[SCPA]  [Trails] & [Sites] > [Conejo]

Conejo Sites

updated 8/14/2024 (by SD / Tom Truax)
[Google Earth KMZ] (updated 3/2024)
see also
[Oxnard Plain Airspace KMZ] (updated 5/2022)

• Round Mountain
• Southern Sister
• The Grade
• Hill Canyon
• Doug's Hill

The Conejo sites are all ridge soarable most days in the summer, but often a bit stiff mid-afternoon, so most pilots would wait till late in the day, typically after work.  They work better mid-day in the cooler months.  Currently, none of the sites are flown much?  They were more popular back in the 80s and 90s when ridge soaring was more common.  The Conejo Mountains have a lot of nasty volcanic rock and cactus that can be hard on paragliders, but they also offer solo hike up options for late day airtime after work.

Round Mountain was more popular when you could drive up, flown by both HGs and PGs.  On a good day you could bench back to Southern Sister and continue from there, but it is a long reach with a low success rate.
more info about Round Mountain by Don Taber in the link above.

Southern Sister had multiple launches (all hike up, so PG only) and became my preferred site of the bunch.  You could often get high enough on unstable thermal days to reach on glide for Conejo Grade and beyond.

The Grade was the most popular launch for PGs and used by a lot of pilots back in the 90s.  The hike is short, but the terrain is nasty.

Hill Canyon was only flown by a handful of pilots.  Might not be as consistent as the other options, and access could be a minor issue, but it is smoother terrain than the others which are all rocky with a lot of cactus

Doug’s Hill was frequently utilized by HGs in the 80s and less so by PGs in the 90s.  There is more residential development now, so don’t know what the current access is.  We used to drive up the Santa Rosa Valley and approach from around the back just past Cal Lutheran College via Campus Drive to the saddle on the south side and hike up our HGs from there.  In PGs we would launch in the saddle.  Access to the saddle was from the end of the Cul-de-sac was via dirt road.  Don’t think anyone as flown there in over 25 years?

The above launches are all on the west side of the Conejo Mountains facing the Oxnard Plain or the Santa Rosa Valley
There are also launches in the Santa Monica Mountains like:
The Billboard
Boney Ridge
Trancus
and
Lady Face / Agoura Hills (flown by Chris Diebold)
and
I've heard rumors of PG pilots going X-C toward Malibu from Deer Creek?

I’ve flown from all the launches above except Lady Face, Hill Canyon, and Deer Creek.  I’ve flown to Hill Canyon from Southern Sister, but don’t think I’ve launched there…
Robb Milley (used to live in Moorpark but currently based out of San Diego) has knowledge and experience flying Hill Canyon

Airspace Note:
The Southern Sister and Canejo Grade sites are just outside (east of) and downwind of the Camarillo Airspace.  Round Mountain is just inside the Point Magu airspace.  Technically, you should get authorization to fly Round Mountain, but practically, it is on the fringe and a non-issue.  In the past some pilots contacted Pt Magu, but I never did and never observed any air traffic that might be impacted by our low altitude ultralight activity at Round Mountain.  The seagulls and pelicans don't phone in for permission.