Toro Canyon Park
Park
68 acres1.2 mi of trail
Gazebo trail
Dog rules not recorded
Directionsto the parking lot
B−Outdoors
Outdoors in Toro Canyon
Toro Canyon has 90 acres of parks, 61 for every 1,000 residents
The biggest trail networks: Toro Canyon Park (1.2 mi). 7% of residents live within a half mile of a park. 4.9 miles of mapped trail cross Toro Canyon, 0.5 per square mile of land.
Ahead of 52% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
3%
173 acres · of 9.4 sq mi of land
Trails
4.9 mi
0.5 per sq mi of land
Park land
90 ac
61 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
7%
of residents within ½ mile
Bike routes
3.3 mi
2.5 mi lanes · 0.8 mi paths
Lakes & rivers
1
1 beach
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Toro Canyon have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Toro Canyon is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns. Park acres per resident hold the grade up; the share of residents near a park pulls it down.
B−
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Toro Canyon’s overall grade.
Conserved land3% of the land · typical CA town 4% · U.S. 4%B−Trails0.5 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (5 mi) · CA 0.9 · U.S. 0.4BPark land61 acres of park per 1,000 residents (90 acres) · CA 5 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home7% of residents within a half mile of a park · CA 91% · U.S. 72%D
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 52%
LessMore
Water is 32% of Toro Canyon’s area (4 of 14 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 2%.
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 Toro Canyon Park, with 1.2 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Los Padres National Forest
Managed by United States Forest Service
6 acres
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Who protects it
173 conserved acres
3% of Toro Canyon’s land. Water is left out: Toro Canyon has 9.4 square miles of land and 4.4 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Toro Canyon’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
County88 ac
Land trusts & nonprofits62 ac
Regional agency17 ac
U.S. Forest Service5 ac
State Department of Land1 ac
Local Park · 88 acUnknown Easement · 62 acLocal Historic or Cultural Area · 17 acNational Forest · 5 acState Other or Unknown · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 62 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toro Canyon Park Local Park | County | 88 | Open |
| Carpinteria Cemetery Local Historic or Cultural Area | Regional agency | 17 | Open |
| Los Padres National Forest National Forest | U.S. Forest Service | 5 | Open |
| Santa Claus Lane Beach State Other or Unknown | State Department of Land | 1 | Open |
Things to do
7 places to go in Toro Canyon
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Beaches in Toro Canyon
Santa Claus Beach
DirectionsDog parks in Toro Canyon
Toro Canyon Off Leash AreaIn Toro Canyon Park
DirectionsPicnic areas in Toro Canyon
Area 4In Toro Canyon Park
DirectionsPlus 4 picnic areas without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
6 named trails and 1 lakes & rivers
Named trails
Horses · 1.9 miUnpaved · 1.7 mi
Perkins Trail1.2 mi
Toro Ridge Trail1.2 mi
Gazebo trail0.7 mi
Toro Canyon Trail0.7 mi
Lower Toro Canyon Ridge Trail0.4 mi
Ed Clark Easement0.1 mi
Lakes & rivers tap for directions
Biking & sports
3.3 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
2.5 mi
painted or protected bike lanes
0.8 mi
off-road bike paths
Courts & fields
26Tennis
1Basketball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
When to get out
The best walking months in Toro Canyon: 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 | 66 | 69 | 71 | 75 | 79 | 81 | 79 | 75 | 70 | 64 |
| Rain (in) | 5.0 | 5.2 | 3.7 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 3.3 |
July is the driest month (under 0.1 in) and August the warmest (highs of 81 °F). 5.2 inches fall in February, the wettest month. The climate in Toro Canyon →
Next door
Toro Canyon and its neighbors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toro Canyon | 3% | 0.5 | 61 | 7% | B− |
| Summerland | 2% | 4.0 | 14 | 94% | A− |
| Montecito | 2% | 1.5 | 8 | 79% | B |
| Carpinteria | 11% | 3.3 | 10 | 95% | A |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Toro Canyon
Where can I hike in Toro Canyon?
The longest trail networks: Toro Canyon Park, 1.2 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Toro Canyon is conserved land?
3% 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 Toro Canyon’s trails?
Toro Canyon Park and Los Padres National Forest don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Where can I bike in Toro Canyon?
3.3 miles of bike routes are on the map: 2.5 of painted or protected lanes and 0.8 of off-road paths.
Is there public land near Toro Canyon?
54,167 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Toro Canyon or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 94 of them inside the town line.
How much outdoors does Toro Canyon have?
Ahead of 52% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. 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 Toro Canyon 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 →