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Santa Paula Punch Bowls
4.6 ★★★★★ 446 Google reviews · Running trail in Santa Paula, California · Open 24 hours
Runner's snapshot
- Surface
- Natural surface
- Distance
- 6.5 mi
- Shape
- Not reported
- Shade
- Not reported
- Access
- Open 24 hours
Confirmed from Santa Paula Punch Bowls' own listing, the park or land manager's website, and runner reviews. Blank cells mean we could not verify that fact — we would rather say "not reported" than invent one. There is no Easy / Moderate / Hard rating on this page on purpose: a one-word difficulty score tells you nothing about whether a trail suits your run. Surface, distance, shade and hours do.
What runners say about Santa Paula Punch Bowls
“Beautiful hike with a tiny bit of shade so be sure to bring your hat and sunscreen.”
Beautiful hike with a tiny bit of shade so be sure to bring your hat and sunscreen. Bring clothes to swim and also water shoes, as you will be doing river crossings. Make sure to wear long pants unless you don’t mind walking next to bushes.
Punch bowls were cool. Park by Thomas Aquinas College and head in from there. The GPS had us go to a weird spot at first. We hiked during the week and it wasn't busy but on the weekend it looked packed based on parking. It's a decent ways to the punch bowls.
This place will forever hold a special place in our hearts. We took the challenging way up, trekked along and across the free flowing river and climbed our way through boulders to make it to the top. There were bright yellow groves of aspen trees on our way and the water coming from the source was delicious!
The hike is a b…😩 but the place is definitely worth it, me and my friends went and take a lot of sunscreen!! We hike up in the mountains and it took us like 2 hrs cause we were making stops but coming down we decided to follow the river and that took us 3 hrs, make sure you leave on time because then it gets dark and…
Trail conditions & character
“I recently visited the Santa Paula Punch Bowls hiking trail, There was some parking available, and the signs were very helpful.”
“Beautiful hike with a tiny bit of shade so be sure to bring your hat and sunscreen.”
“The hike is moderate and has about 900 to 1000 feet in elevation gain so be ready to get a small workout.”
“Some reviews were saying it's dog friendly and while parts of it are, if you wanna make it to the end your dog needs to be athletic.”
“The water is up this time of year in Jan so when we had to cross the creek we were a little above knee level a few times.”
Plan your run at Santa Paula Punch Bowls
The practical stuff
- AccessOpen 24 hours — no gate to beat, so a 5am or a 10pm run both work
- SurfaceNatural surface — easiest on the joints and the most fun, but expect roots, rocks and mud after rain
- Distance6.5 mi as reported — check whether that is one way or a round trip before you commit. Long enough for a real long run.
- ShadeNot reported. Assume some of it is exposed and carry water in summer.
- At the trailheadparking — reported by runners
- DogsWelcome, per reviewers. Leash rules vary by park — the trailhead sign is the authority.
Hours
| Monday | Open 24 hours |
| Tuesday | Open 24 hours |
| Wednesday | Open 24 hours |
| Thursday | Open 24 hours |
| Friday | Open 24 hours |
| Saturday | Open 24 hours |
| Sunday | Open 24 hours |
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