"Time to get after it…." That was the closing line of the Los Padres Forest Association's September 19 announcement. The post said several Santa Barbara Ranger District trails, closed since the early-2023 storms, had reopened that week. Old Romero Road led the list. Franklin Trail, Arroyo Burro Trail, Matias Connector Trail and North Tunnel Trail followed, for more than 15 miles of reopened trail across the front and mid-country.
Only one of those trails starts in Montecito. Franklin climbs out of Carpinteria, and Arroyo Burro, Matias and Tunnel are Santa Barbara routes. Old Romero matters here for a reason beyond its own mileage. It is the eastern anchor of the chain of connectors that links Montecito's canyons, and for more than three years that end of the chain was officially off-limits.
The Chain From Romero to Hot Springs
The Montecito Trails Foundation's trail descriptions read like a map of linked rooms. Going west from Romero, the pieces fit together in this order.
- Romero Canyon, where the Jeepway and a shadier singletrack follow the same canyon. The singletrack runs through a mostly riparian zone. About two miles up it meets the Jeepway at a four-way intersection, then continues 1.7 miles to Camino Cielo.
- Buena Vista Trail, a singletrack MTF calls a favorite. It connects Romero and San Ysidro canyons. Close by on Bella Vista Drive, just east of the Buena Vista trailhead, the short Fearing Trail is well shaded and easy to overlook.
- Old Pueblo Trail, a mile-long link from Buena Vista over to San Ysidro Trail. MTF says it "can feel like a journey through hidden Montecito." The quarter-mile Wiman Trail joins it from East Mountain Drive.
- San Ysidro Trail, which follows the canyon for about two miles to San Ysidro Falls before climbing to East Camino Cielo Road.
- McMenemy Trail, 1.5 miles running east to west through sandstone and chaparral between San Ysidro and Hot Springs canyons. The half-mile Girard Trail branches off it along the western edge of San Ysidro Canyon.
- Hot Springs Canyon, where Saddlerock Trail climbs sandstone steps to a lookout. MTF counts Saddlerock among the more difficult routes in its system and says most people use it as the uphill leg of a Hot Springs loop on the Edison Catways.
Until September, the official closure kept Old Romero Road out of that sequence. With it back, someone starting at Hot Springs can follow the foothills east through McMenemy, San Ysidro, Old Pueblo and Buena Vista and finish at a Romero route that is formally open again. Old Romero Road also leads back up to East Camino Cielo, the same ridge road San Ysidro and the Romero singletrack reach.
Two Months of Hand Work, Done in the Heat
Volunteers did most of the reopening work. The LPFA says its Trail Crew spent almost two months on the job, much of it on south-facing slopes in triple-digit heat, so the district could formally reopen both Old Romero and Franklin. The association thanked the Montecito Trails Foundation for "supporting the work and navigating the process." The Montecito Journal's September 29 trail update adds that the LPFA crew worked on Old Romero Road through all of August with MTF and the Santa Barbara Ranger District. The crew brushed the route and cleared slides, and the Journal quotes the LPFA saying, "The work looks absolutely stunning, especially considering everything was done by hand!"
The reopening comes from a new Forest Service order, not a sign taken down. Santa Barbara Ranger District Forest Order 05-07-54-26-09 took effect September 16, 2026, and runs through September 15, 2027. That order is the document to check for which segments are open, because it closes specific pieces of trails and leaves others open.
The Upper Jeepway Is a Different Trail
This is the second time since 2017 that the Romero Canyon Jeepway has had to be restored, and its standard changes partway up. MTF describes the 7-mile route as connecting the trailhead to East Camino Cielo. MTF also gives it a formal classification from mile four to the top.
Its current status is "Trail Class 1: Minimally Developed" from mile four to Camino Cielo. After the four-way junction, users should expect, "a trail maintained to a rustic standard. Tread may be narrow, rough or indistinct."
The lower Jeepway still works as the broad climb it has always been. Above the junction, the Jeepway is a rough trail with tread that can disappear in places. That matters for anyone planning to ride or run all the way to Camino Cielo, and for anyone who expects a fire road from start to finish. The singletrack offers a shorter way to the same ridge. It is about two miles to the four-way intersection and 1.7 more to Camino Cielo, and it stays shadier along the riparian canyon floor.
