Montecito Trails Offer a Wealth of Scenic Pleasures

For more than a century, hikers have delighted in sauntering the storied canyons in the Santa Ynez Mountains behind Montecito. The creek-side paths, the mountain tracks, the marvelous views of the Pacific, the islands and “America’s Riviera” add up to world-class walking.

The lack of trail connections between the canyons is the only thing we hikers have complained about over the years. Montecito’s trail system has long proved a challenge for hikers who love to loop, who like to ascend one canyon and descend another.

Now, thanks to some new and some improved trails, two of Montecito’s most attractive canyons--San Ysidro and Hot Springs--can be linked into a memorable jaunt.

The connector trails are useful but not easy to hike. McMenemy Trail, the lower link between the canyons, is no walk in the park. Because parts of the trail are in sight of Montecito’s magnificent haciendas, giving the path a close-to-civilization feeling, the hiker is lulled into thinking it will be easy going and may be surprised by the elevation gained en route.

Edison Catway, the upper link between canyons, is an Edison Co. service road bulldozed across the mountains; it’s designed to link the utility’s power-line towers. The Catway climbs more steeply than recent electricity rate hikes and descends faster than the utility’s recent stock prices.

Between San Ysidro Canyon and Hot Springs Canyon are two north-south connector trails that extend from McMenemy Trail to the Edison Catway. Saddle Rock Trail is an ultra-steep pathway that climbs over and through several prominent rock outcroppings. If “Mountain Goat” is your middle name, you’ll love this trail.

An easier--but not easy--north-south way to go is via the new Girard Trail, which climbs from a Montecito overlook to the Edison Catway.

Montecito’s trails have long benefited from the vigilance of the Montecito Trails Foundation. The volunteer group, founded in 1964 “to expand the trail system in conformity with the county general plan and to preserve old Indian and Spanish trails,” watches over about 150 miles of trails that meander from the coast to the summits of the Santa Ynez Mountains in the Montecito, Summerland and Carpinteria communities. The organization is funded mostly by its membership, supplemented by some small government grants.

MTF provides trail signs, builds new trails and maintains old ones. The organization also helps preserve trail easements and traditional rights of passage that are not always honored by homeowners new to the area or by those expanding their estates. MTF members monitor the local planning process and use quiet diplomacy and hardball politics to keep trails open to the public.

Directions to trail head: From U.S. 101 in Montecito, take the San Ysidro Road offramp. Drive north on San Ysidro a mile to East Valley Road, turn right and drive a mile to Park Lane, which appears on the left just after crossing San Ysidro Creek. Turn left on Park Lane and in 0.5 mile, veer left onto East Mountain Drive, which passes through a residential neighborhood, to the signed trail head at the back boundary of San Ysidro Ranch. Parking is along East Mountain Drive.

The hike: The trail, lined with exotic plants, winds around the back of a house, then follows a paved road to a wide dirt one. After about 0.5 mile, you’ll pass the signed Old Pueblo Trail ascending east, then join the McMenemy Trail leading west. The path crosses the creek, leads through a eucalyptus woodland, then embarks on a switchbacking ascent across brushy slopes to McMenemy Bench. From the handsome stone bench, enjoy the coastal vistas and ponder your next steps.

My favorite short loop is to join new and unsigned Girard Trail for a steep, half-mile ascent to meet the Edison Catway. Then it’s a short descent east back to San Ysidro Trail and a mellow return to the trail head.

For a longer hike, continue west on McMenemy Trail, which soon descends into, and climbs out of, a minor canyon and reaches a ridge-top junction with Saddle Rock Trail.

Saddle Rock Trail climbs steeply to a flat-topped vista point where hikers have painstakingly created a heart from hundreds of small rocks. From “Heart Flat,” the path climbs again to the Edison Catway, which leads east to San Ysidro Canyon.

An easier and more pleasant but a bit longer way to go is to continue with McMenemy Trail to Hot Springs Canyon. Just before reaching a dirt road (closed to vehicular traffic by a locked gate), take the hiker’s bypass trail around the gate and head up the canyon.

The historic road, used to transport guests to a hot springs resort in the horse and buggy days, climbs moderately along the east side of Hot Springs Canyon. Just before this byway crosses San Ysidro Creek, you’ll swing right and begin a short climb to the ruins of the old resort. You’ll find bamboo, huge agave, banana and palm trees--remnants of landscaped gardens that surrounded Hot Springs Hotel, constructed in the early 1880s. Europeans and Americans from colder climes flocked here to “take the cure.” A 1920 fire destroyed the hotel; it was rebuilt, but this time by a corporation directed by a group of wealthy Montecitans, who also controlled the local water company. The hotel burned again in the 1964 Coyote fire.

Continue onward and upward on the Edison Catway, which climbs moderately to an unsigned junction with Saddle Peak Trail and to another unsigned junction with Girard Trail, then descends abruptly into San Ysidro Canyon. You’ll cross San Ysidro Creek and enjoy the mellow descent through the canyon back to the trail head.

For more of John McKinney’s hiking tips and trails, visit https://www.thetrailmaster.com.

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San Ysidro, McMenemy, Saddle Rock Trails

WHERE: Santa Ynes Mountains.

DISTANCE: To viewpoint is 2.5 miles round trip with 500-foot elevation gain; loop via Girard Trail, 3.2 miles with 1,000-foot gain; loop via Hot Springs Canyon, 7 miles round trip.

TERRAIN: Lush canyon bottoms, brushy canyon walls.

HIGHLIGHTS: Sweeping views of Santa Barbara coastal plain.

DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: Moderate-strenuous

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Los Padres National Forest; tel., (805) 968-6640.