Fir Canyon-Ranger Peak Loop -

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Access / Parking

Ride Log

Expectations for Riding the Santa Barbara Area Trails
Country trails are multi-use trails and as such are used by several thousand users each week. If you are riding downhill on these trails, expect to encounter them on your way. Your cooperation will help make everyone's experience a safe and pleasant one.

Ten things every mountain biker who rides the front country trails is expected to do:

1. Have a bike bell so other trail users know you are approaching.
2. Keep your speed down; practice riding techniques that minimize impacts.
3. Good braking means never having to skid. Do not lock up your brakes.
4. Approach switchbacks with caution and brake well before you reach them.
5. Stay on the designated tread. The front country trails are multi-use, not a race course.
6. Ride with other trail users in mind and enhance rather than interfere with their enjoyment.
7. Always assume there is another trail user around each corner.
8. Yield the right-of-way to uphill trail users. Stop and dismount if necessary to allow them to pass.
9. When approaching equestrians, dismount and ask them what they want you to do.
10. Be courteous. Smile and say something friendly to everyone you encounter.

Background

On The Ride

The ride begins beyond a metal pole fence. Most likely you will need to push this first section, which climbs very steeply up to a high saddle. The surrounding country is open grassland, and it is beautiful in the springtime.

Once you’ve reached the top of the saddle, having gained 200 feet, you’ll be able to ride the rest of the Ranger Peak Trail. The trail is rocky but manageable, and the views are incredible. The route leads from the saddle in an easterly direction along the ridge. In the first three-quarters mile the downhill is gentle, and you will lose about 250 feet to the top of a large outcropping which is a very nice spot to stop for a while.

Once you are beyond this knoll the trail begins to drop much more rapidly, and over the next several miles, until you intersect with Happy Canyon Road, you will lose almost 2,000 feet. The pace is fast and furious, and before you know it you will be down at the paved road.

Once you hit the pavement, unless you’ve left a shuttle car, there is a lot of uphill ahead of you. It is four miles and an 800-foot gain to Cachuma Saddle; and three miles to Ranger Peak, with 1,350 feet of additional gain. This is time for getting into a low gear and checking into your all-day pace. It is a long ride, but the country is beautiful and the views spacious.