Eagle-Eye View of Lake Cachuma

Lake Cachuma, besides storing an important part of Santa Barbara’s water supply, is a popular weekend destination for Southland anglers, campers, bird-watchers and hikers.

More than 100 bald eagles make the shores of Cachuma their winter home. Eagle Tours, two-hour boat tours conducted by the lake’s naturalists until the end of February, offers a close-up look at the eagles and other migratory birds.

Lake Cachuma trail system is not extensive, but it does offer boat passengers a chance to get back their land legs and offers a wholly different perspective on the lake and its three dozen species of waterfowl. Those bird-watchers who hit the trail will glimpse numerous perching birds in the park’s oak woodland--acorn woodpeckers, Western bluebirds, goldfinches and lots of sparrows.

The lake’s Nature Center, headquartered in a 1930s ranch house, has displays about the ecology and history of the Santa Ynez Valley. Exhibits highlight birds, fish and local flora, as well as the native Chumash who once lived here.

The park’s best trail is the Sweetwater, which meanders lakeside through an oak woodland to a vista point for a commanding panorama of Cachuma. Oak Canyon Trail, a nature trail that is not very illuminating and difficult to reach, extends three-quarters-mile from the Nature Center to the Sweetwater Trail.

Directions to trail head: From U.S. 101 in Santa Barbara, exit on California 154 (San Marcos Pass/Lake Cachuma). Follow the highway 20 miles to the lake. Past the entry kiosk, turn left and follow the signs half a mile to Harvey Cove, where you’ll find parking and signed Sweetwater Trail.

The hike: The first 100 yards of trail is a paved handicap-access route that leads to an oak-shaped picnic area and the Harvey Cove dock. From here, a dirt path follows the far side of the cove for a quarter mile before angling left into a handsome oak woodland.

A bit more than a mile hike brings you to Sweetwater Cove, a tiny picnic area perched above the lake. The path joins a dirt road then, as it approaches California 154, resumes as a footpath that yo-yos up and down through oak forest to Vista Point. Return the way you came.

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Sweetwater Trail

WHERE: Lake Cachuma County park.

DISTANCE: 5 miles round trip.

TERRAIN: Wooded lake shore.

HIGHLIGHTS: Winter eagle tours; terrific bird-watching.

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: Easy-moderate.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: South County Parks, Eagle Tours, 610 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93105; tel. (805) 568-2460.