Day 25: Bowfield Trail

Day# 25: Bowfield Trail
Bowfield Trail
Westlake Village, CA
Monday, July 20th 2015
Time: 3 hours, 8 minutes
Pace: 41:05/mile
Distance: 4.59 miles
Elevation Gain: 861 feet
Dogs allowed?: Yes

Directions:
From the 101 Freeway in Thousand Oaks:
Exit Lindero Canyon Rd and head north for 2.3 miles to Rockfield St
Turn Left onto Rockfield St and continue 0.3 miles to Bowfield St
Turn Left onto Bowfield St and trailhead will be on you left in 0.1 miles
Park on the street

Out hiking another area of Thousand Oaks that I was missing some caches in today. This is a pretty nice trail with great views if you go to the optional highpoints.  It can be steep at times but was an enjoyable hike.

As soon as I started hiking, maybe 50 feet up the trail I came across a little Ringneck Snake. I always like finding these guys as you don't see them too often and the bright orange belly is awsome.

Ringneck Snake

 After finding the snake, I continued up the trail to the saddle.  I had one cache to find up the steep hill to the right so I went there first, found the cache, then back down to the saddle to continue the other direction on the main trail. 

Heading toward the saddle

Main trail is on the right...or you can go straight up

Great views of Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village

Butterfly at the top

Heading back on the nicely maintained trail

 If you stick to the main trail this is a nice hike for all ages. If you plan on hiking straight up the steep parts, kids would have a hard time.