Explore the best rated trails in Goleta, CA. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Santa Maria Valley Multi-Purpose Trail and Omer Rains Coastal Bike Trail. With more than 13 trails covering 48 miles you’re bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Callegus Creek Bike Path winds along the east side of Camarillo, a bedroom community on the outskirts of Los Angeles. The paved pathway serves as a great connector between the city's north and south...
A favorite among rail-trail enthusiasts, the Ojai Valley Trail extends about 9.5 miles north of Ventura from Foster Park to the heart of Ojai. Combining this trail with the Ventura River Trail, which...
Stretching through the heart of the small city of Santa Paula, the Santa Paula Branch Line Trail provides an important off-road means of getting around, as well as a chance to experience some rich...
Starting at Goleta Beach State Park, the Obern Trail (formerly known as Atascadero Creek Bike Path) travels east toward Santa Barbara's center, following a flood-control channel. The paved path is a...
The Santa Maria River Levee Trail offers wide open views of distant mountains and the rugged landscape of the Santa Maria Valley. The partially paved trail follows a levee built by the Army Corps of...
The Omer Rains Coastal Bike Trail, named after a popular local politician and environmentalist, is an incredibly scenic route along Ventura's Pacific coast. Much of the trail offers dramatic views of...
The Goleta Beach Trail is popular among students of the University of California, Santa Barbara, who use it to travel between campus and Goleta Beach Park. The trail follows the seashore from campus...
The Santa Barbara Beach Trail, occasionally signed as the Coast Route, begins at Shoreline Park, a long but thin area encompassing the bluffs just west of Santa Barbara Point. The park offers plenty...
The San Antonio Creek Trail runs only 0.5 mile from the Maria Ygnacio Bike Path near Matorral Way east to University Drive near San Marcos Road. A scenic stretch of trail runs through the Tabano...
The paved Maria Ygnacio Bike Path follows the creek of the same name, from the Atascadero Creek Trail near Patterson Avenue north to Pintura Drive at Ribera Drive. It also intersects the San Antonio...
The Rincon Bike Trail offers both beautiful views of the Santa Barbara Channel and an important alternative to US 101 for bicyclists. The trail begins at Carpinteria State Beach's Rincon Point and...
The Santa Maria Valley Multi-Purpose Trail runs for more than 2 miles on the southern edge of Santa Barbara County's largest city. The northern end occupies a former rail corridor—and parallels an...
The Ventura River Trail follows the former Ventura and Ojai Valley Railroad right-of-way, from just north of Ventura to Casitas Vista Road at Foster Park northeast of town. Here the trail continues to...
The Goleta Beach Trail is popular among students of the University of California, Santa Barbara, who use it to travel between campus and Goleta Beach Park. The trail follows the seashore from campus...
The paved Maria Ygnacio Bike Path follows the creek of the same name, from the Atascadero Creek Trail near Patterson Avenue north to Pintura Drive at Ribera Drive. It also intersects the San Antonio...
The Santa Maria River Levee Trail offers wide open views of distant mountains and the rugged landscape of the Santa Maria Valley. The partially paved trail follows a levee built by the Army Corps of...
The Omer Rains Coastal Bike Trail, named after a popular local politician and environmentalist, is an incredibly scenic route along Ventura's Pacific coast. Much of the trail offers dramatic views of...
A favorite among rail-trail enthusiasts, the Ojai Valley Trail extends about 9.5 miles north of Ventura from Foster Park to the heart of Ojai. Combining this trail with the Ventura River Trail, which...
The Ventura River Trail follows the former Ventura and Ojai Valley Railroad right-of-way, from just north of Ventura to Casitas Vista Road at Foster Park northeast of town. Here the trail continues to...
The Santa Barbara Beach Trail, occasionally signed as the Coast Route, begins at Shoreline Park, a long but thin area encompassing the bluffs just west of Santa Barbara Point. The park offers plenty...
The San Antonio Creek Trail runs only 0.5 mile from the Maria Ygnacio Bike Path near Matorral Way east to University Drive near San Marcos Road. A scenic stretch of trail runs through the Tabano...
The Santa Maria Valley Multi-Purpose Trail runs for more than 2 miles on the southern edge of Santa Barbara County's largest city. The northern end occupies a former rail corridor—and parallels an...
Callegus Creek Bike Path winds along the east side of Camarillo, a bedroom community on the outskirts of Los Angeles. The paved pathway serves as a great connector between the city's north and south...
Stretching through the heart of the small city of Santa Paula, the Santa Paula Branch Line Trail provides an important off-road means of getting around, as well as a chance to experience some rich...
The Rincon Bike Trail offers both beautiful views of the Santa Barbara Channel and an important alternative to US 101 for bicyclists. The trail begins at Carpinteria State Beach's Rincon Point and...
Starting at Goleta Beach State Park, the Obern Trail (formerly known as Atascadero Creek Bike Path) travels east toward Santa Barbara's center, following a flood-control channel. The paved path is a...
The Goleta Beach Trail is popular among students of the University of California, Santa Barbara, who use it to travel between campus and Goleta Beach Park. The trail follows the seashore from campus...
Stretching through the heart of the small city of Santa Paula, the Santa Paula Branch Line Trail provides an important off-road means of getting around, as well as a chance to experience some rich...
The Rincon Bike Trail offers both beautiful views of the Santa Barbara Channel and an important alternative to US 101 for bicyclists. The trail begins at Carpinteria State Beach's Rincon Point and...
The San Antonio Creek Trail runs only 0.5 mile from the Maria Ygnacio Bike Path near Matorral Way east to University Drive near San Marcos Road. A scenic stretch of trail runs through the Tabano...