What the Order Still Keeps Closed
The LPFA lists trails by name. The Forest Order works segment by segment. Read side by side, they show that the Matias, Tunnel and Franklin corridors are only partly open, even though those names appear on the reopened list.
| Segment named in the order's closed-trail exhibit | General area |
|---|---|
| Franklin Trail, backside | Above Carpinteria |
| Matias Potrero segment and connector | Santa Barbara mid-country |
| Aliso Loop, including Upper Oso Connector | Santa Ynez River side |
| Santa Cruz Trail, 19 Oaks to Santa Cruz Guard Station | Backcountry |
| Tunnel Trail, between Matias Potrero and Santa Ynez River Road | Behind the front range |
MTF says the third phase of Franklin, which begins at mile 5.2, was closed after the 2023 storms. The LPFA photo caption shows its crew finishing the last Franklin Phase 3 retaining wall. Taken together, the two sources describe a corridor in the middle of reopening. Before any loop that leaves the Montecito front country, read the order's exhibit for yourself.
None of the Montecito connectors in the chain above appears in that closed-trail exhibit. MTF's descriptions of Buena Vista, San Ysidro, McMenemy and Saddlerock carry no current date, though, so they describe the routes rather than reporting how they look this week. Cold Spring, just west of Hot Springs, is listed as open daily year-round on the Forest Service's Cold Spring Trail page, last updated in January 2026.
Hot Springs Is Next in Line
With the Romero end open, volunteers have moved to Hot Springs, the far western end of the chain. A Los Padres National Forest volunteer day to clean and restore the Montecito Hot Springs Canyon Trail began September 26, National Public Lands Day. The event listing described work on vegetation, graffiti and drainage. Volunteers met at Cold Spring Elementary at 8:30 a.m. and worked until early afternoon. It was a restoration project, not a closure, so Hot Springs stayed in use while the work went on.
Reading Conditions After the October Rain
Last week's weather is a reminder that "open" on an order and "passable" on a given morning are separate questions. During the October 21–22 flood watch, the City of Santa Barbara's storm updates page urged residents to stay away from rivers, creeks and trails. The Romero singletrack runs through a mostly riparian zone, and San Ysidro follows its canyon to the falls, so conditions after rain deserve a look before you head up. The Los Padres conditions page is the place to start.
Two more seasonal notes for the higher stretches. The Montecito Journal reports that deer season in the regional zone, D-13, runs from October 10 through November 8, and the paper reminds forest visitors of current fire restrictions. Parking along the Romero and Bella Vista approaches has long been limited, but current rules aren't posted in one recent official source. Check signs at the trailhead rather than relying on an older guide.
Where the Canyon Week Lands in Town
The foothill chain comes down close to Coast Village Road, and the Lower Village now gives a Friday hike a natural finish. The Santa Barbara Independent reported on October 1 that Monte's, at 1198 Coast Village Road, has added lunch Wednesday through Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Its weekly Friday farmers market runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the patio, with produce from Endwell Hospitality's Rincon Hill Farm in Carpinteria. The Independent's lunch picks included the Korean Fried Chicken Sandwich with savoy cabbage kimchi slaw and the Grilled Korean Short Rib Frites.
The timing works because one of Montecito's other outdoor draws is about to close for the season. Lotusland's public season ends this Saturday, October 31. The garden reopens February 17, 2027, and advance reservations are required. Between now and then, the canyons are the open-air option that needs no reservation. Further out on the Lower Village calendar is the Coast Village Road holiday tree lighting on Thursday, December 3, from 4 to 6 p.m., with Santa Barbara Ballet, a Santa Barbara Youth Symphony quartet and the Santa Barbara Madrigals.
If you're weighing a home near Montecito's foothill trailheads, it helps to know which canyon you'd be closest to and how it connects to the rest of the chain. Joe Madge at Madge & Hamilton Group is glad to walk through how trail access fits the way you want to live here. Let's Connect.
