Went on this beautiful hike with my friends on my little trip to SB and it was perfect!…read more On the way there, we got a little lost and took the more difficult route. It was definitely tough and much longer. But on the way back we took the trail that followed the water and it was much easier. So make sure you note that if you go. When we finally reached the 7 falls, it was gorgeous. I took a little dip in the water and it was chilly, but it was nice to cool off after the trek there lol.

Hot Take: La Cumbre Peak is home to the best sunset I've seen on the west coast…read more The 7 Falls Hike is enjoyable, but you really have to take in the splendor of Santa Barbara, in all its glory, on the top of the Peak. There are some picnic tables and benches up there as well, and it's (fortunately) not very crowded at the moment. If you can get up there an hour before sundown, you'll have yourself a heck of a time. One tip: there's no gas within like 20 miles of here, so make sure you tank up before you roll up this mountain!

A great hiking spot with nice reward at the end. It was moderately strenuous, about 3.8-4 miles…read moreround trip. A lot of pocket of shades along the way, steady incline but not too bad. You cross a stream of water a third of the way. What's missing is direction, or sign at intersection, there is one sign that said "trail" but which trail? There is tunnel trail, jesusita trail that branches out from the main trail. I am so used to POST and Midpen trail where there are signs with the distance pointed in the right direction. The view is gorgeous. You can see a dam and the city of Santa Barbara. Easily one of the best hikes.

This is our all time Favorite Hike, a little bit of everything! Waterfalls, rocks, lots of lizards…read moreand beautiful views

Just finished hiking the entirety of Tunnel Trail from Tunnel Road to East Camino Cielo Road--about…read more9 miles round trip. If you're a runner and used to measuring distance by road miles, be advised, you will not be completing this in the 75 minutes or so it takes you to do 9 miles on paved roads. We hiked at a pretty decent clip today and this took us close to five hours (without more than a two minute break to enjoy the juncal formations at the top). The first 4.5 miles climb steadily uphill, reaching an elevation of about 3,700 feet. It's up up up and mostly exposed to sun. Trails are single track and rocky, so you'll need to stay focused and tread carefully. This is a strenuous trail. Prepare yourself accordingly. You probably won't enjoy this hike if you're not in at least semi-decent shape. And even if you are, you'll feel it. Though difficult, the rewards for this effort are well worth the time and fatigue. Tunnel Trail is a hike through the fascinating geological history of Santa Barbara. You'll see plenty of Matilja and Coldwater sandstone, Cozy Dell Shale and (my favorite) juncal formations near East Camino Cielo Road. These are formations from the Eocene Age. That is, you're looking at stuff that formed about 50 million years ago--pretty amazing. Be advised, the descent is a bit of a relief, but no walk in the park. You can pick up the pace, but on tired legs, stay focused as there are a lot of slippery rock areas and it's SO easy to misstep. At 9 miles out, bring water for sure and maybe even a snack. We didn't and probably could have used a little boost at some point--you'll expend a lot of energy on the way up. Send me a message for more specific directions to the trail head. Happy hiking!

Great hike. Took me about 5:30h roundtrip, but that's b/c I did take lunch and take time to eat at…read morethe top. A tough, sweaty 3h up, and a relatively easy 2h down. I did go all the way to the summit of La Cumbre Peak at 3995ft from sea level, about 3000ft from the Tunnel Trail trailhead. The description of the trail on santabarbarahikes.com was surprisingly accurate and did help me know which way to go more than once. The only part where I went the wrong way for a bit was at the very beginning -- the fork where Tunnel Trail goes to the right, and 7 falls & Jesusita Trail go to the left, so watch out for that. I am in pretty good shape and do a decent amount of hiking, and I would rate this as a tough hike -- it was very much like the Bright Angel Trail coming out of the Grand Canyon, a continuous 30 degree ascent with lots of step rocks (but about half the total distance as the BAT). I only took 3L of water and I think that was about 1L less than I should have. I took my water filter but this was a bone dry hike -- no water source to filter and drink on Tunnel Trail. Also, I started at 12:30pm which was fine, I got back with plenty of sun left, but I also hiked during the hottest part of the day. My recommendations for anyone considering this hike: 1. Definitely plan to go all the way to the summit, that will be about 11 miles roundtrip, plan on that taking 5-6h at least. The summit is cool b/c there are picnic tables, a pit toilet, and an old abandoned outpost of some sort. And you get amazing views of not only Santa Barbara but also of the vast backcountry and of the Gibraltar Reservoir (see pics of all). 2. Take food, have lunch at the summit on one of the picnic tables. 3. Take at least 4L of water per person. 4. If at all possible go with someone. I went alone but there a lot of potential things that could go wrong on a long, tough, and relatively remote hike (I didn't see another human after the Rattesnake Trail fork and the remaining 3 miles or so to the summit) like this -- sprained ankle, fall, snake bite (see pic of snake I saw on trail). But if you're smart and tough you could do it alone. I have to comment on Kali's critique that you can do easier hikes in CA for equally good views. That is very true. But me I hike for 1. The workout and 2. The view (as a reward for the tough workout), so this kind of hike is my favorite -- tough, but well worth it. Highly recommended.

