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Steepest Trails in Santa Barbara
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Training for bigger mountains. Anyone know some good, steep, long trails? Ones I use right now: Mission Creek to Arlington Peak: ~1 mile, 34% grade. Fairly flat 1 mile approach to creek. |
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That’s all Santa Barbara has isn’t it? I did the Santa Barbara 9 Trails 35 miler a few times and over the entire course it seemed there wasn’t more than 100 yards of flat ground. It’s been several years so I forgot the names of the trails we ran on but you should have no issue finding a supply of steep trails. |
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Plenty of 10-15% grade USFS trails, but not so much above that beyond the couple I posted. I figure maybe there have been a few others on here who followed the TFTNA plan and maybe they managed to find some good 40-60% slopes that weren't blocked by chaparral. |
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Run the stairs at Santa Barbara city college. |
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Continue past Arlington to Cathedral and then La Cumbre, then loop down Tunnel trail. The last stretch to La Cumbre is quite steep. |
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Romero canyon has some pretty steep sections, and plenty of options for shorter and longer loops. Also, if you keep going past Arlington you can go up to La Cumbre then loop it back down the tunnel trail |
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Grass Mountain up by Buellton has 2300' gain with an average grade of 18%. And the wildflowers should be in full bloom on it soon. I'd also second Cody's recommendation of Arlington-Cathedral-La Cumbre. |
Bill Flaherty wrote: Grass Mountain is a stiff hike, best done in spring or fall. Fill out a self-issue permit at Midland School, which is on the way to the trailhead. https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/grass-mountain (see Contact info on web page) https://www.hikingproject.com/trail/7032139/grass-mountain-trail |
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Take a look at the Manzana trail loop, its 18+ miles and you climb up to the top of a 4,000' ridge and hike that for about 4mi. You can make a two day trip out of it and camp at the 100yr old schoolhouse along the creek, then hike out following the water the remaining 9mi. Did it a few years ago with a 40lb pack and my dog, was really fun and challenging. |
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Upper Oso to the top of LIttle Pine peak is about 3,000 feet of gain. Not sure the grade but it's steep. |
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The Arlington-Cathedral-La Cumbre Peak traverse is a lot of fun. The approach to Grass Mountain is beautiful but man that last climb up the loose scree is a slog. My dilemma right now is that I'm trying to follow the Steve House / TFTNA training plan so everything needs to fit inside a certain duration. From the sounds of it Arlington Peak is probably my best bet for steep with a "short" approach, unless I want to throw on a heavy pack and do box steps for an hour. |
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I’m telling you, the city college stairs will kick your butt. You won’t find a trail steeper. Best bang for the buck. At least supplement some of your hikes with it. I lived in Santa Barbara for a while and hiked and ran all the trails and still found myself going back to the stairs to really work my legs. |
Kevin Mokracek wrote: That's a good call. |
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The Buena Vista Catway (catway between San Ysidro and Romero canyon) has some pretty steep sections but probably doesn’t contend with the city college stairs. Does anyone know of the stadium is open now? |
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Cathedral peak, la cumbre peak, or you can loop them (ACLCT - Arlington, cathedral, la cumbre, and down tunnel trail). I’ve also hiked 9 trails and it’s definitely NOT flat. My garmin showed 6k feet of elevation across 18 miles one direction. Great training for mt rainier! |
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Gaviota peak is fairly steep as well; the new baron ranch one has its moments. |
