Hello everyone! This is a friendly reminder that any of these fun places we may visit, we are a guest at. Please treat both businesses and trails with the utmost respect. We here at Hidden California follow the 'Leave no Trace' mantra, meaning whatever you bring with you comes back with you. If you see trash on a trail, please do your part to help remove it. Remember, we are not picking up trash from another person but instead cleaning up for Mother Nature. Happy adventures!
Visit Pine Mountain Club
One of my favorite things to do during a Hidden California roadtrip is visit areas I’ve never been to before. Even more exciting if I’ve never even heard of the area before! That was the case with Pine Mountain Club, which it turns out is only 1.5 hours northeast of Los Angeles in the Los Padres National Forest.
Pine Mountain Club is definitely one of the sleepiest mountain towns I have ever visited. That may be exactly the top reason to visit this place though if you’re wanting to get away from all the noise and people.
They have a small shopping center that I’ve been told mostly comes to life during the weekends. I’d like to share what we did while visiting to give you some ideas of what you can do too. There are MANY hiking trails out here but since I had my 3-year-old with me, we ended up spending much of our time at Fern’s Lake, playing guitar and just enjoying the beauty all around us.
Stay
If you’re going to spend the night up here you will need somewhere to sleep! We stayed at the adorable Yay Frame which has a vintage-chic charm inside a beautiful A-Frame cabin. Book a stay here! Below are some shots of the cabin: 
Dine
So we did not stay here over a weekend and therefore almost every shop was closed. We also missed the Lilac Festival by 5 days! We were still very content and were able to have some delicious food nontheless. The Bigfoot Café was open and has some great food and drinks. I got their matcha with their housemade vanilla syrup and lavender cold foam. HIGHLY recommend. Their café also doubles as a bookstore! 
We did a lot of cooking in the cabin but we did have dinner one of the nights at The Perch. Although I feel the restaurant needs a little tidying up, I will say that the food and view were fantastic. 
Fern’s Lake 
Literally a minute from town is Fern’s Lake which is a free, public lake open sunrise to sunset. I was told in the evening you can often see bears bathing in the lake and drinking from it. Sadly we did not see any when we were here.
There is a little pump that doubles as a tiny waterfall which we sat next to for a few hours, just relaxing and enjoying life. We came here twice during our stay.
Golf
I do not golf but you can’t help but see the golf course when you’re in town with the stunning mountain back-drop. I’m going to include a photo and link to more info on this in case you’d like to golf while you’re up here. I can see this being a huge selling point to some! Check it out! 
History
Located in the scenic San Emigdio Mountains, Pine Mountain Club was developed in 1971 by Tenneco and its Bakersfield subsidiary, Tenneco West. The company transformed 3,200 acres of land within the Los Padres National Forest into a mountain community designed to preserve the area’s natural beauty while creating a peaceful escape from city life. Around 1,000 acres were planned for homes and recreation while the remaining land stayed protected as open space.
Early marketing promoted Pine Mountain Club as an easy weekend retreat from Los Angeles. One to three bedroom custom and modular homes started at about $13,500, with options including fireplaces, wood flooring, and additional rooms. The final phase of homes opened in 1973 at the highest elevations of the community.
Recreation played a major role in the development’s vision. Residents enjoyed a nine hole golf course, tennis courts, swimming pool, clubhouse, fishing lake, archery range, and miles of horseback riding trails. By the late 1980s, the community’s commercial center known as “the Village” included shops, restaurants, and everyday essentials.
Please keep in mind that the Chumash people have called this area home for thousands of years before development took hold. Learn more about the Chumash here.
