Trails of

Oak Park
Overview of adjacent areas 

Looking north from the Wistful Vista Trail in the Wistful Vista Open Space

Overview

Oak Park is blessed with lots of trails, most of which share a few characteristics: broad, steep, shadeless and provide great views once you get a little elevation under your belt. Many of the trails are too steep for a regular mountain bike, particularly the Wistful Vista Trails, but they're wonderful if you're looking for a conditioning hike or run! Rather then indulging in switchbacks or climbing turns, the trails tend to go straight up the hill to the top of a ridge.

The Oak Park trails are managed and maintained by the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District. The trails are all quite broad - about wide enough for a single vehicle. There are no singletrack trails here. They also have a pretty even tread, and mostly firm. My guess is that they run a vehicle with a blade along them from time to time.

An exception are the Medea Creek Trails. Most segments are paved, and the hills are barely noticable.

An unusual characteristic is that the trails are named after the open space they occupy. There are always multiple forks to the trails, but the legs don't have distinct names. An example is the Wistful Vista Trail. It has eight trailheads on different segments, but they all have the same name. On maps here, I've added segment names for the various arms and legs to distinguish them.

Official Website

•  Oak Park Trails managed by Rancho Simi Recreation & Park District

Trailheads, Parking and Features

a. Ridgeway Drive. Map and directions
b. Bayport Way. Map and directions
c. Rockfield Street. Map and directions
d. Golden Nugget Way. Map and directions
e. Golden Eagle Drive. Map and directions
f. Falling Star Avenue. Map and directions
g. Lindero Canyon Road for Rock Ridge Trail. There is no parking here. Map and directions
g. Lindero Canyon Road for Canyon Cove Trail. Check for No Parking signs. Map and directions
h. Pathfinder Avenue. Map and directions
I. Bromely Drive. Map and directions
j. Burano Court. Map and directions
k. Kanan Road for Wistful Vista access. Check for No Parking signs. Map and directions
k. Kanan Road for Medea Creek and Sunrise Meadow Creekside Trails access. Check for No Parking signs. Map and directions
l. Oak Hills Drive. Map and directions
m. Conifer Street. There is no parking here. Map and directions
n. Fountainwood Street. Map and directions
o. Deerhill Road. Map and directions
p. Doubletree Road . Map and directions, and a little further south-east
q. Oak Point Drive. Map and directions
r. Sunnycrest Drive. Map and directions
s. Smoke Tree Avenue for access to the Sunrise Meadow Ridge Trail. Map and directions
s. Smoke Tree Avenue for access to the Smoke Tree Connector to Palo Comado. Map and directions
t. Perigrine Circle. Map and directions. Map and directions

v. Oak Park High School
w. Trail possibly blocked by stream debris
x. Oak Canyon Community Park
y. Oak Park Community Center and Gardens
z. Indian Springs Park

 Water tank
 Locked gate

Trails

Download the GPS tracks to help you find your way. This GPX file contains tracks for all the trails in this area.

[1] Wistful Vista Trail T2.5 because it's so steep, otherwise T1
[1a] Wistful Vista, Bayport Leg T2.5
[1b] Wistful Vista, Rockfield Leg T2.5
[1c] Wistful Vista, Indian Springs Park Leg T1.5
[1d] Wistful Vista, Kanan and Burano Legs T3 because of stairs
[1e] Wistful Vista, Oak Hills Leg T3 because of a loose and crazy steep section
[1f] Wistful Vista, East Water Tank Leg T2.5
[1g] Wistful Vista, South Water Tank Leg T2
[1h] Wistful Vista, West Water Tank Leg T4 with a loose rocky rutted singletrack

Description The Wistful Vista Open Space encompasses a dramatic ridge in the middle of Oak Park. The trail has multiple legs that fork off from the main trail to descend to eight trailheads that provide easy access from many neighborhoods. The elevation profile below is very complicated because of all these legs that start at the street and climb up to the trail along the top of the ridge. One thing they all have in common is that they go straight up the hill and are very steep! Once to the top, however, the view is spectacular in all or most directions. There are several hilltops along the main trail, so the steep hills don't stop once you get to the top, and all the hilltops have great views.

The trails are much too steep to climb on a regular mountain bike.

All these trails are narrow dirt roads or wide paths. Mostly they're firm and fairly even, but there are some loose spots on some of the steeper sections. The photo to right shows the ridgeline trail from along the East Water Tank Leg, looking north-west towards the main trail. The banner photo at the top of this page shows the view looking north from the northernmost peak.

