Ojai & Rose Valley
Ventura backcountry · near Ojai · Los Angeles / SoCal
Gravel & Bikepacking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Best season
- Fall–spring (hot summers, fire season)
What is here
- Terrain
- mountain
- Amenities
- Charming Ojai base · Rose Valley Falls area · Sespe/Los Padres backcountry · Forest campgrounds
- Best for
- Foothill riding from a laid-back arts town
- Features
- Laid-back Ojai base · Climbs into the Los Padres · Rose Valley waterfalls · Wild Sespe country links
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Summer heat, fire closures · Sustained climbs up high · Limited water on backroads · Ticks, poison oak
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Gravel & Bikepacking detail
- Ride types
- day-gravel · adventure
- Surface
- mixed
- Remoteness
- 2
- Riding
- Mellow-to-big riding from a mellow arts town into the Los Padres — paved-and-dirt roads up through oak and chaparral to Rose Valley's waterfalls and the wild Sespe backcountry
- Terrain note
- 750–3,500 ft; mixed roads into Los Padres; hot, dry, chaparral
- Camping
- Yes
- Intl tip
- Laid-back arts town in a golden valley behind Ventura — a delightful base for riding from mellow valley spins to big Los Padres climbs. Paved-and-dirt roads rise through oak and chaparral to Rose Valley (waterfalls, swimming holes) and the wild Sespe backcountry. Suits all levels; hot, dry terrain (fall–spring best; summer heat/fire risk), limited water up high. Forest campgrounds. Great food, spas, and famous pink sunsets. Charming foothill adventure.
- Trip lengths
- day
The guide
Ojai, a laid-back arts-and-wellness town cradled in a golden valley behind Ventura, makes a delightful base for riding that ran…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Ojai & Rose Valley — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 34.45, -119.24