Gaviota Beach is just outside of Santa Barbara. There’s a big train trestle there that at first seems a little strange to camp under but quickly grows on you as a nearly quaint historic feature of the landscape. The campground is pretty tight and parking lot-ish but serves well enough once you realize that you’re going to be out in the hills or the water or along the coastal road for much of the time or it will be dark and you’ll just be cooking s’mores and drinking red wine, eyes all skyward with the stars and the full moon rising.
Two quiet roads: one along the coast, one an inland valley leading to a trail that takes you up to some cool sandstone cave overlooks. Very nice routes but short. We ended up camped right next to another running couple which was kind of fun. They seemed pretty serious. One commented that she’d hoped she’d find more miles there. I thought there would be more trails, too. Good for a few miles though. We ran into each other a lot.
Gaviota means seagull en espanol.
5 comments:
When I was a teenager one of my best friend's parents had a house just inland from there, along the private road. I remember one winter day - when it was about 75 degrees - sitting on the porch, grilling burgers, drinking beer and watching whales migrate a couple hundreds yards in the distance. One of the best afternoons of my life.
That sounds just about perfect, Justin.
(I’m going to assume your best friend was a girl.)
Actually, it was my friend Zach whom you met a couple weeks ago. So it wasn't romantic, but still super relaxing.
sounds like a great spot, bob. i hope to go running with you folks some day.
That would be fucking great! Let’s pencil in Montana de Oro in 2012 or so… Peace&Love
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