Los Padres National Forest · California
Trailhead Gifford Trailhead Drive there
The site is located on Hwy #166 26 miles east of Santa Maria.
Gifford Trailhead has one large parking area and serving hikers, equestrians. No motorized use allowed.
The Gifford trail (18E12) 2.2 miles has beautiful scenic views.
Hitching posts. Picnicking 1 table. Stock trailer parking.
Difficulty level : Easy
The trailhead is open all year.
The lines are the US Forest Service's National Forest System trails layer (public domain), read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end, and the class, surface, grade and tread width are the forest's own entries where it publishes them - a forest that publishes the centreline alone has none. The trailheads and the points along the way are the Service's recreation points, and the write-ups its own recarea text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the forest's own site before you go.