Birbent Canyon Via La Jolla Spring Trail

I was looking for a last minute adventure out of LA and found this epic view.  Easy backpacking trip for one night, no permits needed, less than 3.5 hours from LA, and secluded.  Go to REI and pick up your adventure pass for your car. Plug into your GPS "Davy Brown Campground" in Los Olivos / Los Padres National Forrest. Drive past Davy Brown Campground and within less than a 1/4 mile, make a l...

From Santa Ynez, CA take Armour Rd until it hits Happy Canyon Rd, and make a left. Follow this scenic drive through vineyards and oak shaded pastures into the Angeles National Forest. A half-mile section of asphalt is rough from winter storms, so drive slow. The road becomes Sunset Valley Rd and narrows to 1 lane. Drive 3.8 miles to the first road on the left past the Davy Brown Campground. Thi...

The campground here is extremely well developed and tightly run (for better or worse). The sites afford very little privacy: I recommend looking for the "Prime" campsites along the bluff, or choosing a weekday. If you can afford to spend a little extra, the park offers yurt rentals, which have the best views, decks with deckchairs, and beds with mattresses...not too rustic, but something I'd lo...

Enjoy meeting ostriches and emus alike!  Located just outside of Solvang, near Santa Barbara, you get the chance to stroll through a farm and feed the ostriches and emus.  Entrance is free, but there is a fee to feed them.  There are scenic hills and flowers all around the farm.  This is a great stop if driving down the coast on Hwy 1.  

Foxen Canyon Road from Santa Maria to Los Olivos runs through some of the most beautiful wine country in Santa Barbara county so much so that it was centerpiece of the film Sideways. The road itself begins at the intersection of Betteravia and Philbric roads just east of Santa Maria and proceeds for roughly 30 miles southeast through Santa Maria Valley before turning south into Foxen Canyon its...

Unfortunately, the falls have been inaccessible for a while due to dangerous conditions from a mudslide. Contact the County of Santa Barbara Parks Division for more information. The falls are a great daytime getaway. Granted it's a quick, short hike, so you won't get the same workout or sweat going from longer trails, but you will get to take in this 80-foot waterfall and relax without too muc...