Where Santa Barbara Goes Wild

I’ve spotted many a celebrity on the trails around Santa Barbara and even more wandering in town. Santa Barbarans consider it uncool to approach celebrities; the more blase you can act in their presence, the better.

But there is one star here that’s hard not to be excited about: Parma Park Natural Area. The park is Santa Barbara’s largest undeveloped open space and its best-kept secret, a place few celebs (or practically any other folks, for that matter) visit.

Sycamore Creek, Coyote Creek and several seasonal streams flow through the landscape, a mosaic of wooded canyons and brushy slopes on more than 200 acres.

The Parma family arrived in Santa Barbara in the 1870s, opened a grocery store on State Street and purchased land in the wild foothills to raise goats. A hundred years later, the family donated the land to the city for use as a nature preserve.

Don’t expect amenities such as restrooms, water fountains or parking lots. Trails and junctions are unsigned, by some accounts intentionally. Steep side trails and paths seem to start nowhere and end short of any conceivable destination. It’s easy to imagine the maze of trails was developed by the goats that grazed here long ago.

First-time visitors should stick to the park’s two main trails. One climbs an open slope to a vista point overlooking Santa Barbara, the Pacific coast and the Channel Islands. A second path loops back to the trail head by way of a lovely oak woodland.

For a day of mellow family hiking, pair the loop through Parma Park with a jaunt in the nearby Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. The five miles of trails are signed, the plants are labeled, and you’ll have access to water, snacks and restrooms. You might spot celebrities too. But, this being Santa Barbara, just be cool and pretend not to notice.

Directions to trail head: From U.S. 101 in Montecito, a few miles west (down coast) from Santa Barbara, exit on Olive Mill Road and drive north.

After half a mile, you’ll reach a junction; go north on Hot Springs Road for another half mile, then turn left (west) onto East Valley Road (California 192). Note your odometer mileage.

The road continues west, changing its name to Sycamore Canyon Road. You’ll reach a junction where Sycamore Canyon Road veers south; don’t go that way. Continue west on Stanwood Drive.

Three miles from where you checked your odometer, you’ll spot a turnout for parking on the right and a sign for Parma Park.

(The above is a circuitous route; direct passage from central Santa Barbara by way of Sycamore Canyon Road has been closed because of landslides.)

To reach the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, continue west on California 192, which changes names three more times: Mission Ridge Road to Mountain Drive to Foothill Road. Two miles from Parma Park, you’ll reach a stop sign and a signed junction with Mission Canyon Road. Turn right and drive three-quarters of a mile to the garden.

The hike: From the parking area for Parma Park, walk north past the entrance sign and vehicle gate and across an old stone bridge.

Look for a cluster of picnic tables on the right and join unsigned Rowe Trail, which descends to a branch of Sycamore Creek, crosses it and climbs east on a parallel course above Stanwood Drive.

The path widens, then bends left to top a minor ridge, where there’s a vista point. You can sit at a picnic table and enjoy the great view. Then join Parma Fire Road, which makes a rolling descent to a woodland. Cross Sycamore Creek and close the loop.

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