All Trails rates this hike as moderate by I say it's more towards hard. It is a steady steep incline for 3+ miles. All trails also says it's only 3.5 miles, that is one way! So your looking at 7 miles round trip. It's rocky but with shade the first 2 miles. After that bye bye shade and hello dry and dusty trail. You will want to wear hiking boots has it's very easy to loose gripping on the rocks and roll your ankle. I called it quits at 3 miles and went back down the trail. I was exhausted from the steady climb. I am not the most in shape person right now but I am fairly active. I just hiked 5 miles last week too. So unless you are in decent shape, be prepared to not make it all the way to the top. Bring plenty of water. As someone else said, walking through the private property portion until hitting the split off of the McMenemy trail is filled with dog poop and abandoned dog poop bags. It seems people don't take their dogs on the San Ysidro as I no longer says dog poop or bags unless they just kick it off the cliff side. On my way back down I saw a Gardner snake just off of the trail path. We started at 10:45 am and arrived back at the car at 1:42 pm. read more

See all

Favorite hike in the region. Shaded, cool breeze up the ravine even though we were there in heat wave during our visit. Moderate to easy hike. Loved the creek to put feet in at end and cool down with splash of water. Plenty of little critters, water striders, and other insects to entertain our kiddoes. read more

What a great hike! We went to San Ysidro because we heard it had a ton of water right now! Our dogs did a short 1.5 mile hike up to a accessible area to let them loose in the watering hole. It's a moderate hike and there was a lot of mud on the trail. Since the recent rain the trail has some areas of washout where you have to hop across some rocks but otherwise it was well marked and beautiful!! read more

Wonderful Hike. Moderate difficulty, as some of the trail was washed out. I recommend it.

A moderate level hike that takes about an hour round trip to the falls. After a rainy season, the falls are actually there and parts of the hike are blanketed in a lush green blanket. Wear long pants since there is poison oak everywhere. There is also great rock climbing about midway up the hike. You need to park in a residential area and walk in. Just looking at the houses in that area is fun in itself. There aren't any bathrooms or potable water at the trailhead. A good hike to do with kids or if you only have an hour or two. read more

San Ysidro Falls Trail - A river of greenery. - Hiking Near Me - Montecito, California

See all

Kind of confusing/ hard to reach the trailhead. I typed in 'San Ysidro trail' on my iPhone, and it took me to the San Ysidro ranch hotel-- which is insanely beautiful. Once there, the front desk gave me a super helpful map of how to access the trailhead/ the other trails nearby beside San Ysidro waterfall. You have to drive through a residential neighborhood which dead ends at the trailhead. It is 1.9 miles each way to the waterfall, about 4 miles round trip. Half the walk is shaded through large tree groves, half the walk is open and sunny. The entire trail is next to a creek/river, which was affected by the mudslide, so there is some construction at the bottom, but is so beautiful to have the river the whole time next to you. The waterfall itself is hidden, so keep your eyes peeled, as you have to make your own trail to the falls the last 1,000 feet - either through the river itself (a few inches deep) , or up and down large rocks. I had three small dogs, and they were all able to complete this last portion of the hike. It's not super difficult, just hidden and kind of hard to create your own path to the waterfall when you have no clue if you're heading the right way to it--- but again, this is only for about 1,000 feet, then you end up dead ended at the waterfall. It about 50 feet fall, and totally going, even in off season. Very peaceful and a perfect spot to spend the entire day- as there is shade, water, great views. The trail to/from has awesome views of the ocean/ Channel Islands, along with great lush trees/plants/flowers throughout the whole walk. It is awesome to be the in mountains, and have ocean views!!! There are a Lot of ticks, snakes and poison oak. I would recommend spending 3-4 hours for a super leisurely time! There are other trails off this main San Ysidro trailhead, but I would recommend staying with the main 1.9 mike San Ysidro trailhead. read more

Cute hike!! Hard to find parking, but the drive there and views from the hike are gorgeous. Montecito is a beautiful area! read more

San Ysidro Falls Trail - Hiking Near Me - Montecito, California

See all

I always like to check out a new trail while on vacation. With the rainy winter we've had in California, a falls hike seemed like the perfect option during my long weekend in Santa Barbara. Now (or soon) is the time to go, since the falls are flowing and there are a lot of small pools and a smaller waterfall to enjoy. First off, logistics! The trail head is not as hard to find as I thought it would be. You will see cars parked alongside of the road (at least on a weekend morning) and a sign simply marked "Trail" on the right hand side. There is a narrow path you follow that runs along side private property but there are several markers telling you where to stick to the trail. After going around a gate and walking up a wider fire road, you will have the creek to your left and start heading up hill. There are a few junctions but for the most part follow the the trail to the right and up. At one point it seemed wrong to head to the right because it briefly led away from the creek, but that's short lived and you will connect back with it soon enough. The trail itself is short, but scenic and well shaded. Don't let the tree canopy fool you though-it gets warm out here and I went through about 40 ounces of water in a 2.5 hour hike. Once you arrive at a smaller waterfall, you can rest and enjoy the small pool and for families with children that might just be enough. However, for the 80 foot fall at the back of the canyon, you will see a narrow trail that curves up to the right-follow that and in less than half a mile you will be at the larger falls. This is a well traveled trail and later in the morning it seemed to get more crowded. I was glad we started our hike around 10 a.m. because we had the falls nearly to ourselves. By the time we were headed down, we passed several groups heading up. I had worn regular running sneakers but actually could have used something with a good grip-there are a lot of loose rocks on the trail so be careful of your footing. The trail was moderate for experienced hikers but the elevation gain sneaks up on you-you are basically going up hill the first half of the hike. I believe the entire out and back hike is 4 miles or less and the 2.5 hour journey included some time relaxing at the falls and plenty of photos stops. So glad I made it over here and perhaps on another trip I would do some more research and try out some of the longer trails. There were definitely connections to other hiking options and one that I believe even leads to Los Padres National Forest. What a nice little free and wonderful find. read more

