Matt- It all depends on the snow levels, which is why I proposed 2 separate dates. This year we had some late winter storms in April, and I had to postpone my Big Pine Mountain trip 2 weeks (see my other thread about 2-3 day routes for Southern/ Central California). These storms were pretty unusual, but it they can happen.   I would suggest getting a pool of people who are seriously interested in this route by early 2013, and then setting a date that works for most people.  If we have another drought year and there is no snow, this route could even be done in January (it could have been done this year in January since we had absolutely no snow then).

Rob- I am totally open to making this route longer if you can route something out that would connect over to Gorman (maybe coming over from the ANF through Castiac lake area and Libre mountain??)  Send me a route :-)

Looks like a great trip thanks for sharing. Do you happen to have it mapped out?  What percentage of the trail would you say is rideable with a bikepacking set up?

I do not know how high the Stagecoach 400 goes, but if we have another drought this winter like last year,  it should be doable in December.  Much more doable in December than say March.   But if we have an El Nino year, I wouldn't even think of attempting it.  If you want just a day ride, I did these singletrack trails in December 2 years ago. They were quite fun:

http://www.mountainbikebill.com/PalmSpringsGoatTrails.htm

I just posted a new thread for this route:

http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,4654.0.html

I am fine tuning the route of this ride and need to ride the sections that I have not yet ridden.  More TBA in Fall of 2013.

If you like google maps, use www.bikeroutetoaster.com

Play with the different settings on the right.  And don't forget to create an account so you can save your routes.

Cheers

Right on dude looks like you had fun.  Looks like you camped at painted rock and at Big Pine.  No snow left up there it looks like. I figured it wouldn't last long.  Its a pretty sweet ride eh?  I wish I had done it before the Zaca fire! 

I will shoot you an email next time we ride on the weekend.  We usually ride weekdays on Tuesday, Wed, or Thurs. 

That sounds like a great ride.  I like to join you guys, but I have plans this weekend.  Do you ever ride romero or jesusita?  We like to go there on Thursday evenings.  We should meet up sometime.  A lot of my mountain bike friends are wussies and just ride small rides and do not bikepack. 

One piece of advice- if you want to avoid a long shuttle and a bunch of driving in your car, i would recommend riding to the top of big pine mountain and then just descending back down to your car the same way you came.  the riding between big pine and little pine is OK, but its all burned out still from the zaca fire. 

Your water sources for the ride you described are:

Towards the top of bates road (about .5 mile below sierra madre road) there might be small spring (we collected there 2 years ago). 

The big boulders at painted rock might have water (again, this was 2 years ago).

At santa barbara potrero campground (about .25 miles off of sierra madre road) there is a spring for horses to drink out of. Its marked as "oak spring" on the map (we camped and collected water here this year).

At chokecherry spring (before Malduce peak) there is a great water source. This is really tasty water. 

As you ascend big pine there was snow melt when we were there a few weeks ago.  maybe there will still be water  there.  This water was tasty too. 

I did not check out Big Pine campground, but I would recommend camping there, since it should be pretty warm this weekend. The rangers said there is a spring at that campground but I did not verify this. 

Bluff is a nice campground too (this is where we camped on night #2).  The Rangers were friendly there and gave us beer. 

Have fun! 

What route is the Los Padres corridor?  Could you map it for me on bikeroutetoaster.com? 

even more pictures

more pictures

Pictures

OK, so here is the info (or beta as you guys call it) on the Big Pine/ Buckhorn road route between Ventucopa and Santa Barbara.
I've done most of the fire road routes in Santa Barbara County and I must say that this is by far my favorite route I have taken thus far!  I highly rec comend.  You hardcore people could do it all in one day, but I rec comend at the bare minimum one night of camping.  We did 2 nights of camping and the last day was pretty easy.

Day 1, Friday we took a half day off work and did not get to our starting point until 6 pm.  Camped at Santa Barbara Potrero campground. There is a horse/ cow trough (marked as "oak spring" on the map) with running water in it.  Its not the best water, but its not the worst either.  Here is the route---

http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=382168

Day 2, Ascend up towards Malduce Peak. Stop at "Chokecherry Spring" (marked on the map) for some very nice mountain water.  Then decend to Alamar Campground for lunch.  Ascend up to Big Pine mountain in the afternoon. There were snowmelt streams up here with more great water. I doubt they run year-around.  Big Pine Campground supposedly has a spring, but I did not confirm this, as we did not camp there. If you want to "bag" the summit of Big Pine mountain (highest point in SB County), you will need to walk the old fire road, which is on the map--It is littered with fallen trees. I wanted to camp at Big Pine campground, but my friend wanted to descend because he did not bring a warm jacket. We decided to camp at Bluff campground instead (there is a creek here which I bet has water year-around).  We had enough to swim this time of year.  Here is the route if you were going to camp at Big Pine. We instead descended 2000 feet in 4 miles and camped at Bluff campground instead of Big Pine. Both are nice campgrounds.

http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=382172

Day 3, If you camp at Big Pine, you will have a decent to Bluff Campground then a slight ascent and then its all down from near the top of Little Pine mountain!  Its several miles of road biking to get to the paradise store, which has food and beer and phone service. Have a car waiting over here or call someone to pick you up. Route:

http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=382175

Additional option if you want to ride straight into Santa Barbara-- instead of going to the Paradise store, ascend up Arroyo Burro road and take this route which will take you right into downtown Santa Barbara. Route--

http://www.bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=384054

Hey Rob would you mind giving me a route of your San Gabriel/ Burbank ride on bikeroutetoaster.com?  My friends and I are planning a 2 nigher up here in SB county this weekend, but the weather might be crappy on Saturday.  The weather in LA looks a little better. It would be good to have a back up plan!  Thanks!  -Erin

Thanks for sharing the cool photos.  That ride looks like a 2 and a half day ride to do it comfortably.  I bet you did it in 2 days though.  Would you reccomend it or do it again? 

For anyone considering this ride (link below), here are my favorite 5 photos from last years trip.  April is the best time of year to go!

http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=354534

Santa Monica to SB would be hard to do without a lot of road biking.  Let me know how your ride in ANF goes.  I have been wanting to figure out some routes in that area, but haven't rode much down there.  If you want more info on the 2 routes i originally posted let me know.  The first one has a hot springs option at big caliente hot springs (near pendola ranger station), which is always nice after a long day of riding.

Thanks for the recommendation.  This ride sounds interesting.  You would need to find some reliable sources of water in the desert areas, which could be a challenge.

I also want to do this route, but I haven't done it yet.  I would really appreciate hearing back from anyone who has done this route. 

http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=356662

I am looking for some good 2-3 day (1-2 night) routes in Southern/ Central California.  I live in Santa Barbara and have done these two routes.  Both are excellent rides in March or April (too hot in Summer).  Please share any suggestions for other routes.  I am mainly looking for dirt/fire roads, but I don't mind bikepacking on single track, if its downhill!  

Upper Ojai to Santa Barbara 2 days, 1 night for intermediate rider:

http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=354526

Highway 166 to Ventucopa, I did this in 2 days, but I would recommend doing it in 2.5 days, unless you are a pro.  

http://bikeroutetoaster.com/Course.aspx?course=354534