Given it being Valentine's Day Eve, it seems quite appropriate to review a Santa Barbara gem. The…read morelocals--particularly UCSB students--know it as "Kissing Point." You don't need to use your imagination why: Simply venture here at sunrise/sunset and you'll be macking with whomever is closest to you due to the natural romance in the Californian air. It also helps that the temperature is sometimes +10* warmer since it is in the mountains. ;) History: Kissing Point is about a third of the way up (or three-quarters of the way down depending on your route) Old San Marcos Road. This was the original stagecoach route to cross over the mountains prior to the current San Marcos Pass/Route 154 between 1861 and 1901. There are a few weathered historical markers along the way but anyone will easily be impressed by the hard work put into carving out the road. How to get here?: The easiest route to reach Kissing Point is by exiting off the 101 Freeway at Patterson Rd and going toward the mountains, turn right on Cathedral Oaks, then turn left when you've reached San Marcos Rd. Kissing Point consists of only two unmarked dirt pull-offs (one now with bollards due to erosion). There is also a third and fourth pull-off much further up hill but with very limited space. What do I see?: The views are from the Santa Ynez Foothills down into Santa Barbara and Goleta Valley with easy landmarks being the Santa Barbara Airport, University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB), Old Town Goleta, the Pacific Ocean's Santa Barbara Channel, and almost all of the Channel Islands in the distance on a clear day (from north to south: San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz--the most obviously, and Anacapa Islands). I am spoiled to have this scenic drive only minutes from my house since it offers not only some of the best aerial views (ie particularly from Kissing Point) but also a backroad option to access Route 154 that goes over the Santa Ynez Mountains toward popular destinations including Lake Cachuma, Santa Ynez Valley Wine Country, and Solvang. A few tips: - I have included the precise location on the Yelp map, in addition to GPS coordinates, in the Quick Tips. - Check out my video of the drive down this twisty road with views for days: https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select_video=OgU4LsTKlJ7Eqyh60KKdcA&userid=4DyMRBKrokax6d8LCI3GAw. - People love to drive extremely fast up and down (including myself). Be cautious of mountain bikers and motorcycles, particularly around the two hairpin U-turns toward the top. - As the signs heed, put on your headlights during the night AND day. - Please clean up after yourself. Unfortunately there is plenty of trash and glass bottles left behind. Don't be this person.

Was a fun roadtrip got there a bit late and it was cloudy unfortunately but it was still a…read morebeautiful sight and relaxing to sit and view with your significant other

Hidden up in the hills above Santa Barbara lies a sandstone cave used by the Chumash for possibly…read moreup to 1000 years. Now part of the California State Park system, it holds artwork created by the Chumash to depict important cultural concepts and themes. Protected by a gate, the Painted Cave can be visited dawn to dusk. Admission is free. Very limited parking on the narrow, curvy, mountainous road. Definitely worth the trip to see this beautiful site.

We stopped here on the way to the Cold Springs Tavern. The GPS takes you to a turn out where you…read morecan safely park and then walk up the hill. Painted Cave road is very narrow so if you pull over in front of the cave you will block others. There's a short climb to the cave which is behind a fence to protect it from vandalism. You can take lots of pictures through the fence. Since it's such a short hike you may want to combine this with a trip to Knapp Castle about a mile up the road. Very beautiful historical site.

Two friends recommended a stop to stretch the legs on a road trip at Nojoqui Falls. I'll…read morerecommending you do the same. Pulled in around 1pm on a Sunday and was able to secure parking in the shade. Lots of good signage marking the way, many advising caution, but it's an easy hike. There were a fair amount of people enjoying the space. I'd love to comeback early in the morning after the rain and just hold space in solitude with the falls. It seems like a very sacred space and would love the silence of just the falls and the song of the wind dancing through the trees as it meanders through the canyon. Great vibes, everyone in a good mood, dog friendly! A+++++

My husband usually finds hiking spots when we're on getaways and he stumbled upon this area while…read moreresearching. It's a pretty easy hike and mostly flat terrain and minimal incline. Other hikers were there too but it wasn't crowded which is a plus. The falls wasn't huge but still a good amount of running water. It was beautiful and relaxing soaking in some mother nature. Keep an eye out on the entrance from the road, we missed it the first time and had to back track. Other than that, once you enter from the road, it's for the most part straight forward to the entrance of the hike.

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.

Great view, free. Not two things that go together much in an expensive place like SB. Definitely…read moreworth the little drive up.

