Celebrating the 10th Anniversary in 2023
Taking the Franklin Trail to the crest of the Santa Ynez Mountains is one of Carpinteria’s most popular places to enjoy nature-based recreation. The shared-use trail provides hikers, equestrians, mountain bikers, trail runners, and other trail users with a direct route from Carpinteria to the Santa Ynez River. Community members use this free and easily accessed open space for a range of benefits, including health, fitness, and overall wellness. The 8-mile-long trail cuts through mountainous chaparral, offering panoramic views of the islands, coastline, and valley floor.
Celebrating, Celebrating, and Celebrating
The Franklin Trail is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2023. The trail was planned, funded, and built by collaborating with many organizations and individuals to create something beautiful in Carpinteria.
Local organizations, including Santa Barbara County Trails Council, the Montecito Trails Foundation, and the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County, partnered with government agencies that included the City of Carpinteria, the County of Santa Barbara, and the U.S. Forest Service to reclaim the eight-mile long Franklin Trail -- extending from the City of Carpinteria to the crest of the Santa Ynez Mountains in the Los Padres National Forest.
Click on the image to enlarge. Get your free commemorative cotton bandana (25" x 25") with a donation.
How to Give to the Franklin Trail Fund
Thank you for considering a gift to the Franklin Trail Fund. All gifts are tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law. You will receive a written acknowledgment of your gift in the mail.
As a thank you gift, all donation levels receive a commemorative bandana
- Trail Enthusiast........................ $25
- Trail Guide................................ $35
- Trail Advocate........................... $50
- Trail Partner.............................$100
- Trail Builder.............................$500
- Trail Blazer............................$1,000
- Trail Guardian.......................$5,000
The Route
With the trailhead near Carpinteria High School, the Franklin Trail winds around the school, track field, and adjacent orchards where the trail begins a steady climb and switchbacks will take you up Franklin Canyon while rising into the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains with magnificent ocean views. Leaving the single track the trail follows a dirt road alongside several ranches with a mixture of well-developed coastal scrub and mixed chaparral. The first five miles follow easements provided by private landowners to reach the edge of the Los Padres National Forest. The trail enters the LPNF five miles from the trailhead and at 1,700 feet, offering vistas of the Santa Barbara Channel, the islands, and the Carpinteria Valley.
The top of the trail is at 3,720 feet above sea level and 7.9 miles from the trailhead. At this junction, the Franklin Trail joins the segment of the trail on the north side of the mountains, where it goes past Alder Creek and runs down to Jameson Lake joining miles of backcountry trails such as those in the Dick Smith and Sespe Wilderness Areas. To the west is the link to the network of Front Country trails in Montecito and Santa Barbara. A digital version of the trail map can be downloaded.
Why Is This Trail Important
Just north of Carpinteria, the Los Padres National Forest provides a network of hiking, biking and equestrian trails that wind through the chaparral-covered foothills. The Franklin Trail provides a direct link from the Carpinteria valley floor to any of these mountain trails. The trail provided residents of Carpinteria and neighboring communities an opportunity to participate nature-based recreation. As a shared-use trail the Franklin Trail is open to the safe shared use by everyone.
Collaborative Initiative
The Trails Council is collaborating with the US Forest Service, County of Santa Barbara, City of Carpinteria, the Friends of Franklin Trail, Montecito Trails Foundation, and Los Padres Forest Association to care for, promote and maintain the Franklin Trail across its historic route from Carpinteria to the crest of the Santa Ynez Mountains and down the back side to Jamieson Lake.
For more information call Executive Director, Mark Wilkinson, at 805.708.6173
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