The Franklin Trail - A relatively new hike in Carpinteria

Jun 26

Jun 26 The Franklin Trail - A relatively new hike in Carpinteria

The Franklin Trail
Distance: ~4 miles (it’s longer now)
Trailhead: Franklin Trail Trailhead
Agency: Los Padres National Forest (and easements)
Date Hiked: 06/26/2014

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100 Peaks Amazon Gear List

06/26/2014
Soph and I had a day to ourselves. We had heard of the Franklin Trail when we met Bud Girard, a long-time trail supporter, hiking along Carpinteria Bluffs many months ago. He mentioned that the Franklin Trail was going to be opening soon. Thanks to his efforts and others', we were able to check it out.

Many people I spoke to about this hike were put off by the first part of the trail. You begin by parking on a street across from a church, then follow Franklin Creek, which is more of a concrete storm channel, and then pass by Carpinteria High School and become sandwiched in an easement that squeezes between orchards.

However, I rather enjoyed it.

Checking out the art along Franklin Creek

Before long, we were ascending steep switchbacks in the heat and enjoying the ever-improving view of the coastline. We had a snack break on Frank's Bench, a large bench to your left, as you meet with the fire road.

We had our usual chats about a lot of things, mainly about how much she was going to miss her friends and how many play dates she was going to be able to squeeze in before we moved back to San Diego.

Pointing out some prickly pear cactus along the Franklin Trail

We hiked up the fire road and we could see the gate, which signaled the end of the Phase 1 of The Franklin Trail. She raced me uphill to it and won. We had another quick snack and headed down.

She decided to give trail running a try and enjoyed almost all the way down to the orchards. It was another nice day on the trail with my daughter.