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Little Pine Mountain

Little Pine Mountain, seen from above at true elevation

Little Pine Mountain rises to 1,368 m in California. Big Pine Mountain stands 2,077 m to the northeast, 8.3 miles off. The nearest named place is Little Pine Spring, a spring 1.0 miles away. 58 named summits stand within 25 miles.

The story

Little Pine Mountain is a mountain in Santa Barbara County, California, in the Los Padres National Forest at the southern edge of the San Rafael Mountains. It separates the drainages of Oso Creek, which flows into the upper Santa Ynez River, from the drainage of Santa Cruz Creek, which flows into the middle section of the river via Lake Cachuma. The mountain is named for a thin grove of Coulter pines located on the summit. The mountain is reached by the Santa Cruz National Recreation Trail, and is a popular day hike and mountain biking route for residents of Santa Barbara during the winter months. There is a camp at Happy Hollow Spring near the summit. The rocks of the lower slopes of the mountain comes from the Franciscan Assemblage, which creates serpentine soils that support a unique chaparral ecosystem. Large deposits of dark-red cinnabar are exposed above ground. The middle slopes of the mountain are dominated by the Espada Formation. The summit largely consists of Matilija Sandstone. There is a small band of Temblor Formation, a Great Valley Sequence unit usually found much farther north, encircling the high ridge of the mountain. North slope outcrops consist largely of Espada Formation rocks, with a band of serpentinite splitting the Espada section in half.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Wikidata Q18154622, referenced by the OpenStreetMap record.

What the record says

Elevation
1368 m

How to reach it

Coordinates34.60055, -119.73903

Named places within 25 miles

Springs
  • Little Pine Spring: 1.0 mi
  • 19 Oaks Spring: 2.2 mi
  • Middle Camuesa Spring: 3.7 mi
  • Demesio Spring: 5.4 mi
  • Mud Spring: 5.5 mi
Parks
Peaks: 58
  • Alexander Peak: 1.4 mi
  • Sage Hill: 4.5 mi
  • Camuesa Peak: 4.6 mi
  • Loma Alta: 5.3 mi
  • Santa Cruz Peak: 6.3 mi
Artworks: 53
Historic sites: 47
  • root cellar: 9.7 mi
  • possible root cellar location: 9.7 mi
  • Markowitz Memorial: 9.9 mi
  • The Pauper's Cemetery: 10.3 mi
  • County Firefighters Memorial: 10.5 mi
Attractions: 30
  • Mission Dam: 9.9 mi
  • Canyon: 10.0 mi
  • Sycamore Grove: 10.0 mi
  • Fallen Forest: 10.0 mi
  • Desert: 10.0 mi
Beaches: 25
Picnic sites: 17
  • Lower Oso Picnic Site: 4.3 mi
  • Falls Picnic Site: 4.3 mi
  • Red Rock Picnic Site: 4.4 mi
  • First Crossing Picnic Site: 4.5 mi
  • Live Oak Picnic Site: 4.5 mi
Gardens: 15
Nature reserves: 11
Waterfalls: 5
  • Wellhouse Falls: 5.7 mi
  • Seven Falls: 8.9 mi
  • Sisquoc Falls: 9.9 mi
  • Tangerine Falls: 10.1 mi
  • Hot Springs Falls: 11.4 mi
Cliffs: 4
Natural arches: 2
  • San Roque Arch: 8.3 mi
  • Elusive Arch: 10.7 mi
Hot springs: 1
  • Little Caliente Spring: 7.9 mi

Other summits around it

The highest named summits within 25 miles of Little Pine Mountain. Elevation from each summit’s own record; bearing measured between the two coordinates.

SummitBearingElevationDistance
Big Pine MountainNE 36°2,077 m8.3 mi
Madulce PeakNE 53°1,993 m10.5 mi
San Rafael MountainNNW 331°1,973 m8.7 mi
McKinley MountainNW 319°1,887 m9.3 mi
Samon PeakNNE 30°1,840 m10.7 mi
Monte AridoESE 105°1,831 m16.0 mi
Cuyama PeakNE 55°1,787 m18.3 mi
Peak MountainNNW 342°1,773 m21.9 mi

When to go

Light through the year

DateSunriseGolden hourSunset
March equinox07:0318:3819:11
June solstice05:4719:3920:16
September equinox06:4818:2418:57
December solstice07:0316:1416:53

Local time (America/Los_Angeles).

Climate normals

Months averaging 50–80 °F: Jan–Nov.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg °F515254586369747571645749
Precip in7.17.64.71.60.70.10.10.00.11.11.54.2

1991–2020 U.S. Climate Normals, NOAA NCEI — Gibraltar DAM #2, 6 mi away.

Where this comes from

Location and category confirmed against OpenStreetMap.

OpenStreetMapWikidata
  • USGS Geographic Names Information System feature 1660928 — Little Pine Mountain, Santa Barbara County, California.

OpenStreetMap element node/358808264

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