Stranded Motorcyclists Make it out of the Los Padres National Forest

Ventura County Sheriff – Incident Press Release

On 09/15/2019, the Ventura County Lockwood Deputy responded to stranded off-road motorcycle riders in the Los Padres National Forest. At approximately 1730 hours, Station 11 received a call from the Los Padres National Forest Dispatch Center asking for assistance in locating 3 motorcycle riders who were stranded in the forest. The information received was that the 3 riders had ridden down Alamo Mountain on an advanced rider trail and one of their motorcycles had sustained damage. The riders had made it to the Sunset Campground where they parked the motorcycles and were now attempting to hike out of the area on foot. During the motorcycle ride down the mountain and the subsequent hike, the riders had become exhausted and were quickly running out of water and daylight. The riders were able to give the GPS coordinates of their location before the batteries failed on their cellular telephone.

The riders were not familiar with the area and were not prepared to spend the night in the forest.

With twilight quickly approaching along with falling temperatures, the Lockwood Deputy responded to the Lockwood Creek Trail with the newly acquired 4 passenger Polaris RZR 1000. Within 45 minutes the deputy was able to locate the stranded riders, provide water and load the tired riders into the RZR. The motorcycle riders were transported back to their campsite in Hungry Valley.

The Lockwood Valley Substation would like to commend the motorcycle riders for remaining calm, staying on the trail and being able to communicate their location. Their actions assisted in locating them quickly and making what could have been a difficult and extended search, unnecessary.