Ventura River Parkway Trail

The southern end of the trail, known as the Ventura River Trail, follows the east side of the Ojai Freeway about 3 mi (4.8 km) through the industrialized Ventura Oil Field before crossing under the freeway adjacent to Crooked Palm Road.[1] The trail then follows the west side of highway 33 another 3 mi (4.8 km) through the former Canet oil refinery and the Ventura water purification plant to Foster Park at the south edge of Casitas Springs.[2] The trail known as the Ojai Valley Trail diverges from the highway along the west side of Casitas Springs into riparian woodlands following the east bank of the Ventura River as the highway climbs to Oak View. From 2 mi (3.2 km) of two percent uphill grade, the trail emerges from the woodlands along the west side of Oak View to rejoin the highway from a high fill across Devils Gulch overlooking the river. The trail closely follows the west side of highway 33 north of Oak View about 4 mi (6.4 km) until crossing the highway at the intersection with California State Route 150 into downtown Ojai. The northern end of the trail runs more than a mile easterly from the intersection through Ojai a few blocks south of highway 150.[3]

Most of the trail has asphalt concrete pavement for bicyclists, hikers, joggers, and dog-walkers using leashes. Some portions of the trail have a fence separating a parallel unpaved equestrian path. There are numerous public access points along the trail with parking lots in Foster Park on the south side of Casitas Springs and near the intersection of Main and Peking Streets in Ventura.[2]

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  Trail thru Foster Park has both the unpaved equestrian path on the left and paved bicycle path on the right
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  Trail sign map of the trail north of Foster Park
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  Trail crossing Hermosa Road illustrates typical trail proximity to highway 33 (on left) between Oak View and Ojai