a fair amount of snow in the woods along the entire route, up to 3 feet. I would suggest gaiters, although snowshoes aren't needed at this time of year. Perhaps by June 1st it would be mostly snow-free. It's about a mile and a half to the highpoint. The road was not visible all the way due to snow. It was very warm out, and we were astonished to see so much snow. The road meanders along the crest of an E-W ridge, but is mostly wooded by tall pines. There is a radio tower on top, but the highest outcrop is a bit outside the fence.

Took us 35 minutes up, 30 down, would have been a bit less w/o snow. We didn't break through at all, just walked on top, albeit in sneakers, as I didn't anticipate these conditions.