Casa Dorinda Oak Woodland
Nature preserve
21 acres0.9 mi of trail
Peter Bakewell Trail
Dogs on leash
Directionsto the parking lot
Photo: Mike Boucher · CC BY 2.0BOutdoors
Outdoors in Montecito
Montecito has 14 miles of mapped trails, 1.5 for every square mile of land
The biggest trail networks: Casa Dorinda Oak Woodland (0.9 mi). 79% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 71 acres are parks and preserves, 7.9 per 1,000 residents.
Ahead of 63% of U.S. towns · #413 of 847 in California. What drives it
Conserved land
2%
136 acres · of 9.2 sq mi of land
Trails
14 mi
1.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
71 ac
7.9 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
79%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
5.1 mi
4.4 mi lanes · 0.6 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
3
1 beach
What kind of outdoors town is Montecito?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Montecito have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Montecito is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #413 of 847 in California. Trail miles hold the grade up; park acres per resident pull it down.
B
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Montecito’s overall grade.
Conserved land2% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%C+Trails1.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (14 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4APark land7.9 acres of park per 1,000 residents (71 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13C+Parks close to home79% of residents within a half mile of a park · CA 91% · U.S. 72%B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 63%
LessMore
California towns of 2,500+ (847)Ahead of 51%
Water is 46% of Montecito’s area (8 of 17 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 1%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Casa Dorinda Oak Woodland, with 0.9 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Los Padres National Forest
Managed by United States Forest Service
6 acres
McMenemy Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
136 conserved acres
2% of Montecito’s land. Water is left out: Montecito has 9.2 square miles of land and 7.9 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Montecito’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Regional agency59 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits43 ac
County19 ac
U.S. Forest Service8 ac
Town or city7 ac
Local Historic or Cultural Area · 59 acUnknown Easement · 43 acLocal Park · 16 acLocal Other or Unknown · 9 acNational Forest · 8 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 43 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. Public access isn’t recorded for 2 of 8 parcels. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara Cemetery Local Historic or Cultural Area | Regional agency | 59 | Open |
| Manning Park Local Park | County | 11 | Open |
| Los Padres National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 8 | Open |
| Hammond's Meadow Local Other or Unknown | County | 5 | Unknown |
| Gould Park Local Park | Town or city | 5 | Open |
| Unnamed site - Santa Barbara, County of Local Other or Unknown | County | 2 | Open |
| Santa Barbara holding 9 Local Other or Unknown | Town or city | 2 | Unknown |
Things to do
5 places to go in Montecito
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Montecito
Butterfly Beach
DirectionsPublic pools in Montecito
Tom and Meg Names Aquatics Center
DirectionsPlaygrounds in Montecito
2 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Picnic areas in Montecito
1 picnic area without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see it.
Trails & water
17 named trails and 3 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Open to bikes · 2.5 miHorses · 0.9 miUnpaved · 9.5 mi
Ennisbrook Trail1.3 mi
Coffin Family Trail0.9 mi
Peter Bakewell Trail0.8 mi
Old Pueblo Trail0.7 mi
Las Barrancas Trail0.6 mi
McMenemy Trail0.5 mi
Cynthia Wood Trail0.5 mi
Hot Springs Trail0.5 mi
Fearing Trail0.4 mi
Ennisbrook Loop0.3 mi
7 more trails
Wiman Trail
0.3 miSan Ysidro Trail
0.3 miOrtega Hill Trail
0.3 miCold Spring Trail
0.2 miValley Club Trail
0.2 miBuena Vista Trail
0.1 miRidge Trail
0.1 miLakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
5.1 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
4.4 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
0.6 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
105Tennis
17Basketball
11Pickleball
3Volleyball
2Baseball
2Soccer
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →3 places on the National Register, one a National Historic Landmark
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service). The map also marks 1 historic points from OpenStreetMap: plaques, memorials and old buildings.
When to get out
The best walking months in Montecito: April to August
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 10.1 | 10.9 | 11.9 | 13.0 | 13.9 | 14.4 | 14.2 | 13.4 | 12.3 | 11.2 | 10.3 | 9.9 |
| High (°F) | 64 | 64 | 65 | 68 | 69 | 72 | 75 | 76 | 76 | 73 | 69 | 63 |
| Rain (in) | 4.5 | 4.8 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 3.1 |
July is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and August the warmest (highs of 76 °F). 4.8 inches fall in February, the wettest month. The climate in Montecito →
Next door
Montecito and its neighbors
Montecito has the second most mapped trails of the 4 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montecito | 2% | 1.5 | 8 | 79% | B |
| Santa Barbara | 14% | 1.8 | 13 | 98% | A |
| Summerland | 2% | 4.0 | 14 | 94% | A− |
| Toro Canyon | 3% | 0.5 | 61 | 7% | B− |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Montecito
Where can I hike in Montecito?
The longest trail networks: Casa Dorinda Oak Woodland, 0.9 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Montecito is conserved land?
2% of its land, against a typical 4% for a California town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Montecito’s trails?
OpenStreetMap records dogs as welcome at Casa Dorinda Oak Woodland (on leash). For the rest, check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Montecito?
5.1 miles of bike routes are on the map: 4.4 of painted or protected lanes and 0.6 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Montecito?
58,689 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Montecito or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 75 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Montecito have?
Ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade, #413 of 847 in California. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Montecito neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →