SANTA BARBARA BEACHES A SOOTHING CHANGE.

Byline: William Toren Staff Writer

Although there are countless opportunities to enjoy nature tucked right into the urban megalopolis that is greater Los Angeles, the too-abrupt transition from hiking bliss to hustle and bustle can be jarring unless it's leavened with the occasional change of pace. With this in mind, I decided to revisit a favorite walk from my college days in Santa Barbara.

Although Santa Barbara is as well-known for its charming architecture and shopping as it is for its perfect climate and inviting beaches, there's no shortage of excursions into the less-manicured beauty surrounding the city. From Montecito to Goleta, the hills of the Los Padres National Forest offer a range of moderate-to-challenging climbs and spectacular vistas.

But the beaches also offer excellent hiking, especially the Sands Beach area around the Coal Oil Point Nature Reserve, between the Sandpiper Golf Course and the west side of the UC Santa Barbara campus.

Beginning my stroll west along the south-facing blufftops at the end of Del Playa Drive in Isla Vista, I share the clear and well-trod trail with wet-suited bicyclists carrying their surfboards to the point, a five-minute walk away. The ocean vista continues, uninterrupted, to the left, complete with excellent views of San Miguel, San Nicolas and Santa Rosa islands.

Following the path to the sparse facilities of the nature reserve, I pass through a cluster of trees to a favorite sight, Sands Beach in the morning sun. Here the trails disappear into the sand, but my route takes me forward to the edge of the reserve, where a rare combination of tidal estuary and slough provides a prime habitat for both migrating birds such as Canada geese and majestic wading species such as the snowy egret and great blue heron.

The 117-acre preserve is, naturally, off-limits, but the view it affords is worth the trip around its perimeter.

On the other side of the estuary/slough, the path up into the bluffs picks up again. From this point, the trip can take an hour or two, so if you have time, take the chance to dip your toes in the sand or ocean. Watch out for the beach tar that gives Coal Oil Point its name, though, as it's not always visible until it gets on your feet.

I continued along the trail to what is, to my knowledge, one of the few specimens of Southern California beachfront meadowland not subdivided and fenced off. Continuing up the bluff, there are brown pelicans soaring over the Pacific to the left and an open grassland on the right.

The meadow has trails running along the bluff, eventually ending at the golf course on the shore, as well as branch trails that lead to a grove of eucalyptus trees that might make one think of being transported to an inland forest.

Originally imported from Australia to serve as ready timber for the nearby Union Pacific railroad line, the towering trees now find their best use as the seasonal mating ground of hordes of Monarch butterflies.

Springtime is the ideal season to see the colorful insects covering the boughs like fluttering flowers, but the occasional pair of eye-catching wings can also be spotted in the early summer months. Be sure, though, to spare the odd glance at your footing while enjoying these sights, just to avoid a fall.

Leaving the grove and returning to the open country, other wildlife common to the coastal meadow can be seen, such as wild cottontail rabbits and sometimes foxes on their trail. The latter might actually be a mainland offshoot of the Island grey fox, once thought to exist only on the Channel Islands visible across the sea.

Looking across the meadow, across the water to the islands, again I'm drawn back to the beach, to put the hike behind me, for now, and contemplate the waves, ever churning, but soothing nonetheless. All by themselves, they never cease to make the distance traveled worthwhile.

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Coal Oil Point Reserve