See all

Hiked this trail last week. Still one of my favorite hikes but quite muddy right now in the beginning from all the rain. The last bit of the trail before you reach the waterfall is washed out so if you want to get up close to the waterfall you have to hike in the creek bed and climb/jump some rocks. read more

See all

We had a nice hike up the main San Ysidro Falls Trail - it can get hot here, so this is a good choice to maximize shade. We only went about 1.5 miles up. Unfortunately, we didn't get sweeping views of Santa Barbera and the ocean below that I was hoping for - the trail winds behind some of the mountains. However, you get a variety of vegetation (cacti, forests, grassy areas) and the path follows running water so you get some little falls. There are some nice views of the other side of the mountain, some exposed rock that look like fun for scrambling/climbing. FYI, the first half quarter mile or so of the trail goes through some residential areas before it gets to the more remote areas! read more

San Ysidro Falls Trail - Trail map from San Ysidro Ranch. Sunday afternoon 2016-06-19 - Hiking Near Me - Montecito, California

The trail starts at the end of Mountain Drive with street parking. Signs mark the trailhead that immediately launches into an easement trail - wandering between homes and along paved roads like Park Lane before tracing the western side of San Ysidro creek. The beginning of the trail was popular with dog owners with too many irresponsible losers that didn't pick up their dog's turds. Dog waste is not good fertilizer but toxic to the environment. Locked into a canyon, hike lacks vistas except for occasionally peeks out to the ocean with the oil platforms and Channel Islands. The path is easy to follow with only one possible impediment - a single river crossing just before reaching the falls. The established trail goes near San Ysidro Falls but not to the base of the falls. Walking up the river bed is the only way to reach the falls' base. Despite coming after a snow storm, the water flow over the fall was pathetic where the water is only seen when looking closely. With two rivulets meandering over the side of a smooth rock face, the falls trickled like it had a blockage similar to an elderly man's prostate. Although the trail continues by wandering deeper into the Los Padres National Forest, going to the base of the falls is 3.7 miles roundtrip with a 1100' elevation change. Please note that maps and older Yelp reviews might conflict with my statements but were likely made prior to the Thomas Fire mudslides in January 2018 which altered the landscape. read more

Ahhh!! Perfect time to do this hike and see the waterfall is RIGHT NOW! San Ysidro Falls is a beautiful hike with a gorgeous and totally-worth-it waterfall view at the end. Apparently there are two locations to start the hike since I did read reviews about the 9 mile roundtrip one but our hike was only 3.3 miles roundtrip. It definitely felt like longer since it was mostly uphill the entire time. Took us about 2 hours total. We went around 10 am on a Sunday morning. Parking wasn't hard to find at all and the trail leading up to the waterfall was relatively easy to find as well. Stick to the trails that keep going up and there were plenty of friendly people we encountered on the way who were able to point us in the right direction when we were uncertain. Keep in mind that if you plan on walking around in the water or taking pictures underneath the waterfall it might be a good idea to bring sandals or another change of shoes since we decided to walk around in the water and ended up getting our shoes wet. read more

San Ysidro Falls Trail - Looks so nice after the recent rain! - Hiking Near Me - Montecito, California

See all

First of all June 2017 no water at the tall fall at the end of the hike. Still a nice hike 2 things I feel other reviews didn't accurately portray: Difficulty - I'm in pretty good shape and was expecting an easy 1-2 mile hike. Definitely more moderate and four miles to the last big waterfall (or waterless fall in June) and much of it uphill. Scenery- much prettier than I expected. Lots of greenery and wild flowers. Tons of small little water holes to play in. Watch out for bugs, almost all shaded. Overall I recommend checking it out. Gorgeous houses at the beginning of the trail. read more

