Butano View Trail

Dogs No Dogs

Features Views · Wildlife

There are no facilities on this trail, so make sure to pack enough water, snacks and sunscreen for your adventure. The newest restroom facilities are at the various trailheads in the park (Alpine parking lot and at the end of the Ipiwa Trail along Skyline Blvd.

This is an old farm road that climbs the hillside and then descends down to the Sunny Jim Trail. While steep, there is plenty of room to pass people and free from roots, rocks and other obstacles.

The Butano Ridge Trail is a doublewide dirt trail that departs the Sunny Jim Trail and climbs steeply up the hill past a water tower. While the trail starts in the woods, as the trail turns to the left, it emerges into grassland and views of the surrounding hills and on a clear day, the Pacific Ocean, come into view on the right hand side of the trail.

The trail offers similar views to the Ipiwa Trail, just higher on the hillside. The trail continue to climb uphill, less steeply at this point until the quarter mile mark. Here, the trail drops down the hillside, past a small connector on the left side of the trail that leads back to the Sunny Jim Trail.

The trail drops down the hillside and at three tenths of a mile, a short connector breaks off to the right that leads down to the Ipiwa Trail. The trail climbs back up the hillside and then levels out briefly, still offering great views of the area. From here, the trails winds around the hillside and drops back down to the Sunny Jim Trail.

You can turn right and descend toward Horseshoe Lake via the Sunny Jim Trail, or turn left and head back to where you started.

Deer, turkeys, and bobcats may be seen in the morning or evenings in the fields of the preserve. Various birds, including hawks and turkey vultures can be seen riding the air currents above you.