to make our way to a formerly defunct trail that had recently reopened after four decades...
The Franklin Trail is a historic trail that leads to Santa Barbara back country. It used to be widely used then closed forty years ago due to poacher stealing fruits from nearby farms along the trail. The trail was neglected for decades but through the hard work of volunteers and the city, was painstakingly restored, regraded, cleaned up, etc. There are three planned phases of the trail. Phase one recently reopened the year of our visit. We didn't do the whole trail, but got up to the first marker.
We parked a few blocks away from Carpinteria High School...passing by the empty Franklin Creek canal which had a few colorful murals...
The Virgin of Guadalupe is everywhere.
Nearby was the high school with their Warrior mascot...
There are trail markers on the outer edges of the high school's property plus informational bulletins. Just follow the signs.
The trail itself is pretty easy and not too strenuous at all. We saw other walkers, some with their canine friends. You start off passing farms and greenhouses and gradually ascend the foothill.
If it was a clear day, I'm sure the view would have been more spectacular but there was still morning fog. I rather liked it since it was still cool. No blazing hot sun to burn us.
You can see the many greenhouses below, some of which grow flowers.
Black sage flowers:
We wanted to make sure we reached this marker, Frank's Bench
The bench is named after local surfer, Frank Louda who died in a surfing accident in 2008
It was a nice spot to rest our legs and enjoy the morning air. Thick fog was still surrounding us. As I sat there, I heard a rustling sound from the path above. It turned out to be this fellow...
The dog scrambled down the hill, sniffed around my legs and headed straight for a waterbowl we didn't know was nearby, and then rushed off downhill. His master was not too far away. Our dog friend probably knows this trail by heart. Seeing the happy dog made our morning.
Some of the many avocado trees that surround the trail...
It took us less than two hours to do the trail since we stopped numerous time to take photos and admire the scenerey.
Glad we were able to check out this trail, even though we only covered a small part of it.
Articles/history/tips:
Franklin Trail - Historic path to Santa Barbara backcountry reopens" The Trailmaster
"Reopening the historic Franklin Trail - Mountain access after half a century" NoozHawk, May 1, 2017
AllTrails.com
"SantaBarbaraTrails.org
SantaBarbaraHikes
Franklin Trail
(park near south end of Carpinteria High School and follow the trail markers)
Carpinteria, CA 93013
franklintrail.org + sparse reviews on that four lettered site
This was a pretty easy walk but now we were hungry...breakfast up next!
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