Longtime RMOWP member Robert Stone has released the fourth edition of Day Hikes Around Santa Barbara, part of his popular Day Hike Books series.
Stone tells us that Santa Barbara is a captivating, inviting community along California’s Pacific coast, 90 miles north of Los Angeles. The temperate climate and refreshing ocean breezes, similar to the Mediterranean, have distinguished this area as “the jewel of the American Riviera,” he says, with mountains, forests, wilderness, and stretches of undeveloped coast, plus miles of quiet, secluded hiking trails.
Day Hikes Around Santa Barbara includes 116 hikes within a 65-mile radius of the city. Most trails are located in natural, undeveloped areas, including 80 miles of coastline, the Santa Ynez Mountains, and the Santa Ynez River Valley. The 384-page book, with 388 maps, describes a wide range of hikes, from coastal beach walks to steep canyon climbs, and even a few urban trails.
Highlights include oceanside bluffs, beaches, tidepools, wetland preserves, sculpted gorges, rock outcroppings with caves, numerous waterfalls, secluded pools in mossy canyons, mountain ridge trails, historic sites, and stunning overlooks of the Pacific Ocean. Dog access information is also included.
Since 1991, Stone has been writer, photographer, and publisher of Day Hike Books. He spends summers in the Rocky Mountains of Montana and winters on the California Central Coast. His books are available at www.amazon.com and other booksellers. For more information see Stone’s website, www.dayhikebooks.com.