Coffin Family Trail
You’ll feel as if you’ve wandered into a landscape painting. A really pricey one. This kind of magic just doesn’t usually show up in real life. The trail flows generally…
UCSB Lagoon Island Labyrinth & Trail
Racing scoops of pelicans and tucking into gangly tree hideaways along the grooved paths above the Pacific was already a lovely adventure …. and then we found the labyrinth! Bigger…
Summerland Loop Trail
This horseshoe-shaped trail through wildflowers around a canyon ridge gives you constant views of the Pacific over Summerland’s rooftops. You can turn the horseshoe into a loop through verdant neighborhoods…
Ventura Botanical Gardens Trail
Draped with endless strands of loops and switchbacks connected by steep, sculptural stone stairways, the hillside garden reveals exquisite plant life and a breathtaking view at every bend. From the…
Ventura Marina Jetty to Soter’s Point Beach Path
If Ventura’s Marina Park were an amusement park, this would be its adventure ride. Past the big lawn, beach, sand dunes, playground and marooned “pirate ship,” the first part of…
Ventura Harbor Ecological Reserve Trail
Don’t let the chain link fence keep you from exploring this wonderland; the gate off of Angler Court is unlocked daily between 9am and 5pm. Sandy pathways loop around the…
Carpinteria Bluffs Open Space & Seal Sanctuary
….or, “The Train Beach,” as this family pilgrimage site shall always be known to us. With trains, seals, and bathing poolets, this is a great family adventure destination – but…
The Cross Path
A cross has stood in the spot on the hill overlooking Ventura since the late 1700s, roughly since Junipero Serro founded the San Buenaventura Mission. Surrounded by a beautifully maintained…
Arroyo Verde Park Trail
Wedged amidst Ventura’s foothills, Arroyo Verde Park is the launch pad for trails of various lengths and climbs, though a lovely view with fragrant, pretty flora is guaranteed. Trails start…
Ellwood Bluffs
The trail leading through Goleta’s Ellwood Mesa and Bluffs to the beach is bustling with adventure. It dives from the edge of a neighborhood into a Eucalyptus forest, from which…
Bates Road Railroad & Rincon Tidepools
From the same parking lot, you can hover high above the ocean with the paragliders where trains whiz past, or you can crouch close to a sea anemone and watch…
Surfer’s Point Dunes Beach Boardwalk
This mini adventure along the boardwalk through the dunes at Surfer’s Point feels like an elongated viewing platform. Of course, the ocean looks beautiful from the bike path, too –…
Douglas Family Preserve
The water seems always to be turquoise, the horizon gently curved and shimmering with a lazy haze, a hint of Eucalyptus in the air stoked by the warm breeze, and…
Mission Steps
Stairs and pathways spider about along so many contingencies you’d need a highly methodical system and lots of spare time to track them all down – or a big band…
Franceschi Park Pathways
Floating on the Santa Barbara Riviera, this enchanting antique estate and garden provide an unparalleled panorama of Santa Barbara and the Channel Islands. From the parking lot, paths and stone…
Wiman Canyon & Old Pueblo Trail
From the shaded, green belly of a canyon, the Wiman Canyon Trail quickly shoots up to meet the dry, baked pathways of the Old Pueblo Trail that run behind the…