1 Wistful Vista Trail: T2.5 This main trail runs from Oak Hills Drive, up the steep hill along the ridgeline, ending where 1a forks off from it. At the time of this writing (July 2020), the trail was blocked by heavy vegetation near the north-west end where it crosses a stream. Hikers may be able to worm their way through. And the park district could clear out the blockage at any time.

1a Bayport Leg: 0.6 miles long, 400 feet of climbing T2.5 . This segments ends on Bayport Way, only a quarter block from the east end of the short 400 yard-long Rockfield Leg, 1b. It's easy to combine these two segments into one route.

1c Indian Springs Park Leg: 300 yards long, 80' of climbing T1.5 . This segment starts at the east edge of Indian Springs Park and climbs less steeply than 1h West Water Tank Leg to which it connects.

1d Kanan and Burano Legs: T3 This represents 3 short spurs, two of which come out on Kanan Rd and one on Burano Ct. The Burnano and western Kanan spurs are steep enough to start with steps from the trailheads. The eastern Kanan trailhead is not steep at all at the start as shown in the photo at right.

1e Oak Hills Leg: 0.45 miles long, 400' of climbing T3 . This trail has a very loose and crazy steep section about 40% of the way up from the bottom.

1f East Water Tank Leg: 0.6 miles long, 250' of descent from the main trail T2.5 . This dogleg trail leads to a cell tower site and a paved driveway to a water tank. However, there is a locked gate to keep you from getting out to the street. There is a loose section towards the bottom before you reach the paved part.

1g South Water Tank Leg: 1.1 miles long T2 . The official trail seems to end where it joins 1a, the Bayport Leg, but in fact it continues south across the border from Ventura County into LA County as segment 1g. It narrows to a singletrack when it gets to the South Water Tank, then continues beside the paved driveway before joining another dirt road that forks off to the south. That segment ends at some sort of utility yard; there is no access to the street from there. If you continue down the paved driveway, it's blocked by a locked gate, but there is a short trail beside a concrete V-ditch that comes out to Ridgeway Drive.

1h West Water Tank Leg: 0.5 miles long, 400' of climbing T4 . This segment starts from the main trail as a narrow dirt road but narrows to a singletrack as it rounds the water tank, parallels the paved driveway for a bit, then turns downhill. This section is rocky, loose and rutted. When 1c Indian Springs Park Leg forks off, 1h gets even steeper and more loose! It comes out at an elementary school.

Trail Profile      Back to the Top

[2] Lindero Canyon Trail T1.5 , T0.5

Description This trail has three segments. At the north is an Edison road below powerlines; at the south is a decomposed granite (DG) pathway a few feet west of Lindero Canyon Road. To connect these, you need to travel on the sidewalk along Lindero Canyon Road for about 330 yards.

The powerline segment T1.5 is a narrow dirt road and a little uneven. It is only 0.4 miles long, with a very gentle grade dropping 100 feet when going south from Pathfinder Avenue where the trail terminates. Across the street, the Sandstone Hills Trail starts. The upper photo shows the trail looking south from Pathfinder Ave.

The DG path next to Lindero Canyon Road has a very gradual slope and a very even tread T0.5 . From Kanan Road south to Rockfield Street the path is about 3.5' wide. South of Rockfield, the trail moves away from the street a bit and expands in width to that of a road. It ends abruptly about 180 yards south of Rockfield.

Technical Rating T1.5 , T0.5

[2a] Lindero Creek Trail This very pretty trail is described on the North Ranch map page T0.5 T2 .

Trail Profile. Back to the Top

[3] Rock Ridge Trail T2.5 , T1.5
[3a] Rock Ridge Drive T0
[3b] Rock Ridge Parallel T1.5

Description Rock Ridge Trail starts off at the east end branching off from the Oak Canyon Community Park Trail with an increadibly steep climb out of the canyon to a ridgeline. Another trail, not shown on the map, climbs out of the Oak Park Community Center parking lot and it is at least as steep. The steepest sections of this trail are a little loose, but the rest is pretty firm. Because of the steepness, the southwest third of the trail rates T2.5. Otherwise it would probably be T1.

The trail is good for building up your leg muscles, but if you're on a bike, be prepared to push it.

