Santa Barbara Front Country (Jesusita / Tunnel)
Santa Barbara foothills, Los Padres NF · near Santa Barbara · Central Coast
Mountain Biking
At a glance
- Skill level
- expert
- Trail miles
- Jesusita ~7 mi out-and-back; ~11-12 mi as a loop with Tunnel Trail
- Elevation
- Substantial front-country climbing - rock staircases, stream crossings, switchbacks; several thousand feet on the full loop
- Best season
- Oct-May; very hot and exposed in summer, closed to riding when wet; fire-closure history is significant
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- No
Mountain Biking detail
- Ride types
- all-mountain · xc · enduro
- Signature trails
- Jesusita Trail · Tunnel Trail · Gibraltar Rd to East Camino Cielo
- Ebike
- No
- Ebike note
- Forest Service singletrack e-bike rules vary and are inconsistently posted - treat as a gray area and check signage.
- Intl tip
- Not a beginner town trail despite the in-town access - it is rocky, technical and exposed. Yield to heavy hiker traffic, carry lots of water, and start early.
The guide
This is the ride-from-your-hotel front-country network - technical, rooty, rock-stepped singletrack climbing into the Santa Yne…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Santa Barbara Front Country (Jesusita / Tunnel) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 34.4655, -119.7132