Bob Burd's Trip Reports

Parma Park Sat, Oct 22, 2016		Story	Photos / Slideshow	Map	GPX	Profile

Continued...

In Santa Barbara for a second day of girl's HS volleyball, I had only until 9a today to get some exercise in before the morning's game schedule took over. I headed to Parma Park on the northeast edge of town, part of the foothills in the Santa Ynez Mountains. As parks go, this one is pretty weak, even by my low standards. Found just north of SR192 and east of Sycamore Canyon, the park is covered in dense, dry brush at head level, limiting views. A fire road runs up one ridgeline and down another with various trails branching off. I followed the main trail that traverses the slopes above SR192 before intersecting the fire road, taking that to the park's highpoint at 775ft. This point features a generic benchmark, a picnic bench, decent views and a plaque honoring one of the park's supporters. One can also log the summit on peakbagger.com, where I got the idea for this short venture, but not on LoJ since it has little prominence and no official name. Along the fireroad I descended there is a second viewspot with a bench and a few stately oak trees. There are more trees along the park's western edge in Sycamore Canyon, but the creek is quite dry at this time of year and not all that inviting. I had ridden my bike from the hotel on State Street in the downtown area to one of the park trailheads, then spent about 45min hiking a loop around the park. I was easily back by 9a for a shower and second breakfast before shuttling the girls to the volleyball venue in the van...