The western-most half mile is hilly with much gentler slopes, so it rates T1.5 . There are two spurs in this section that lead to neighborhood streets, so the access from the west end is much easier. However, there is no parking on Lindero Canyon Road at the western terminus.

3a Rock Ridge Drive: 0.25 miles long with 185 feet of climbing. This is a very steep concrete road from Kanan up to an underground water tank along the Rock Ridge Trail. T0

3b Rock Ridge Parallel: 0.34 miles long with 115' of climbing and 20' of descent. This trail leads from Churchwood Drive to about the midpoint of Rock Ridge Drive. It is the typical 1-vehicle wide and the tread is in very good shape. It starts with a moderately steep climb but shortly becomes more gentle. Overall it's much less steep that Rock Ridge Drive. T1.5

Technical Rating T2.5 , T1.5

Trail Profile      Back to the Top

[4] Oak Canyon Community Park Trail T1

Description This is a narrow dirt road that winds through the trees near the creek in Oak Canyon. You can start at the Community Park on Kanan Road and continue to Bromely Drive. There is a very gentle grade uphill that gets quite a bit steeper as you approach Bromely Drive. It's very popular and pretty with lots of shade. It crosses the creek a couple of times, so it may be hard to pass when it's rainy, and will probably be muddy as well. There is a parallel paved road to the east and up the hill away from the creek that would be prefereable when it's wet.

The trail continues north beyond Bromely Drive as a singletrack that starts at the eastern edge of the Eagle View Park. It continues about 230 yards to Lindero Canyon Road, across the street from the beginning of the China Flat Trail. It's a bit steeper and the tread is a little uneven so it rates at T2.5

Technical Rating T1 , T2.5

Trail Profile      Back to the Top

[5] Rock Ridge Trail (East) T2 mostly but T2.5 where it crosses Medea Creek because of steepness
[5a] Rock Ridge (East), Doubletree Leg T2

Description Like most of the other trails in Oak Park, the trails in the Rock Ridge Open Space (East) open space are single lane dirt roads, but these ones are a little looser that others. The main trail starts on Hollytree Drive and ends at a cul-de-sac on Deerhill Road. You can park on Hollytree or at the nearby Oak Canyon Community Park. The main trail has 3 sections. The north-south section just west of Medea Creek has moderate slopes. The next section where the trail turns abruptly to the east and crosses Medea Creek is very very steep, both going down and up. In climbing out of Medea creek, the trails gains 220' in elevation with a fairly constant grade of 20 to 25%. That's much too steep to ride a standard mountain bike up. The last section again has only moderatly steep grades and ends at Deerhill Road.

There's a great view from this hillside! You can easily see all the way south to the Santa Monica Mountains when the air is clear.

There are two short spurs, both on the western segment of the main trail. One leads to the paved drive in Oak Canyon Community Park, and the other leads to Suicide Trail.

5a Doubletree Leg: 0.8 miles long with 330' of climbing and 70' of descent when heading northT2 . Like the main trail, the tread is a little loose and it has some very steep sections, but they're pretty short. The photo shows part of this trail climbing up to the main trail.

Technical Rating T2 mostly but T2.5 where it's really steep

Trail Profile      Back to the Top

[6] Medea Creek Trail T0 , T1
[6a] Medea Creek, Sunnycrest Arm T0
[6b] Medea Creek, Doubletree Arm T1

Description This very pretty and popular set of trails is mostly a single-lane width paved trail T0 with a few exceptions noted below. The grades are all gentle and there are lots of oak trees around to provide shade. The west arm [6] follows along Medea Creek. The trails go through a strip of parkland next to the creek and behind neighborhood houses. There are lots of access points from neighborhood streets - too many to show on the map.

The main Medea Creek Trail has Oak Park High School at the north terminus and East Tamarind Street at the south. However, the trail continues as a 300-yard-long singletrack through the grass from East Tamarind Street south to Fountainwood Street. This southernmost section is shown on the map but is not included in the elevation profile below. The photo to the left shows this segment.

The section between Oak Hills Drive and East Tamarind Street has two parallel trails on opposite sides of the creek. One trail is paved T0  and the other is single-lane-wide gravel or dirt T1 .

6a Sunnycrest Arm: Somewhere near the middle, this arm forks off towards the north-east. It crosses Sunnycrest Drive and ends at Kanan Road across from Deerhill Road, covering 860 yeards and gaining about 80' in elevation. From Kanan, the Doubletree Arm 6b continues about 250' to the north-west, and the Sunrise Meadow Creekside Trail starts about 140' to the southeast.

