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Inspiration Point Trailhead
4.6 ★★★★★ 445 Google reviews · Running trail in Santa Barbara, California · Open 24 hours
Runner's snapshot
- Surface
- Mixed
- Distance
- 4 mi
- Shape
- Not reported
- Shade
- Tree cover
- Access
- Open 24 hours
Confirmed from Inspiration Point Trailhead's own listing, the park or land manager's website, and runner reviews. Blank cells mean we could not verify that fact — we would rather say "not reported" than invent one. There is no Easy / Moderate / Hard rating on this page on purpose: a one-word difficulty score tells you nothing about whether a trail suits your run. Surface, distance, shade and hours do.
Scenic 4-mile, mostly uphill hike with a dirt trail for about 2 miles and an overlook of Santa Barbara.
What runners say about Inspiration Point Trailhead
“This is a great hike and if you’re in the area, I definitely recommend setting aside at least a few hours and you’ll be rewarded with an amazing scenic view of the area.”
“Parts of the trail are shaded, so you can stop to rest in the shade if you’d like.”
Very nice hike. Will take around 2 hours round trip. Be careful about the route, you could easily go to the wrong way. On your way up there is a point you need to turn left, the other option is a very steep road going to nowhere once you reach there.
Great hike can get rather challenging! The top view is very nice, good place for a picture and plenty of room to stand. Trail can get narrow very difficult to make it to the top with a bike. No real creeks at least when I went August 2019. Make sure you research the parking before hand, very limited street parking.
A good medium difficulty hike. Basically all uphill to Inspiration Point. The nice thing about that is it’s all downhill going back. Parts of the trail are shaded, so you can stop to rest in the shade if you’d like. It’s almost exactly two miles up and two miles back. Take water, even for the short hike.
Up in the Santa Barbara mountains on a wet and misty day on a Monday. Well, I lucked out because most people don’t like to hike in those conditions. I might have seen four people the three hours I trudged up and down this lovely Disney themed jungle.
Trail conditions & character
“This is a great hike and if you’re in the area, I definitely recommend setting aside at least a few hours and you’ll be rewarded with an amazing scenic view of the area.”
“As others have stated, it’s a popular hike and parking is very limited on weekends.”
“On your way up there is a point you need to turn left, the other option is a very steep road going to nowhere once you reach there.”
“The trail starts on a paved path for about 3/4 of a mile then transitions to a dirt and rock path.”
“The path is not that technical but I would recommend that you have some hiking experience before you attempt to climb to the top.”
“Parts of the trail are shaded, so you can stop to rest in the shade if you’d like.”
Plan your run at Inspiration Point Trailhead
The practical stuff
- AccessOpen 24 hours — no gate to beat, so a 5am or a 10pm run both work
- SurfaceMixed — more than one surface along the route, so check the segment you plan to run
- Distance4 mi as reported — check whether that is one way or a round trip before you commit
- ShadeRunners describe real tree cover here — it makes a summer afternoon workable
- At the trailheadparking — reported by runners
Hours
| Monday | Open 24 hours |
| Tuesday | Open 24 hours |
| Wednesday | Open 24 hours |
| Thursday | Open 24 hours |
| Friday | Open 24 hours |
| Saturday | Open 24 hours |
| Sunday | Open 24 hours |
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