Customer Reviews

Best Easy Day Hikes Santa Barbara (Best Easy Day Hikes Series)

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Years ago, when I visited the former Yugoslavia, it reminded me of nothing so much as the Santa Barbara coastline: beautiful, mild, sunny and pleasant. Santa Barbara is a place everyone should visit. The weather is nice year round and the scenery is impressive. Outdoor recreation abounds as well. The local land conservancy has purchased several tracts of land along the bluffs that, along with several state beaches, preserve much of the coastline. Inland, the Santa Ynez Mountains are managed by the US Forest Service for high impact recreation. In all, it is a great place to hike and Bryn Fox's contribution to the popular 'Best Easy Day Hikes' series explores parts sections from every region.

Fox does a good of providing a representative sample of outings in California. This book offers several beachwalks, including the Carpenteria Tar Pits, Elwood Bluffs Butterfly Preserve, and of course the Santa Barbara Waterfront. Inland hikes include Inspiration Point and Montecito Overlook, a couple of walks in the Santa Ynez Recreation area, and some exploration of Gaviota State Park to the West of Santa Barbara, just before Point Concepcion. The longest hike in the book is the moderately challenging 6 mile Romero Canyon Loop, but most of the routes are short and manageable by just about anyone. A few of the trails are accessible to people with handicaps. Like all books in this series, this one includes detailed driving directions (with GPS coordinates for trail head parking), nice sketch maps, and point to point mileage notes.

Despite enjoying the region, Santa Barbara has, until fairly recently, been one of the few parts of the state that I have not hiked in extensively. This is because the city is too far for day hikes, from where I live, but not quite far enough for extended weekends and vacations. In the last year, however, I have made a commitment to exploring there more often. I have now hiked 30% of the routes in this book and am looking forward to doing more. Readers should know, however, that even by the criteria used by the Best Easy series, this book is far from comprehensive. It offers, however, a good selection of hikes for beginning to explore America's Mediterranean. And since none of the selections are too long, you should still have time for some fine wine and dining at the end of your day.

The book only has 20 hikes described, and almost all of them are around the Santa Barbara city area - not spread out over Santa Barbara county. Since I live in north Santa Barbara county, this is very disappointing. There are other books that have more hikes described, throughout the county. My advice is don't spend your money on this book by Falcon.

Worth buying, but beware--the end of the tangerine falls hike is anything but easy. What the author describes as a "rock scramble" includes a couple of moments of free climbing with a sheer 12- or 15-foot drop from which there would be no easy return. Yes, as a reasonably fit adult, my husband and I were able to do it, but it isn't for the faint of heart. Following the directions takes a bit of guesswork, as well.