Camp Cottam from Cold Spring Trail, Santa Barbara

The ridge above Santa Barbara...you know that mountain range that encompasses Montecito and Santa Barbara, bringing a warmth to the already quaintness of the red tile roofs and woodsy-ness of the area?   I have always wanted to walk on the crestline, and this week we did it!  

Parking at top of East Camino Cielo by the mushroom
shaped water tank.  We had 19 people in our
meetup....so all the cars here are from our group.

I discovered Salinas Street offramp, a street that of the 20 years that I lived in Santa Barbara and surrounding areas, I have never been on....and is apparently the gateway to the beautiful back mountain ranges behind the city.  First there are the Santa Ynez mountains, and just behind them are the San Rafael Mountains.  Hiking downhill first, a reverse hike, is scary in itself, because you wonder if you will have enough of what it takes to hike back up the mountain!  The destination is in a meadow, nestled in between canyons, and on top of the Santa Ynez faultline. Look for shell fossils in the rock, an indication of the forces of the fault, as uplifting over millions of years has brought up layers of bedrock laden with shell remnants.  Another bit of history happened in the 1820's when the Chumash Indians revolted and fled to the San Joaquin Valley and the shelter of the tule marshes, and soldiers took this route to round them up and bring them back.  The best view by far is at the beginning of the hike, overlooking Santa Barbara Lagoon, Stearns Wharf, and beyond, at 3000 feet is just  breathtaking.  

Trailhead at top 

The meadow at the bottom is Camp
Cottam!

The hike down to Camp Cottam is 3.8 miles, about 4 hours with lots of breaks on the way back up.  There are a few forks in the trail, veer right, and remember which way you went!  We went with a hiking group, and a few of them got lost on the way out, and ended up taking a different trail out and ran across deer and snow! The trail is narrow but well-maintained and shady on the way down, early morning, and the meadow was full sun.  Dress in layers!  We passed a few groups of backpackers, and I found out later as I was gathering information for my blog, that tacking on another 5 miles total would have taken us to Caliente Hot Springs.  Maybe next time!! 

To get there, take exit 95 onto South Salinas Street.  At traffic circle take second exit to Sycamore Canyon Road. Continue to Foothill Road/Stanwood Drive 1.2 miles.  Then turn right on El Cielito Rd for .3 miles.  Turn left to stay on El Cielito Rd at 358 feet.  Another right to stay on El Cielito Rd at .2 miles.  Take the first right onto Gibraltar Road and stay on this for 6.2 windy miles.  Turn right onto East Camino Cielo and drive for another 3.3 miles to trailhead parking area and mushroom shaped cement water tank.