We drove up the winding road to this park to take in the view of Santa Barbara below last week when…read morewe were visiting the area. It was a pretty view but not the best we saw in the city. I did see some people picnicking, and that seemed like the best way to enjoy the park. I did appreciate that they had reasonably clean public bathrooms! A nice park with nice views, but I wouldn't say it's a place you must visit in Santa Barbara. Nice if close to where you're visiting.

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

Great quality and quantity fish shrimp and oysters service good great value with family meals. Our…read morego to place for fried fish

I have been catching incredible sunsets here for years. My husband finally experienced Ojai's "pink…read moremoment" for the first time last month. December and January are the best months to catch a spectacular sunset. Highway 150 is one of the most scenic drives in Ventura County, and this viewpoint is a must no matter what time of day. Ojai lies below, surrounded by mountains protected within nature preserves.

Jaime was our leader for the ride and was amazing! Very knowledgeable and patient with our group…read more We were celebrating my bachelorette and it felt as we had a private experience. Would be back in a heartbeat and request Jaime! Also the guy checking us in, can't remember his name, but he was also so nice and sweet! Great experience overall!

This Ranch is so beautiful the pictures don't do justice! I've been on many horse back rides all…read moreover the US and the guide from Montana that does the tours is phenomenal! He loves what he does, is very knowledgeable, pleasant to talk to and shared a lot of nice stories about the outdoors. He is definitely an asset to Circle Bar Stables. For anyone booking try to go on his tour!! The nice gentleman that answers the phones is very sweet, I had to call several times to change my tour and he was so helpful I can tell he has been with the Stables a long time and loves being there. When I arrived I was the only one and he told me to go walk around while I was waiting I guess he read my mind. I had to take off 2 stars because of the Gentleman from Texas that works there. He honestly seems like he hates his job, he asked me several times if I was on a horse before and I told him give me any horse I'll be fine. He chose AXE and while he was bringing him over to me AXE was being a little stubborn and didn't want to come not because he didn't go on the trail but he was uncomfortable with the Texan. What bothered me most was he said "AXE STOP BEING A JERK" which made me really upset and uncomfortable. I don't like it when people wok with animals and call them derogatory names.

All Trails rates this hike as moderate by I say it's more towards hard. It is a steady steep…read moreincline for 3+ miles. All trails also says it's only 3.5 miles, that is one way! So your looking at 7 miles round trip. It's rocky but with shade the first 2 miles. After that bye bye shade and hello dry and dusty trail. You will want to wear hiking boots has it's very easy to loose gripping on the rocks and roll your ankle. I called it quits at 3 miles and went back down the trail. I was exhausted from the steady climb. I am not the most in shape person right now but I am fairly active. I just hiked 5 miles last week too. So unless you are in decent shape, be prepared to not make it all the way to the top. Bring plenty of water. As someone else said, walking through the private property portion until hitting the split off of the McMenemy trail is filled with dog poop and abandoned dog poop bags. It seems people don't take their dogs on the San Ysidro as I no longer says dog poop or bags unless they just kick it off the cliff side. On my way back down I saw a Gardner snake just off of the trail path. We started at 10:45 am and arrived back at the car at 1:42 pm.

Favorite hike in the region. Shaded, cool breeze up the ravine even though we were there in heat…read morewave during our visit. Moderate to easy hike. Loved the creek to put feet in at end and cool down with splash of water. Plenty of little critters, water striders, and other insects to entertain our kiddoes.

Wow! Like we stumbled upon the perfect street of trendy beautiful shops of children's clothing,…read moresnacks, wine tasting and more. More modern by centuries than Los Alamos with lots of wine tasting, restaurants and shopping. We entered several stores and I pretty much found and bought things from each one.

How do you not love this place. A very cute Hallmark movie town but with a major punch of cuteness…read more It's alway quite busy during the weekend so parking can be a tight squeeze but there's plenty if you just drive around. The town square isn't that big as everything is centered right in the middle. Loads of cute boutique and gifts shops. And of course all the amazing shops and tasting room. One after the other which makes it nice so you don't have to drive anywhere. Besides the tasting room, there's a couple breweries with great beer on tap. Perfect for an afternoon on the patio and just people watching and enjoying the day. Most places will have some kind of live music during the weekend. There's also an olive oil tasting room. But if you're looking for dining, loads of amazing places for an excellent meal. From something fast and easy with the cafes to fine dining. Bar le cote and Nellas kitchen are a favorite of mine. If you're looking for some places for a nice night cap or a drink, there's always The Tavern at Maddie's Inn. There's something for everyone. A cute town that is tucked in wine country that most people will drive by and not even know about it.