Touring * Fitness * Beginner * Artistic *

Five miles north of Santa Barbara on U.S. 101/State Highway 1, take the State Highway 217/UCSB exit and follow this short highway toward the ocean. Take the Sandspit Road off-ramp, turn left on Moffett Road, and follow it back under the highway. Take a right onto Sandspit to cross a bridge into Goleta Beach County Park. Turn right as you enter the park and right again into the first parking lot. The inland side of the lot is right by the trail. Map: The Official Bike Map of Santa Barbara, Goleta, Montecito, Summerland, and Carpenteria; available free by calling (805) 568-3232.

An early-morning skate on this trail rewards you with memorable views of the inland mountains emerging from the rising fog. The surface is smooth, eight-foot-wide asphalt, and the border of street lamps and newly planted seedlings suggest an attentive maintenance policy that will likely serve this community well for years to come. One of the nicer touches is the separate and parallel gravel path used by equestrians, joggers, and mountain-bikers, leaving the pavement less crowded for faster folks on wheels. But on Saturday mornings, watch out for the swift, silent approach of street cyclists, who train in packs on this trail. Exit the Goleta Beach County Park on Sandspit Road to skate back across the ocean inlet that creates the sandpit. The trail turns right on the other side to parallel Maria Ygnacia Creek as it veers inland away from the inlet. For the first mile, the trail passes through a fairly open, natural marshy area. To your left are the often misty peaks of Los Padres National Forest; beyond the creek to the right is the ocean, hidden by low trees at the beginnings of a ridge. A few yards after crossing the first wood-slat bridge, you'll see the two-mile marker painted on the pavement (measured from Goleta Beach) and a fork in the trail. Take the right fork to follow Atascadero Creek. (The left fork is described in the following listing for Maria Ygnacia Creek.) For the rest of the route, the Atascadero Creek Trail passes alongside a housing development with a fairly low wall that remains untouched by graffiti. Don't waste your time exploring the next left fork in the trail; it's just a short connection path leading to the neighborhood termination of Turnpike Road. After another wooden bridge, the trail offers a brief peek into the Hidden Oaks Country Club, where members practice their golf strokes behind the chain-link fence. Farther on, Atascadero Creek remains in sight, a small canal next to the trail. You'll make your only street crossing at Puente; soon after, with one last little bridge, the trail comes to an end at Arroyo Road.