Santa Paula Canyon Punchbowls
Santa Paula Canyon (near Ojai) · near Santa Paula / Ojai · Los Angeles / SoCal
Swimming & Hot Springs
At a glance
- Temperature
- 62–74°F
- Cost
- FREE · Trailhead near Thomas Aquinas College off Hwy 150
- Season
- Spring–fall · Flows shrink late in dry years
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- No
- Safety
- The famous natural slide funnels toward a rock wall — watch others first and slide with control. Carry ample water; the canyon bakes. Graffiti-cleanup volunteers work hard here — pack out everything.
Swimming & Hot Springs detail
- Type
- swimming-hole
- Temp
- cool
- Clothing optional
- No
- Directions
- Hwy 150 between Santa Paula and Ojai; the well-signed route starts near Thomas Aquinas College and follows the canyon ~3 miles to the Punchbowls. Do not continue past the Punchbowls — the upper trail is in poor shape.
- Pools
- The Punchbowls: sculpted sandstone bowls with a waterfall, deep plunge pools, and the (dangerous, beloved) natural slide, strung along upper Santa Paula Creek.
- Intl tip
- Ojai — the 'pink moment' town of galleries and citrus — is 15 minutes up Hwy 150 for the post-swim meal. The paragliding guide's Ojai backcountry launches share this same front-country.
The guide
The Punchbowls are Ventura County's rite of passage — sculpted sandstone bowls and plunge pools up Santa Paula Canyon, capped b…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Santa Paula Canyon Punchbowls — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 34.42, -119.085