Old San Marcos & Painted Cave
Santa Barbara · near Santa Barbara · Central Coast
Road Cycling
At a glance
- Distance
- medium
- Best season
- Year-round; shaded lower; hot & exposed up high in summer
What is here
- Scenery
- forest
- Amenities
- Shaded oak & bay forest lower down · Fierce, quiet local climb · Connects to Camino Cielo ridge · Big coast views up high
- Best for
- A punishingly steep wooded climb
- Features
- Brutally steep back-way climb · Wall-like Painted Cave Rd · Shaded forest lower section · Camino Cielo ridge connection
Worth knowing
- Hazards
- Extremely steep pitches (past 15%) · Very narrow one-lane road — watch for cars · Damp/leafy surface in the shaded sections · Fire-prone area — check for closures
- Beginner friendly
- No
Road Cycling detail
- Ride types
- climb
- Road
- quiet
- Climbing
- 5
- Ride notes
- A brutally steep, wooded back-way up the Santa Ynez Mountains — Old San Marcos Road and the wall-like Painted Cave Road climb through oak and bay forest with fierce pitches, a punishing local favorite with big views up top
- Stats note
- Steep wooded climb; Painted Cave pitches well past 15%; connects to Camino Cielo
- Seasonal
- No
- Intl tip
- Santa Barbara's punishing back-way into the Santa Ynez Mountains — a steep, narrow, wooded climb up Old San Marcos Rd and the wall-like Painted Cave Rd, with pitches well past 15% through shaded oak and bay forest, connecting to the Camino Cielo ridge and big coastal views. A fierce local favorite. Lower forest is cool and can be damp/leafy; the upper reaches are hot and exposed; it's a narrow one-lane road — watch for cars, descend with control. Fire-prone; check closures.
The guide
The Old San Marcos and Painted Cave route is Santa Barbara's punishing back-way into the Santa Ynez Mountains — a steep, narrow…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Old San Marcos & Painted Cave — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 34.49, -119.78