Santa Barbara front country
Locate the trail head.
Buena Vista is a three pronged trail extending east and west to the Edison Catway on either side and south to a bit of road between Romero Canyon and San Ysidro Creek. I spotted it while checking satellite around a benchmark. I don't hear people talk about it and only the catway connecting segments are on the 1995 Carpinteria topo, but it seems well covered in a couple of area trail guides. It is particularly well described by
Ray Ford, who notes, "Not too far beyond the end of the trail and the beginning of the catway a small trail leads to a knoll which is marked on the Carpinteria topo with a small triangle and the elevation-1543'." That triangle is the benchmark. He also suggests a loop with Old Pueblo Trail, which I thought was excellent since I have so far ignored it as I went other places. The three trail heads to the west (San Ysidro, Hot Springs, and Cold Spring) are all fairly crowded, even on a weekday, but at this one, I find only a couple workers for one of the nearby homes and a single hiker in the numerous spaces, so parking is very easy. The trail starts from a small sign on the east side of the stream. A bit of old road that goes up to a reservoir, I suspect, and might look like trail head, but the uninviting signs will keep anyone from being confused.
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A small Montecito Trails Foundation sign marks the start of the trail at the side of Park Lane. |
I find myself walking along a well used and manicured trail. Everything within four feet of the path is been trimmed to the ground as it snakes up the steep, but short, slopes in tiny turns, or down the other side losing half the recently gained elevation. A large dog, followed by the one hiker, gives me a few barks, then a sniff and decides I'm not a threat after all. Just a few hundred yards after starting, I am informed that the trail easement has come to an end. There was no mention of any difficulty with permission, so I take the word of the dirt which shows no narrowing of the trail, and continue.
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The well cleared trail follows small switchbacks as it climbs. |