See all

I am extremely hesitant to say the San Ysidro trail is "open", however, I was able to make it all the way to the dried up falls. It is one of the few hikes besides Rattlesnake Canyon that is shaded. However, I highly recommend only skilled or experienced hikers go. I was able to witness the damage caused by the Montecito mudslides and then Thomas Fire first hand from this trail. The damage was not only devastating to the families and homes but also to the surrounding trails and nature. What use to be a creek is now a widened, carved out river. Many trees are toppled and burnt while the trail is unsteady and has given way to the cliffs. There are multiple sections of the trail that are best traveled along the riverbed versus using the trail along the riverside. Multiple hikers, including myself, have laid stone markers to distinguish the path, however, many confusing and unsafe areas remain. A hiking post from Santabarbara.com has a detailed description of the trail, yet towards the end it does not help much due to the changes. San Ysidro Falls trail is spectacular yet it is sad to see so much damage. Hopefully volunteers will fix it up with time since it is a diamond in the rough! read more

See all

The 4.5 mile climb is not easy but the view at the top makes up for it. The second half of the climb is mostly in the sun but the shaded spots are nice places to take short breaks. There are some loose spots on the ground which made me and my friends slip a little bit on the way down. It's very dry up there so be sure to hydrate and wear shoes that can get dirty! 7/10 (The 5 star system on Yelp sucks) read more

San Ysidro Falls Trail - View from the summit. - Hiking Near Me - Montecito, California

See all

The trailhead was a bit hard to find at first so look up a map of the area to make sure you know exactly where you need to be. It's located on E Mountain drive to the left of Park Lane. We got lost driving around Montecito looking for it for about 20 minutes and there's poor/no cell reception to get a gps reading up there. Getting lost wasn't so bad considering the estates in the area were breath taking. The locals on the streets were very friendly and gave us directions. Listen to the directions carefully because there are many trails in the area and you might end up following the wrong trail! Do your research before you get there and make sure to print out a map. I found this website useful: http://www.santabarbarahikes.com/hikes/frontcountry/directions/index.shtml?san_ysidro The San Ysidro Falls trail follows paved road for a slight part of the trail's beginning and becomes quite steep at many points in the trail. The path is well carved by all of the previous visitors so it's easy to follow without losing the tracks. There is a lot of tree cover and shade which is a blessing because you will definitely break a sweat going up. At later points in the trail closer to the waterfall you'll get to extremely large high steps so if you're not into making a climb then this isn't the trail for you. It isn't that difficult though unless you're just plain lazy. The trail does go up pretty high in the mountains so it's slightly tiring but is definitely doable with a few rest stops. Most people of average physical fitness should be able to do it with no problems. The trail is approximately 2 hours upwards and 1 hour to go back down if your ending destination is the waterfall. Make sure to bring a lot of water and a face towel to wipe sweat with. I hiked with one other person and we each carried a backpack of 4 water bottles which we ended up finishing 6 of the 8 bottles. There are some flying insects like ladybugs and butterflys but all of the insects are pretty much harmless. If you don't like them flying near you then make sure to put on some insect repellent. The waterfall is beautiful and definitely worth the climb. The coloring of the waterfall is much more spectacular in person than it is in the pictures. I walked into the pool of the waterfall and it was amazing. The water was pretty cold but you get used to it. There's plenty of areas and large rocks to sit on and enjoy it. read more

See all

This trail is a good one. We got cellphone service on some parts of the trail, which is nice in case of an emergency. The main trail leads to multiple hikes. Just make sure you have a or have seen a map of the trail you are looking for. Google maps also has great images of the trails if you get lost. Otherwise it is kind of confusing. read more

It is not a good idea to do a 5 hour hike over Thanksgiving, then wait a month and then take on another 5 hour hike over Christmas, and yet that's exactly what I did. There are 17 miles of hiking trails located next to San Ysidro Ranch. They are beautifully maintained, but not all that well marked. So my desire to see the waterfall were proceeded by an accidental right turn onto Old Pueblo Trail, with the Buena Vista Loop thrown on top for good measure. TIP: when other hikers try and tell you how to get to the trail you want, LISTEN. CAREFULLY. FOLLOW DIRECTIONS. Thank goodness there was a hot tub waiting for me back at the Ranch. My legs are still boycotting me. read more

This definitely a nice hike! My six year old was able to do it with us... a lot of challenges like getting into rocky steep narrow paths, but it was all part of the fun! Will do it again. read more

See all

I just completed this hike today. The trail up the waterfall was lovely because of the rocks and the little creek running down below; I like climbing over rocks. Unfortunately, the waterfall was dried up, so there was no water running down. Past the waterfall, it is quite a climb up to El Camino Cielo. I think the elevation is 3200 ft? A lot of never-ending zig zag hills. You would walk 100 feet under the sun and then you hit another 100 feet with shade and a cool breeze. Once you get to the top, the view is gorgeous! Coming down was the most difficult part for me, because it was slippery due to loose gravel; I slipped a few times. The entire hike was about 4.5 miles one-way or 9.0 miles roundtrip. It took us almost 3.5 hours to get to the top and then 2 hours to come down, but we stopped several times going up. Overall, I enjoyed the hike. It's my first hike with elevation! Yay! read more

This hike is so intense !!! It is about 9 miles round trip and 4 of those miles are uphill. Seriously such a good effin work out !!! So good that I really teared at the very top because I was dying the whole time lol. The only reason I don't give it 5 stars is the scenery on the way to the top of the hike was okay. There were a few trees and plants, but nothing worth taking pictures of lols. read more

See all