Chumash Wilderness is a 38,150-acre protected area in the southern Los Padres National Forest, spanning northern Ventura County and southwestern Kern County near Tejon Pass. Established by Congress in 1992 through the Los Padres Condor Range and River Protection Act, it preserves a large expanse of rugged high country that includes much of Ventura County’s highest terrain, from near Mount Pinos toward Cerro Noroeste and south to the badlands above Lockwood Valley Road. Its landscapes range from chaparral to conifer forest and stark barren ridges. The area is especially important as part of the historic range of the endangered California condor.