6b Doubletree Arm: 0.25 miles long with 70' of climbing from Kanan to Doubletree T1 . This single-lane dirt road is partly shaded by oak trees.

Trail Profile      Back to the Top

[7] Sunrise Meadow Creekside Trail T1.5 has a short but very steep hill
[7a] Sunrise Meadow Creekside, Sunnycrest Leg T1
[7b] Sunrise Meadow Creekside, Doubletree Leg T1

Description The main trail starts at Doubletree Rd and ends at Kanan Rd. It is very pretty, the first 2/3 is under an oak canopy and the rest is in a meadow. It is 0.67 miles long with 240 feet of cummulative descent and 80 feet of climbing. Most of that climbing is on a short but very steep hill where the trail rounds a bend and turns northwest. It is equally steep on both sides of the hill, going up and down. There is a short singletrack spur (120 yards long with 45' of climbing) that leads from the main trail to a trail head on Oak Point Drive.

7a Sunnycrest Leg: 210 yards long with 65' of descent T1 . This short spur drops from the main trail to Sunnycrest Drive with a gentle slope.

7b Doubletree Leg: One third mile long with 110' of climbing. This gently sloping trail connects to Doubletree Road from near the bottom (Kanan) end of the main trail. The tread is firm and fairly even. There is no shade. T1

[8] Sunrise Meadow Ridge Trail T1 but possibly T2 because of the steepness
[8a] Sunrise Meadow Ridge, Smoke Tree Arm T1 or T2

Description Most of the Sunrise Meadow Ridge Trail runs north-south, just outside (west of the boundary) of the Palo Comado open space. Like most trails in Oak Park, it is the width of a narrow single-lane road, is fairly firm and even, and is very steep. This is another good trail for a conditioning workout. The photo to the right shows the trail from near the south end, looking north. As you can see, there's no shade here, nor on the connecting trails that lead down to the Oak Park neighborhoods. At the north end, the "North Trail" is an unofficial trail that narrows to a singletrack and continues up an even steeper hill for 330 yards.

The Smoke Tree Arm leads west from the main trail for a half mile and ends at Smoke Tree Avenue. It is even steeper than most of the main trail

The main trail can also be accessed from the Doubletree Access Trail and the Smoke Tree Connector that join Oak Park and Palo Comado Canyon Road. These trails cross Sunrise Meadow Ridge Trail at low spots.

Technical Rating  T1 , or T2 because of steepness

Trail Profile      Back to the Top

[9] Doubletree Access Trail T2

Description This trail provides access to Palo Comado Canyon from Oak Park, starting at Doubletree Road, and is less hilly than Smoke Tree Connector. It's a narrow dirt road with some minor ruts and a little loose gravel in places. To get to China Flat, this is the easiest place to start. It's too short to show an elevation profile.

Technical Rating T1.5

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[10] Smoke Tree Connector T1

Description This is a hilly double-track trail to access Palo Comado Canyon from Smoke Tree Ave. in Oak Park. It's too short to show an elevation profile.

Technical Rating T1

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[11] Palo Comado Canyon Trail T2

Description The Palo Comado Canyon Trail is a fire road that starts in Cheeseboro Canyon, crosses over the ridge to Palo Comado Canyon, then climbs all the way to Albertson Motorway. There are two short connector trails to Oak Park. Palo Comado is the most common way to access China Flat. For more info on this trail, view its description on the Cheeseboro, Palo Comado and Las Virgenes Canyons page.

Technical Rating T2

Trail Profile      Back to the Top

[12] Canyon Cove Trail T1.5

Description This very pretty singletrack wide trail passes behind a group of houses on Lindero Canyon Rd and next to Lindero Creek. There are lots of trees on the east (creek) side of the trail. The trail is only about a third of a mile long, but there's almost no slope to it, and the decomposed granite tread is firm and in really good shape. If the trail were wider, it would rate a T1 or maybe even T0.5. The beginning and end have a railing on the downhill side as seen in the photo because it's quite steep down to the creek there, but mostly there's no railing. The trail is too short to provide an elevation profile.

Technical Rating T1.5

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This page was last updated February 26, 2021

Thanks for looking at Steve's guide to trails in Ventura County, the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) and other locations.