Los Padres National Forest · California

Johnston Ridge

9.7 mi of trail, end to end · native material surface · trail No. 20W12 · trail class 3 · typical grade 10-12% · tread 18-24 inches wide · hiking, horse, bike

Trailhead Johnston Ridge Trailhead - 20W12 Drive there

Johnston Ridge Trailhead - 20W12 the Forest Service's write-up

reservation required · season May to December

Open in Spring/Summer/Fall and is within the winter seasonal closure between November 1 st and April 30. Best months to hike are May and June. Hot and dry in the summer and fall.

The Johnston Ridge Trailhead (elev. 4920 ft.) is located on the southeasterly end of Grade Valley Road (7N03) approximately 13 miles south of Lockwood Valley Road approximately one mile from Mutau Flats. There is a parking area with 5 parking spurs, with hitching rails for horses, and a vault toilet at the trailhead. The signed trail starts from the east side of the parking lot. There is no overnight camping allowed at the trailhead, but camping is permitted at Halfmoon and Thorn Meadows Campgrounds located along Grade Valley Road. This trailhead provides access to Stonehouse Trail (20W35), Little Mutau Trail (20W10), Sespe Hot Springs and Sespe Creek.

This trailhead on fs.usda.gov

Every trail in Los Padres National Forest

All 343 trails in Los Padres National ForestFind a trailForest on fs.usda.gov

About this trail's facts

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.