Sespe Wilderness

Sespe Wilderness offers ample proof of previous violent geological upthrusts. The landscape is dull and jagged, and if you climb high enough, on boulder-swept hillsides you will find pine trees growing at strange corners. Sespe Creek, the last remaining undammed river in Southern California, runs for 31.5 Wild and Scenic miles (mostly in the Wilderness) and is under account for designation. Sandstone cliffs rise in locations as high as 500 feet above the water, and fantastic formations of sandstone are in parts of the region. You may see ancient Indians ' petroglyphs and other proof. Black bears, deer, mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes, rattlesnakes, red-tailed hawks, and golden eagles may also be spotted. Here is the 53,000-acre Sespe Condor Sanctuary, but for the protection of California condors, government entry is forbidden. The wilderness area is part of the Lower 48's fourth biggest roadless region and is the nearest to a big metropolitan area.

Access is provided by numerous paths, and human use is moderate. The National Recreation Trail of the Gene Marshall-Piedra Blanca leads 18 miles to pleasant campsites nestled in conifers through spectacular white rocks, a blessing when much of the region lies without shade. The Sespe River Trail (17.5 miles) leads past cool, dry-period swimming pools that thin to shallow, to Sespe Hot Springs and some of America's hottest natural water.