Willow Spring

Not to be confused with the Willow Spring Figueroa Trail or the Willow Spur trail, also in the Los Padres Mtns.

Went for a hike yesterday with my daughter to a place I’ve not gone before, which is surprising when you consider all the times I’ve hiked other trails around here. It was lovely. It’s called “Willow Springs” and is in northern Santa Barbara county. I find I’m going more on weekdays now to avoid the growing masses of people present on the weekends. The dirt of the trail showed that it’s popular with mountain bikers, which I am not a big fan of on the same narrow, windy trails as people hiking. But none today. In fact, we did not see another soul the whole way! So yeah. It was peaceful. It was uphill most all the way. Except at the top where it broadened out.

Didn’t see any willows or springs however, though I read elsewhere that water is there (reputedly just a cow water trough). But it’s a big area. I’ll have to come back to explore more …

Below are some photos from it. Click on the pics to enlarge.

Hmm, would you like to come along?

I found a length of this barbed wire about 50 feet from the trail. This is really a problem. I’ve seen strands of the stuff left wily-nilly on the ground at other places too to catch unsuspecting animals in their easy-to-entangle embrace. Carried it (with difficulty) back to the car, but I didn’t want to scratch up the kid’s trunk or rip the blankets and other stuff she has there, so I left it near a chain-link fence that I don’t think animals will find by the road. If I’d have had my truck I would have just tossed it in the back.