Thomas Fire Trail Closures Extended by County of Santa Barbara

County Closure Sign at Franklin Trail Head

With road access now allowing people into most areas of Montecito following the tragic mudslides, here is what you need to know about the status of your favorite trails along the Front Country.

Previously the Forest Service had closed access to trails that were effected by the Thomas Fire and fell within the National Forest Boundary.  Due to concerns that recent heavy rains may have caused instability to the hillsides already bare from the Thomas Fire, the County of Santa Barbara has followed suit and decided to close trail portions adjacent to National Forest Boundary.  Trails now closed in their entirety by this and the previous Forest Service order are: West Fork of Cold Spring Trail, Cold Spring Trail, Hot Springs Trail + Connector, Mcmenemy Trail, Old Pueblo Trail, Girard Trail, San Ysidro Trail, Saddle Rock Trail, Wiman Trail, Buena Vista Trail, Romero Trail, and Franklin Trail.

*UPDATE: 2/1/18  The County of Santa Barbara has re-opened it's portion of the Franklin Trail, please note the FS closure is still in effect for this trail!  The county will monitor conditions and further closures are possible on this trail again throughout the winter.

The Good News About The Trails Is......

The good news is that trails are open east of Cold Springs including: Hot Springs, San Ysidro, and Romero. The bad news is that I drove up to the other trail heads to check their status and posted their photos below. Jesusita off of San Roque and Tunnel Trail head both got torched. When they open again at some point be prepared for complete shock. Tunnel Road is down right depressing. Many power poles have been burned and are under repair, vegetation on both sides is gone. Familiar houses that have made the Tunnel Rd area unique are now piles of rubble. The trail head itself must have been an inferno. Metal signs on both sides of the trail head are disfigured and close to the melting point. The gate at the trail head which used to contain our advertisement for our "happy hour" now has melted plastic where it used to be. The landscape is unreal, it looks more like a desert than a trail in Santa Barbara and the ground around the trail head itself is still radiating heat. It will be some time before these areas look the way we are used to seeing them. We will be helping the agencies to get our trails back to usable condition again. If you would like to be part of this process contact us for further information. Dave for the MTC

Cold Springs- Closed

Rattlesnake- Closed
Tunnel Trail Head- Closed

Tunnel-Photo Taken 1 Month Ago

Tunnel Trail Head Area

Tunnel Singed Signs

Jesusita Trail Head- Closed (that post used to be the trail head sign)

Jesusita Trail in San Roque Canyon

Stevens Park Jesusita Trail Access- Closed