Day trip · By car
Mass at St. Thomas Aquinas, then the Punch Bowl Hike
A gentler morning. The 11:30 AM Mass in one of the most beautiful chapels in California, lunch, then the canyon hike behind the campus in the afternoon, with a swim in two cold spring-fed pools when the day is warmest. It works on a Saturday, a Sunday or a weekday. Bring a change of clothes, and more water than the early risers.
Mass times checked September 16, 2026 against the college's own Mass calendar, which changes with the academic year. Trail facts from the Forest Service page for Santa Paula Canyon Trail and the college's own description of the hike. Check the Mass calendar the week you go.
- 9:30AM
Leave Los Angeles
The college puts itself 70 miles north of the city: the 5 to Highway 126 west, the 10th Street exit in Santa Paula, then 10th Street becomes Ojai Road and climbs to the gates. Allow an hour and a half and a little more on a weekend. Pack a change of clothes, a towel, lunch, sunscreen and plenty of water: the afternoon in the canyon is hot.
- 11:30AM
Mass in the chapel
Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel, at the head of the quadrangle, was designed by Duncan Stroik and dedicated in 2009. There is an 11:30 AM Mass every day. On Saturdays and weekdays it is in the ordinary form; on Sundays it is in the extraordinary form, in Latin, and the 9 AM is the ordinary form if you would rather.
- 12:45PM
Lunch before the trail
Eat what you brought at the cars, or on campus if you have been invited to. A full stomach and full bottles before a hot canyon.
- 1:30PM
To the trailhead
The Santa Paula Canyon Trail starts off Highway 150 just north of the college entrance. Parking there is limited, so come in as few cars as you can. The first mile crosses private land on an easement: keep moving, follow the signs past an oil rig and through the avocado orchard to the red gate, and the national forest begins beyond the second rig.
- 2:00PM
Up the canyon
About three miles each way, with creek crossings and some scrambling over boulders. There is little shade and this is the warm part of the day, so hats, sunscreen and water, and a steady pace.
- 3:30PM
The Punch Bowls
Two natural pools of spring water below a 25-foot waterfall, just past Big Cone Camp. The college's own word for them is cold, which after that climb is the point. Leave the rocks how you found them.
- 4:45PM
Back down
Downhill is quicker. Be at the cars with daylight to spare, and the change of clothes earns its place in the bag.
- 6:15PM
Dinner in Santa Paula
The old downtown is ten minutes back along Ojai Road. Then the 126 home.