A favorite among rail-trail enthusiasts, the Ojai Valley Trail extends about 9.5 miles north of Ventura from Foster Park to the heart of Ojai. Combining this trail with the Ventura River Trail, which...
Callegus Creek Bike Path winds along the east side of Camarillo, a bedroom community on the outskirts of Los Angeles. The paved pathway serves as a great connector between the city's north and south...
The Ventura River Trail follows the former Ventura and Ojai Valley Railroad right-of-way, from just north of Ventura to Casitas Vista Road at Foster Park northeast of town. Here the trail continues to...
The Santa Maria River Levee Trail offers wide open views of distant mountains and the rugged landscape of the Santa Maria Valley. The partially paved trail follows a levee built by the Army Corps of...
The Santa Maria Valley Multi-Purpose Trail runs for more than 2 miles on the southern edge of Santa Barbara County's largest city. The northern end occupies a former rail corridor—and parallels an...
Starting at Goleta Beach State Park, the Obern Trail (formerly known as Atascadero Creek Bike Path) travels east toward Santa Barbara's center, following a flood-control channel. The paved path is a...
The Santa Barbara Beach Trail, occasionally signed as the Coast Route, begins at Shoreline Park, a long but thin area encompassing the bluffs just west of Santa Barbara Point. The park offers plenty...
The paved Maria Ygnacio Bike Path follows the creek of the same name, from the Atascadero Creek Trail near Patterson Avenue north to Pintura Drive at Ribera Drive. It also intersects the San Antonio...
The Omer Rains Coastal Bike Trail, named after a popular local politician and environmentalist, is an incredibly scenic route along Ventura's Pacific coast. Much of the trail offers dramatic views of...
The old Petro Chem plant which is pictured in the main photo is now (Oct. 2020) being cleaned up. The area is almost cleared and cleaned. What an improvement. Time for a new feature photo.
I started at the Foster Park trailhead. At least on a Wednesday afternoon there was plenty of parking under the bridge just before you get to the trailhead. I was on an ebike and it was an easy uphill cruise, with a gentle slope, all the way to Ojai. When reaching Ojai I would recommend turning around at Montgomery Street. Trail gets pretty junky for the few hundred yards after that. Few
I did this ride with my girls, 14 and 10 years of age, —very doable. The incline is slow and gradual so it’s easy to take in the beautiful scenery around. We enjoyed it.
Lots of pedestrians and heavy traffic that slows down the ride to make it a casual ride; however the scenery is beautiful with the coastal views. To increase speed would recommend an early morning ride. The road is a mix of pavement and a few bumpy areas, predominantly flat for an easy ride. Would increase the star level if it were more strenuous, a longer ride, and traffic was better managed. Thank you for this trail.
This is one of my favorite bike paths. The white fencing outlines this path well and the gentle slopes make it a fun ride. The surrounding mountains and hillsides are gorgeous just before sunset. Ample parking and restrooms at the southern end of the trail in Pleasant Valley Fields.
Trail runs along 101 highway in between mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Beautiful view while pumping adrenaline rush of riding next to speeding cars.
This is one of our favorite rides that we have done a number of times over the years when vacationing in the Ventura area. We've always ridden this trail in the summer when inland temps are sizzling, but you can count on cool, refreshing breezes and beautiful ocean and coastal views on this easy trail.
The official trail from San Buenaventura State Beach to Emma Wood State Beach is only 4.1 miles long which is why we extend it. Don't stop at Emma Wood! Continue north on Pacific Coast Highway. I know, you have to ride on the road with only a white stripe to separate you from the motor vehicles, but it seems like the only traffic is the occasional lumbering RV slowly headed to their campsite along PCH. If you take my advice, you'll definitely burn more calories and be rewarded with spectacular views of the Pacific, gawk at multi-million dollar beachfront homes, and envy relaxed vacationers enjoying their RV's.
This trail is worth exploring if you want to venture into the neighborhoods of Goleta. It must be especially awesome for the residents of Goleta to be able to jump on their bikes and head to the beach or UCSB via this path and the Obern Trail!
If you ride this trail, do it in conjunction with the Goleta Beach Trail or Maria Ygnacio Bike Path since it's so short. The locals must love this since for the most part it's quiet, away from roads, and leads to the beach. It seems ideal for the neighborhoods that back up to it for the last couple of miles. If I lived there I'd probably be on it most every day headed for the beach!
Over the years on our visits to the Santa Barbara area, we've ridden the Goleta Beach Trail. Utilizing the probably now somewhat obsolete Santa Barbara County Bike Map (copyright 2000), we followed what was called the Coast Route. The Class I bike path starts near the corner of Storke and El Colegio, so that's where we would park and unload the bikes. In the summer months it's a great place to start your Goleta Beach ride since you add some distance to it, plus you can peddle through the nearly deserted UCSB campus to the Goleta Beach Trail trailhead.
After riding down to Goleta Beach County Park and Goleta Pier, the Coast Route turns inland allows you to pedal alongside Atascadero Creek. Today that trail is called Obern Trail, a lovely ride in itself. Another option is a spur off the Obern Trail just beyond Patterson Avenue called the Maria Ygnacio Bike Path. This will give you some uphill and through the neighborhoods of Goleta.
The Goleta Beach Trail is a beautiful, ridiculously short ride with sensational ocean and mountain views. If you are going to ride this trail, you might as well combine it with Obern and/or Maria Ygnacio and burn a few more calories!
We rode this trail between the marina and bird refuge a few years ago. The photo op highlight was peddling our bikes between the rows of giant palm trees for that stereotypical California beach scene, but for a couple of native southern Californians palm trees are no big deal. In addition, the ride is so short it just wasn't worth getting the bikes out of the SUV.
This trail feels most appropriate for tourists, walkers, joggers, skateboarders, and vendors renting those quadcycle things to families.
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