After four months, the Tunnel Trail in Santa Barbara reopened last weekend, allowing hikers to once again access the Inspiration Point trailhead at the top of Tunnel Road. 

The closure was part of the Mission Canyon Stream Restoration Project. In 2019, Southern California Edison crews unintentionally damaged the Mission Canyon environment during road and vegetation management work. They dumped debris into the creek and tributaries.

Southern California Edison has been restoring the area by removing rocks and debris, stabilizing areas to prevent erosion, and revegetation work by planting native seeds, according to Southern California Edison spokesperson Gabriela Ornelas. 

Evan Colburn, who lives near the trail, said he’s happy to finally see it reopened as he usually hikes the trail multiple times a week, with his young daughter on his back to help her get to sleep.

Now that the trail is open, he hasn’t observed any major differences but he definitely noticed the work in the area. 

“I saw the work that they did — they were pulling all the debris out from the creek bed, and they had the helicopter going — but as far as differences in the trail, it seems about the same,” Colburn said.

Colburn said he was disappointed by the damage done to the area but is glad to see they were remedying the issue; however, he wished the trail didn’t need to close.

“I would have preferred to have the trail open, and with work crews going up and down the road, living on the street is just kind of a nuisance, but I’m glad that it’s reopened,” Colburn said.

The same trail will close again in summer 2025 for approximately three months so crews can remove rocks and debris from the stream bed and banks, reconstruct and revegetate stream habitat, and monitor restoration efforts, Ornelas said. 

A map of the closure can be seen here.

The work was broken into two phases so crews could work without rainy winter weather. After the closure next summer, crews will finish revegetation efforts.

“We’ll be completing final revegetation activities, just wrapping up planting native seeds there for bushes, shrubs, some oak trees as well, so really helping to revitalize that area,” Ornelas said.

All restoration and revegetation work is expected to be completed by the end of next year, but crews will still be monitoring the area for the next several years to see how the plants are growing and how the stream is flowing, according to Ornelas.