During golden hour this afternoon, I walked along the first third or so of the San Antonio Creek…read moreTrail (20 minutes out and 20 back). As Richie D. mentions, this is not a strenuous hike. It's a (leashed) dog- and bike-friendly trail with only a small elevation gain. The pathway is mostly smooth, though there are some areas with boulders and places that would be awash in wet seasons. Scenery is lovely, and I saw birds, lizards, and bugs aplenty. At between 3pm and 3:45pm on a Monday, I only ran into a few others: some solo walkers, a couple of small groups, one person with a dog, and one on a bike. With sun setting earlier in the afternoon after Daylight Savings and the park closing at sunset, I didn't want to aim to go all the way to the other end of the path where it ends at the 154, but this is something to look forward to!

A nice easy near 3 mile out and back trail that starts around the back end of Tucker Grove park…read morenear area 5. The trail is fairly shaded and covered, the elevation gain is maybe around 300 feet total so their aren't any crazy high climbs. It's pretty much a natural trail type of hike along side the creek. Pets are allowed on leash, there is also an off leash dog park next to the trail near the entrance to area 5 by the paved road. Aside from hikers and runners the trail is also shared with mountain bikers, most of which ride will bells on to alert nearby people on the trail that they're approaching. Near the end of the trail by Hwy 154 you'll get some nice views of the mountains in the area and the coast out in the distance. Overall it's a nice relaxing local trail.

Great little hike I feel, great views always. I like to connect at the top and go to hot springs…read moreand loop around, good work out. Rocks, creek, waterfall, hot springs cant beat that.

This was a ~3.4 mile round trip hike that took about ~2 hours to complete. Parking is very limited…read morein this residential area. There are a few trails in the same area. Once the trail splits to Saddle Rock, then there are little to no one else on this trail. Most people seem to be going to the hot springs in a different trail. A few steep inclines to the top if you're going clockwise but not overly difficult. Plenty of nice views as you climb to the top especially of the Pacific Ocean. The remaining trail back to the parking lot was relatively easy. Short video of the hike: https://youtu.be/ggpMvI_Ytiw

Better than you'd expect…read more From the road, the Mtns across the way look more enticing, but this trail was well-maintained, yet rugged. We mostly saw bikers, but didn't see a whole lot of people overall. Once you pull off of the highway, stay to the dirt road to the left; it will eventually become pavement again shortly before you hit the trail head. When you get to the creek, look for the trail to the left that goes across a wooden branch bridge, before it gets too deep. Most of the elevation gain is on the upper half and you will pretty much know immediately when that is going to start. We started on the trail about 7am and got down at 12:15pm. Broadcast Peak was our destination and we ended up with 12 miles hiking and probably approx. 2800' elevation gain. You don't really need to do the peak to see the best views, as that is right at the end of the trail near the lone tree, where you can see the Pacific Ocean on one side and lake Cachuma on the other; The peak of Broadcast doesn't really have any better views.

I embarked on this trail with a group of younglings on a cool day. I'd never been on this trail,…read morethe view was spectacular! It wasn't as difficult as I'd expected, though a couple of the youngsters grumbled halfway. We all pushed through and encouraged each other to keep going. When we reached the top it was not clear towards the ocean side, but the Lake Cachuma view looked like a painting! So beautiful, no words to describe the feeling. We also ran into some brave souls biking down the trail!

I absolutely love this park and think it's a nice challenging, short hike. Most trails lead back to…read morewhere you start and are clearly marked. There are a few paths that will lead you to a dead end and I'm not sure why there isn't a sign pointing it out. I hate having to backtrack up a hill after you think it's going somewhere. It's a lot of steep hills and dirt, so wear shoes with traction. Watch for rattlesnakes and tarantulas if your dog isn't on a leash! There are many holes with them minding their business.

Very scenic "park". Prepare for heavy hiking, this is not by any means a flat easy stroll…read more Beautiful peaks and views. The maps of the trails could be useful if the actual trail signs indicated anything other than "trail". Budget extra time to account for losing your way a bit and guessing your way back. If you bring a dog, long haired dogs will absolutely need a dog shoe or some kind of covering for their feet. The ground is LOADED with filaree thorns. We didnt even allow our pup in the grass and yet his feet were so painfully packed with them we had to cut the hike short and spent over 2hrs pulling them all out.

Just Winging It We…read morethought we had a pretty good handle on all the major Monarch butterfly stopovers from Pacific Grove to Pismo, but somehow this place eluded us until we saw a display on it at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. The Coronado Butterfly Preserve is ±9.3 acres of protected open space and--more importantly--a Monarch butterfly overwintering site. It is located in the City of Goleta and sits adjacent to Santa Barbara Shores Park. The Good: * Free to visit * Trails are flat and in great shape. They can get a bit muddy after a rain, but it wasn't terrible. * Trails lead into Santa Barbara Shores Park. * Beach access. The Meh: * Butterfly viewing can be very hit-or-miss here, as we only saw a small handful floating about. The Ugly: * Street parking in neighborhoods, which isn't my favorite, but it is what it is. Conclusion: Nice place to visit regardless of the butterfly count.

They have a parking lot at Santa Barbara Shores park, which is located across from Ellwood School…read moreon Hollister Ave. This parking lot has an entrance to the preserve with a general map for viewing. We followed directions through Yelp however; and it brought us to a neighborhood street where we could park and enter the preserve via a trail. This worked great until we realized the trails are not marked and it was hard to know where you were headed and if and when we would loop back to our car. I highly suggest parking in the lot and using a different map than the one through Yelp. That being said the preserve was a different habitat for us to walk through with so many tall trees to shade you and create wonderful places for the many birds we could hear and see. We did see a couple of butterflies, so that was nice. This preserve seems to be a work in progress and donations are being accepted to aid in their goal. I think it is going to be a fabulous asset to the community when it is completed.