The LPFA Trail Crew is our team of hired trail professionals who work year-round across the Los Padres Forest helping our trail restoration, trail construction and forest improvement efforts. Working in conjunction with the US Forest Service and our community partners such as Montecito Trails Foundation, Santa Barbara County Trails Council, SLOPOST and others, the LPFA Trail Crew dedicates thousands of hours each year towards maintaining and building trails on our public lands.
The LPFA Trail Crew completes a wide variety of tasks across the forest and along the trails including:
• Restoring damaged trail tread focusing on sustainability and erosion control.
• Clearing trail corridors of blow downs, brush, stobs and other obstacles with the use of loppers, chainsaws, crosscut saws, grubbing tools and gas powered weed whips & hedgers.
• Trail and forest road surveys involving backpacking, hiking and occasionally riding and 4WD.
• New trail design & construction following sustainable trail standards with an emphasis on user experience.
• Building trail features such as retaining walls, rock walls, cribwalls, bridges, fencing, steps / stairs, etc….
• Campground renovations including table / fire-pit installation, defensible space clearing, replacing signs, hazard tree falling, painting, etc….
• Working closely with LPFA Volunteers, staff, board members as well as public forest-users, partner org & agency representatives and LPNF experts to plan, prepare and complete forest projects following safety and forest management guidelines.
• Spending lots of days and nights in the forest and along the trails swinging tools, moving heavy objects, sweating in the sun and working hard alongside the other LPFA Trail Crew members and trail volunteers.
Our Trail Crew often camps out for 5 or more days at a time in remote, backcountry settings. A day on a trail hitch generally involves hiking anywhere between 1-15 miles, swinging tools and moving dirt while taking in the aw-inspiring scenery of the Los Padres. We are proud to have a hardworking team dedicated to helping the Los Padres and ensuring public access to the forest for years to come. If you would like more information on how to work with our team, please contact:
