Montecito Trails Foundation Adds Three Trailhead Kiosks and Directional, E-Bike Signage
Glass kiosks with color-coded trail maps providing general routes and distances are located at Romero Canyon, San Ysidro and Hot Springs
The Romero Canyon and Hot Springs kiosks in Montecito are built as Eagle Scout projects for local Troop 33. (Montecito Trails Foundation courtesy photo) By Brooke Holland, Noozhawk Staff Writer | @BT Holland
February 16, 2021
| 9:38 p.m.
Outdoor enthusiasts who have set out to traverse front country trails in Montecito recently might have noticed new sights during their journey.
During the past few months, the nonprofit Montecito Trails Foundation added three trailhead kiosks, additional directional signage and electric bike signage. Three glass kiosks with color-coded trail maps to provide general routes and distances are located at the trailheads of Romero Canyon, San Ysidro and Hot Springs.
The Carrizo Plains during a “superbloom” event.
–The Central Coast Heritage Protection Act, a bill that would safeguard public lands and wild rivers in the Los Padres National Forest and the Carrizo Plain National Monument, and would designate a 400-mile National Recreation Trail, was reintroduced by Congressman Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) this week. Carbajal’s district includes Paso Robles and all of San Luis Obispo County.
“Pragmatic policies like the Central Coast Heritage Protection Act make a real difference in the fight against climate change, give residents and visitors the opportunity to appreciate the great outdoors, and boosts our recreation economy, all while preserving the plant and animal life that call these public lands home,” said Congressman Carbajal.
A view from Mt. Pinos, just outside Los Angeles. Photo: Aaron Price
About two-hours from Los Angeles there’s an eight-mile road. Along this eight-mile road is a network of trails some mapped, some known only to the locals that weave in and out of the Los Padres National Forest. Show up on a weekend, or after a huge snow dump, you’ll find 500-plus cars parked anywhere there’s space, with people spilling out ready to enjoy a full day of cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, tearing up the backcountry, or simply tailgating in thermals and ski pants.
Mt Pinos is the highest point in Ventura County at 8,847 feet, and sits just outside of Frazier Park, a small community known for its hiking and mountain biking in the summer. Although the mountain is almost exactly the same distance from L.A. as Big Bear, the area’s more commercial, well-groomed sibling, Pinos remains a little more discreet, attracting mostly locals, long-term residents of the surrounding cities, and av