My friend and I decided to road trip up to Santa Barbara for 4 days of adventures and wine tasting. This 4 day trip to to Santa Barbara was perfect for me because we combined my love of hiking and adventures with my other not so secret lover, wine.
Santa Barbara is of course known for it’s wine. BUT it is less known for being in the top 5 wealthiest towns in the United States (fun fact). So if you’re up for being spendy and getting a luxe hotel room (which I am totally for) go ahead!
It just so happened that the few days my friend and I went, we decided to camp. We camped because it was early summer and we were looking to get some hikes in.
After posting a ton of pictures and content on my Instagram, I realized that not many people knew that you could be SO ACTIVE in Santa Barbara. A lot of people just associate SB with wine, beach + celebrities.
SO if you’re looking for an active but also cultural (by that I mean wine tastings) visit to SB, this blog post is it!
We arrived at Los Prietos Campground about a half hour drive from the heart of Santa Barbara. We set up our tent, table, food, cooking supplies and we were set. I also want to mention that this campground DOES have running water and bathrooms for those who need that 🙂
DAY 1:
Arrive atLos Prietos Campground
We had about a 5 hour drive from San Diego so we hung out at our campsite for the rest of the afternoon into the evening with my favorite red wine from Trader Joes.
We went to sleep on the earlier side between 9-10 because we were getting up for early sunrise hikes!
**IMPORTANT: check the weather where you are going hiking + camping because weather can vary. We had VERY hot days like 98+ so we were only doing early morning / sunrise hikes.
DAY 2
Woke up at about 4 am.
Hiked Inspiration Point 3.5 mile hike that overlooks all of Santa Barbara and the ocean (picture below for views)
After our hike we drove into town to enjoy a beach day and then went to Deep Sea Winery later that afternoon.
DAY 3
Woke up at about 5 am to prep for a difficult hike we were going to do that morning.
Hike: Tequepis Trail 7.8 Miles and rated as HARD. The elevation gain is 2,437 ft on the way up the mountain so it is definitely steep! **Recommend to do early morning in the summer!
After the hike we headed to some wineries in the heart of Santa Barbara.
First stop was Santa Barbara Winery which is the oldest winery in Santa Barbara, I personally enjoyed their Chardonnay (I like sweet things).
The next stop worth mentioning was Stolpman Winery which had the most family feel. It is a small staff but the winery employees felt like they’re were all so close + good friends. We were lucky enough to sit a table away from the owner of the winery who may or may not have served us some extra wine 😉
After a few winery visits we stopped at Los Olivos wine merchant – YES. it was fabulous. I have no other words. Of course, it is on the ~pricier~ side but seriously I loved it. If it isn’t enjoyable when you go, blame all the wine I drank before enjoying lunch here.
I got the Mykonos Pizza and BOYYY was it good! If you enjoy Mediterranean, get this.
We then headed back to the campsite for a light dinner and card games around the campsite.
DAY 4:
Woke up for a sunrise hike at Lizard’s Mouth
Followed by a 4 mile hike into Hot Springs Canyon Trail (one of my personal favorites of this trip). I thought the hot springs were like edited in the pictures and they wouldn’t ACTUALLY be blue. But they were!
After the hot springs hike we headed back home to San Diego.
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