Day 330: Sundown Trail

 Unexpected Grassland along the trail

DAY 330: Monday October 10, 2011

Sundown Trailhead off Rancho Rd.

Miles: 3.25
Elevation Gain:  450 Feet
Where?: Thousand Oaks, CA

Time: 1.5 hours

Difficulty (1-10): 2

Reward (1-10): 2
Description: Found a new shaded trail in T.O. 

Directions: From the 101 freeway in Thousand Oaks, exit on Rancho Rd and turn right (if you're coming from the North).  If you're coming from the South, exit at Hampshire, turn right on Hampshire, left on T.O. Blvd and left on Rancho.  Drive past the stop sign and down the windy hill.  Turn left on the second street, Sundown.  Park at the end.

 Trailhead (watch out for horse manure)

Shaded lower trail

 Climb a few mild hills

 Overlooking Conejo Valley

The trail would continue up toward a water tank.  The grassland is only about a mile from the trailhead.  Only about a quarter of a mile into this hike, an alternative switchback trail climbed to the right.  I bypassed this to continue straight and when I reached the grassy level, I looped the field in search for an alternative way back.  This only lead me back to where I came from, so looks like I will revisit again, possibly two more times, to complete this trail.

Before I reached the trailhead today, I explored the area on my bike.  I initially turned left on the first road off Rancho.  I think it was called Saddle something.  There was a trail at the end of the road so I parked my bike and hiked down 100 feet of elevation over a quarter mile stretch.  This eventually lead out to a road (Sundown).  These trails are kinda marked on the Los Robles Trail map but because they are not main trails, it's hard to know exactly where you are...

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**I still have pics on my phone to update this blog, for some reason they didn't save to my memory card so as soon as i figure that out, I will update the gaps....