Before you can hike and soak at Santa Barbara County’s highly popular Montecito Hot Springs, you’ll need to arrange a ride-share or grab an early parking spot — probably before 9 a.m. (There are only eight or nine spots at the Hot Springs Canyon trailhead, and curbside parking is scant in this neighbor.hood of gated mansions.)Next you hike 1.2 or 1.3 mile upslope among boulders, oaks and a meandering creek, gaining about 800 feet of altitude and crossing the creek at least once near the end. The path can be challenging and busy, especially on weekends, especially if it has rained recently. A Los Padres National Forest spokesman warns that “the foothills of Santa Barbara are especially fragile and hiking is especially precarious in the aftermath of heavy rains.”Also, there are no bathrooms or trash cans on the trail or at the springs. Near the pools, you’ll pick up the scent of sulfur and see a hand-lettered CLOTHING OPTIONAL sign.Arriving, you’ll see a series of spring-fed pools of varying temperatures, some only a foot or two deep. These pools, as a Los Padres National Forest told me, have been created by “trail gnomes,” no government entities involved. Thus, the pools get rearranged from time to time, especially after substantial rains. Take care on the way back down. You’ll be soaked and mellow, but that mile-plus of downhill trail requires some attention.Bonus: Within about 20 yards of the pools you’ll find stone ruins that were part of a 19th-century hotel, later a private club, which was destroyed in a 1964 fire, The hot springs, ruins and surrounding land have been part of Los Padres National Forest since 2013.
