Best places: Parks in Santa Barbara County, United States

Public beachfront area with a popular snack shack, a sundry store, picnic tables & fire boxes.

Recreation area with a unique themed wooden playground, water mister & BBQ pit with a rotating spit.

A popular surfing spot, this beach is also the setting for swimming, picnicking & bird-watching.

This tranquil park with miles of sand dunes & beach access offers fishing, hiking & picnicking.

Public beach featuring paved bicycle trails, picnic areas & a 1,500-ft pier for walking & fishing.

Nearly 3,000-acre park extending from the ocean to the mountains, with hiking, swimming & fishing.

Tree-lined park offers hiking/biking trails alongside a creek, plus playgrounds & picnic amenities.

An 85-acre county park with a playground, picnic area & an accessible waterfall measuring 80 feet.

Miles of wooded canyon trails for hikers only (bikes prohibited) with creek access & scenic views.

👍👍 Large, wild natural beachfront park. Great spot for short 2-3 mi walk and/or run. Beach is often clothes optional to west of stairs. Harrier hawks, owls and swallows are common in park, plovers, sandpipers are common on beach. Fishing in kelp just off shore. Need to ride bike or park on Puente and w...

👍👍 Gorgeous scenery and well-maintained facilities. Great place for a picnic, casual family gathering, or a short scenic hike!

👍👍 It is so green, lush and beautiful from the Winter's rains. The creek has a beautiful stream. If you walk up the hike path there are many areas you can stop in and dip your feet in whilst there is still water flowing.

👍👍 Gorgeous vista point on the way from Santa Barbara to Solvang. Ample parking for a few photos. Make sure to take the short walk up to the upper vista point for more spectacular views.

👍👍 Even though the gate was closed we walked the half a mile out to the viewing platform and enjoyed the birds that were there. We also found a couple of geocaches. One along the way and one near the pool viewing platform. This was a great spot that we visited at is part of the Lompoc GeoTour.

👍👍 Nice cozy, scenic park with clean bathrooms. Plenty of grills and 2 areas that you can reserve for large gathering. There are horseshoe pits and jungle gyms for the kids. My new go to for picnics

This park with 1.5 miles of oceanfront land offers activities such as fishing, hiking & sunbathing.

👍👍 Incredible viewpoint on Santa Cruz Island of Channel Islands National Park that can be easily reached during a day-trip excursion from Scorpion Harbor (it is 2 miles round trip). Beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean and the surrounding cliffs. Nice views on the hike to get there. Some elevation gain...

👍👍 Beautiful park in the hills outside of Santa Maria. Many miles of trails!

Campground featuring tent & RV sites, plus cottages & facilities for boarding & riding horses.