Hike Machesna Mountain Los Padres National Forest, CA

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The road to Machesna Mountain was in surprisingly good shape (not good for 2WD), which is good because my car somehow lost a screw and rattled the whole way. I shrugged it off like the irresponsible child I am and continued to the trailhead. Unfortunately, I was hit with a wall of fog so my photos may not be particularly helpful, but I thought the somewhat poor weather added a nice mysterious touch to the hike. Otherwise, it might have been just a walk along a green SoCal ridge. Either way, I'm sure it's a lovely area. The Machesna Mountain Trail is bit odd. It shows up on Google as a road, but alternates between a wide trail, a thin and grassy trail, and a very eroded road. There were only a couple of brushy spots, but it was easy to follow and undulates along the ridge for a few miles. One area to note is toward the end when I encountered a bunch of signs pointing in all sorts of unhelpful directions. The trail leads down to a small pond, and then back up to the ridge. I left my alternative route (see map), but it was overgrown despite being the route displayed as a road on Google Maps, and not particularly interesting. Eventually after a bit more uphill, I left the trail and a rusted marker and headed west through not unpleasant bushwhacking to the summit.

PEAKS ON HIKE
Elevation (ft) / Prominence (ft)

Peaks on hike

Elevation

Prominence

Machesna Mountain

4063 ft

1623 rise

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Machesna Mountain trailhead.

Some pretty rock outcroppings on the left.

Looking back toward the trailhead.

More pretty rocks.

Looking back one last time before the fog came.

I passed through some interesting open sections. I'm sure the view would have been nice, but the fog was pretty cool too.

The trail undulates along the ridgeline. This was one of the many downhill parts, only to ascend again.

I met up with this unhelpful sign. The trails were difficult to see because of the grasses, and none of the things mentioned were places I wanted to go. The trail I took led down to a pond, and I recommend the direction where the arrow is pointing to "Pine Springs".

Down to the pond.

Looking back toward the pond in the fog.

Meeting back up with where Google Maps marks a road. There was no road for long stretches.

Another sign before passing an unlocked gate, just north of Machesna Mountain.

A road again as I head up to Machesna Mountain.

I used this metal trail marker as the spot where I left the dirt road and entered the fog, bushwhacking to the summit.

This is about what I saw after leaving the trail. The fog only got worse.

Hire me or show me some love!

Hire/refer me as a web developer or send me a few bucks if you find my site useful. I’m not sponsored, so all fees are out-of-pocket and my time preparing trip reports is unpaid. I really appreciate it!