Frazier Mountain Arrastra Loop

This Frazier Mountain Arrastra Loop is a hefty 23.5-mile route in Los Padres National Forest, outside the town of Frazier Park. This route begins off of Lockwood Valley Road. A large parking lot exists on Frazier Mountain Road, near the intersection with Lockwood Valley Road. The route is excellent for hiking, trail running, mountain biking, and for OHVs. It is a difficult route not only due to its significant distance, but perhaps even more so by its notable elevation changes. The loop first climbs to the summit of Frazier Mountain and Frazier Mountain Lookout. Note that the summit, at 8,017ft., may have snow, depending on the time of year. (The whole route may also have snow, depending on the time of year.) Our route then follows near the southwest ridge of the mountain, before dropping sharply down its southeast face toward Long Dave Valley. The loop continues its descent to around mile 14 at Arrastra Flat, where it then begins its extremely steep ascent back up the mountain to gain its northeast ridge. This two mile ascent here can be rough so late in the route, so make sure you have enough gas in the tank to make it back up to the ridge.
There is a campground, Chuchupate, open seasonally at around 2.5 miles, which can be a nice way to break up the route a bit and spend some more time in this wonderful area.
For more information about Frazier Mountain and Los Padres National Forest, check out the Forest Service Webpage (https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/lpnf/recarea/?recid=81856), as well as the superb website at Hike Los Padres (https://www.hikelospadres.com/frazier-mountain.html).  Be prepared for inclement weather and bring plenty of food and water. Practice the principles of leave no trace, and take action to defend threatened wilderness areas (wildernesswatch.org). Note that Los Padres is currently at-risk to destructive logging projects.