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Madulce Peak Trail - Los Padres National Forest
Trail Distance 2.00 Miles

The Madulce Peak Trail is a 2.00 mile trail in the Dick Smith Wilderness in Santa Barbara County. The trail connects the Madulce Trail (28W09) and Madulce Peak. On the 1905 topographic map, the peak is called Strawberry Peak because of the wild strawberries that grow on Pine Creek at its north base. The name Madulce was substituted because the U. S. Geological map makers were told to use local names. A fire tower was constructed on top of the peak at the end of Trail. A storm severely damaged the tower so that Forest Service burned it to the ground. The Madulce Trail was and still is an important link between the Sisquoc River area and the Santa Barbara Canyon Trail to the Cuyama or down the Alamar and Mono Canyons to the coast. Please let us know if you have explored this trail recently.

Trail Details

Trail #: 28W09
Wilderness Area: Dick Smith
County: Santa Barbara County
Ranger District: Santa Barbara Ranger District
Trail-head Latitude: 34.70348
Trail-head Longitude: -119.60547
Water Sources: No Water Available
Trail Condition: Kind of Good - Little to no bushwacking and easily followable
Topo Maps:
Malduce Peak

Activities & Features:

Backpacking
Day Hiking
Panoramic Views
Peak
Wildlife Viewing

Trail Stats

Total Elevation Gain: + 1296 feet.
Total Elevation Loss: - 909 feet.
Overall Average Slope Gain: + 19 %.
Overall Average Slope Loss: - 18 %.
Kilometers: (km)
Meters: (m)
Miles: (mi)
Feet: (ft)
Average Slope: (%)

Photo By: - Website Link

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Survey This Trail

Survey Photos:

Los Padres Forest Association - 10-25-2014
Los Padres Forest Association - 10-25-2014
Los Padres Forest Association - 10-25-2014
Los Padres Forest Association - 10-25-2014
Los Padres Forest Association - 10-25-2014
Steve Cypher - 10-26-2019

Submitted Trail Reports

Madulce Peak Trail Survey - 04-24-2021 - by Addison Jerlow

Link:	Madulce Peak Trail
Date:	04-24-2021
Surveyor Name:	Addison Jerlow
Trail description:	Easy to follow til your first ocean view, then still easy enough to follow but there are lots of downed trees.You might get to a point after rounding an oak-filled bend and entering a small clearing with lots of branches from a few down trees where it looks like the easy obvious trail you have been following either heads steeply up the ridge to your right or steeply down the canyon through numerous branch-y downed trees in front of you. It goes down into the canyon. I checked my GPS at this point and saw the trail on my Dick Smith map and my Topo Map app both said to go up. Up is wrong (although if you want to scramble across that large rectangular rock outcropping/ridge you see when looking toward Madulce from the east, maybe go the way I went). Somewhere near me was the "old" trail but I saw nothing resembling a trail. Eventually made it to the peak and took the proper trail down (again, different than the trail on the map) and when I returned to the drainage below my wrong turn I found some small cairns that where hidden behind fallen trees. I tried to make these cairns bigger and more conspicuous for those headed up the peak. Also, the new trail from this point on is steep and switchback-filled but goes by some HUGE pines and cool cave-filled boulders with much fewer downed trees. And the view from the top is fantastic. When in doubt trust the cairns, not your gps.
Mode of transport:	Hike
Trail condition:	Needs some work
Condition details:	Easy to follow for a bit, then lots of downed trees

Madulce Peak Trail Survey - 10-26-2019 - by Steve Cypher

Link:	Madulce Peak Trail
Date:	10-26-2019
Surveyor Name:	Steve Cypher
Trail description:	Worked on this trail with Sierra Club HPS. Cut a few logs, cleared some brush, but there's lots more work to do. Pretty easy to follow until the high grassy slope below the ridge. Lots of logs lay across the slope and there's no following a trail. Be careful to note where you came from so you can get back.
Mode of transport:	Hike
Trail condition:	Needs some work
Condition details:	We did some work, but it's about like it's been.
Images:

Madulce Peak Trail Survey - 05-16-2018 - by Valerie Norton

Link:	Madulce Peak Trail
Date:	05-16-2018
Surveyor Name:	Valerie Norton
Trail description:	First, this trail is 2.5 miles. The peakbaggers indicate this on their write up, too. Loads of big trees are down. They are nearly all down onto the ground and someone has chipped a foothold in each to increase the chances of crossing each safely, even on the slope. While traveling across, the trail is very easy to follow. A couple ravine crosses require a little climbing of a few feet. Past the second is a spot where the trail crosses some sandstone and becomes very narrow which could use some attention before the tread vanishes. This spot felt dangerous. There are actually a few old blazes along this bit. As the trail turns to climb up to the ridge, it becomes a difficult to follow mess. There are multiple trails doing short switchbacks up the steep slope and plenty of potential to wander some other way. I did just that on the way down, but found myself again. There are no old blazes along this part. I saw no flagging, perhaps I was in the wrong spot. The main trail from above seemed to go through this area, too. There was a spot early on where trail looked to continue further before starting up. USGS map indicates climbing earlier, but it also indicates other details that are at odds with details on the ground. Once up on the ridge line, it is smooth sailing as long as one stays slightly low at first. Lots of details from my day can be found here.
Mode of transport:	Hike
Trail condition:	Needs some work
Condition details:	many huge trees and one slide spot and the whole route up to the ridge is difficult to follow

Madulce Peak Trail Survey - 07-03-2016 - by Steve Cypher

Link:	Madulce Peak Trail
Date:	07-03-2016
Surveyor Name:	Steve Cypher
Trail description:	A large group from Sierra Club HPS worked on trail 7/3/16. Brush cleared, several small-medium sized logs removed. The tricky transition from traverse to switchbacks flagged & cairned. Still many large logs to climb over, and switchbacks just below ridge disappear, but trail is much easier to follow.
Mode of transport:	Hike
Trail condition:	Needs some work
Condition details:	Challenging trail but currently easy to follow.

Madulce Peak Trail Survey - 05-24-2016 - by Steve Cypher

Link:	Madulce Peak Trail
Date:	05-24-2016
Surveyor Name:	Steve Cypher
Trail description:	Over 30 logs in the trail - some very large & complex. Several places have thick brush requiring bushwhacking. The switchbacks leading to the ridge are difficult to find, and you can easily follow the tracks of people who missed them. Â The switchbacks are faint and often lost beneath deadfall. The trail is flagged, so look carefully for flagging.
Mode of transport:	Hike
Trail condition:	Hard to follow
Condition details:	Rough, challenging trail

Madulce Peak Trail Survey - 10-25-2014 - by Los Padres Forest Association

Link:	Madulce Peak Trail
Date:	10-25-2014
Surveyor Name:	Los Padres Forest Association
Trail description:	The LPFA and 100 Peaks People organized a trail project on 10/25 to clear the trail from Buckhorn Road to Madulce Peak. Â We brushed the trail and worked on the tread over the entire trail. Â Great work was done BUT there are still many large downed trees that need to be logged out. Â More work is needed. Great time had by all and the views were awesome. Â The trail is now in the best shape its been in over the past decade or so.
Mode of transport:	Array
Trail condition:	Needs some work
Images:	The crew at Alamar Saddle