Hi,

Hope everyone is well. I currently live in South Africa, but may be moving to the states at some point.

One of the factors to choose where to live is what the riding is like in that area.

Can anyone tell me what the riding is like near Santa Barbara and outlying areas? Just general stuff like the type of trails, different options etc.

I guess I should also ask where the best riding is? I prefer the more technical type enduro style riding and I ride a KTM 250 XC-W.

Thanks guys. Keep well,
Justin

Justin,

Unless you're plated, Santa Barbara has a limited amount of legal, local riding. Upper Oso and Divide Peak are the only two within an hour's drive. Upper Oso is primarily fire road and nothing special. Divide Peak is a great little ride with a mix of fast fire road and technical double track but you can do the entire thing in less than 2 hours. The biggest drawback to Divide is the drive up; you'll spend at least 40 minutes driving on Gibraltar / East Camino Cielo coming from downtown SB.

If you wanted to increase your driving time to about 2 hours, you'd have a significantly larger variety of options: Mt. Pinos, Hungry Valley, Ballinger Canyon, Rowher Flats, and multiple other less known locations.

3-4 hours of driving time would get you to pretty much any riding area in the desert (everything from Jawbone to Johnson Valley to Glamis) and 4-6 hours would get you to my personal favorite, the California High Sierras.

If you have any detailed questions, feel free to shoot me a PM.

There are also two tracks within a hour and half.  Zaca Station and Piru.  Pismo is about that same distance.

Is Upper Oso the spot out of Red Rock?

joeprunc, on 25 July 2012 - 04:30 PM, said:

Yeah.

Ok great. Thank for the info. PM sent.

Don't forget about Pozo Canyon just north of San Luis Obispo. That place has a great day's riding. Probably 1.5-2 hours from Santa Barbara.