When the weather gods shower Santa Barbara with some real rain, why not rejoice and head for the hills?
In the 1970s and ’80s, I would do just that with friends, and we would charge right up Rattlesnake Canyon or Cold Spring Trail and stupidly push through the foaming creek crossings. Now, wiser and older, there’s enough mud on our front- and backcountry paths that I can’t recommend trail hiking, and I certainly discourage mountain biking or horseback riding on any of our local trails after moderate or heavy rainfall.
Of my 80-plus columns, they’ve all been literally “on the trail” in the front- or backcountry. This column features a low-tide hike on the strand from Haskell’s Beach west to Naples Point (park at the Bacara Resort & Spa public access parking lot; see 4-1-1.).
While my personal interests lay almost entirely inland, and I much prefer backpacks or day hikes into the interior, the hinterland, the backcountry, the outback, the high desert, the periphery of empire … a rainy January has at times barred me from working out on the local muddy trials because of the damage I’d make on the path itself. This avoidance is even more critical for mountain bikers and horsemen; their wheels/hooves ruin trails if they are muddy.
While working on multiple history degrees at UCSB in the 1970s, after many hours working in the Davidson Library, I would meet other grad students such as Rolf Scheel (one-time UCSB pitching coach) and Dr. Franko Hudson, and at low tide we would run straight from campus west to Isla Vista, Devereux, Haskell’s and past Naples Point. If we had chosen a very low tide — the sorts we often get in January — the beach “trail” opens out to El Capitan or even Refugio State Beach.
I also remember SCUBA diving at Naples reef just off the Point where the rocky ridge extended right into the water. UC safety diver Denny Divins gave me a dive check there in the 1980s, and when it was legal, we would free dive there for abalone. Even now, with a huge population increase along the South Coast, there wasn’t a soul at Naples Point on Jan. 6, and no surfers taking advantage of the ideal shape off of the “secret spot” at Naples.
When you pull into the ample parking lot at the Bacara Resort (several large brown-background “Public Access” signs lead you there), after parking, take the quarter-mile-wide path down to the Beach House.
You hike on a thoughtfully planned nature trail featuring 19 helpful signs next to actual growing plants that were, and still are, utilized by Chumash Native Americans.
The signs also include Samala (Chumash) names, for example, chatishwi ‘ikhus for the coffee berry bush, whose leaves the Chumash used to rub on the skin against rheumatism. On this interesting path, you also get glimpses of infamous Platform Holly with Santa Cruz Island behind half-concealed by the mist. In Samala, the island was called mic’ umas.
Once you’re on the beach, and you’ve made sure it is a pretty low tide, it’s a wonderful stroll out to Naples Point, about two miles, thus making this an almost five-mile, round-trip, easy beach hike.
In January, sometimes there is just enough sand left that specifically delineated “lanes” seem to open up and you walk along your own gritty boulevard. Occasionally you encounter a mudslide or interesting pools.
The lanes stay close to the water, and you can often see herons and other shorebirds feeding in the intertidal zone. We also saw some dolphins that sported and soared right along with us as we hiked enjoying the nature show.
On the return, I enjoyed the Chumash nature trail and spent time studying some of the other herbs and edible plants they groomed.
I’ve found that at least three half-day hikes per week are necessary to stay fit. When I rule out the local frontcountry trails because of mud and trail damage, seizing the chance to cruise west along a lonely beach past Goleta is ideal.
Bring your kids and some snacks, or make an entire beach picnic out of a half-day excursion to Haskell’s Beach and Naples Point.
4-1-1
Driving directions: Take Highway 101 to the Winchester Canyon offramp. Drive straight ahead to the second stop sign and turn left over the freeway, then go right past the golf course. Follow the brown-backed “Coastal Access” signs to the parking lot (don’t turn into the gas plant).
— Dan McCaslin is the author of Stone Anchors in Antiquity, and has written extensively about the local backcountry. He serves as an archaeological site steward for the U.S. Forest Service in the Los Padres National Forest. He welcomes reader ideas for future Noozhawk columns, and can be reached at cazmania3@gmail.com. Click here to read additional columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
