Tow-away enforcement is now in place for the newly established parking restrictions near the Hot Springs Trailhead on East Mountain Drive and Riven Rock Road in Montecito. The restrictions are clearly marked with new signage.
The new restrictions along East Mountain Drive and Riven Rock Road include:
- No Parking Anytime– Tow-Away Zone highlighted with a solid yellow line on the map.
- No Parking Sunset to 8:00 a.m. – Tow-Away Zone highlighted with a dotted green line on the map.
- No Parking During Red Flag Warning – Tow-Away Zone (only effective during fire weather events, classified as Red Flag Warnings by the National Weather Service) highlighted with a solid red line on the map.
- No Parking Oversized Vehicles – Tow-Away Zone highlighted with
a solid blue line on the map.
The overnight parking enforcement aligns with the Hot Springs Trail Parking Lot Closure time. The areas under enforcement are frequently used by people traveling to the area to use the popular hiking trails. These measures are intended to enhance pedestrian safety, ensure access for emergency vehicles, and limit nighttime activity that poses fire risks in the front country.
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors established the new parking restrictions this summer. Santa Barbara County Public Works completed the installation of new signage in August 2025. The Sheriff’s Office and California Highway Patrol have provided a one-month grace period to allow the community time to adjust to the new rules. Deputies and officers will now begin enforcing towing for vehicles parked in violation.
“In the coming weeks, deputies will be monitoring parking activity near the Hot Springs Trailhead. New parking restrictions are in effect in this area, and vehicles found in violation may be subject to towing. We appreciate the public’s cooperation as these measures are intended to improve safety and access around the trailhead,” said Lieutenant Richard Brittingham of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office.
If your vehicle is towed, you can locate it by contacting the Sheriff’s Dispatch Center at (805) 681-4100. This phone number is also posted on signage in the area for quick reference.
Are the lines specific to certain sides of the streets? If not, why have limited “no parking” in the same area as a “no parking anytime?” Why not just ban parking and be done with it then? On the other hand, if the colors are only for that side of the street, I guess it makes some sense but is still very confusing (and a TRUE waste of tax payer dollars) to have so many different parking rules within a few blocks. What a mess!
And how ugly can you get with so many signs in such a pretty area?
I wonder if our usual “b b b b b b but mY tAx dOLalRs!” crowd will show up to complain about this waste of money and time?
I kind of agree, I don’t think this trail is worth all the hair-splitting. But then I don’t even see why people use this trail in the first place and I don’t get why it’s so freeking popular. There’s a more interesting way to get there. If people have to park a mile away there will be a lot fewer users (I hesitate to call them “hikers”, as the goal for most seems to be to park their butts in a puddle of warm water), but as a residential area there should be some street parking for people visiting the homes. Glad it’s not my problem.
Just seems like this sign will lead to more confusion, which then leads to more violations and more tow trucks. Enforcing and monitoring a small area like this seems like a waste of resources for the size of the problem.
Great point about it being residential. That must be frustrating now to have no parking for guests!
Cmon man, you really sound like a wanker. Ban parking altogether? Wrong. You’re just talking to yourself with your own back and forth here, as you often do when you can’t take a stand. Take a stand and that’s it. It’s called an honest opinion. And no one here is going to be answering your obscure, over-analyzed questions, just so you know. lol.
BASIC – it’s a pretty simple question. I’m not surprised you’re confused.
Take a stand? What does that even mean in this context? I asked a question. I’m not stating an opinion. I never said they should ban all parking, I’m saying if parking is not allowed on either side of the street no matter what, then what’s the point of…… you know what? Never mind.
I can’t hold your hand through simple concepts anymore.
You need to learn to read and think for yourself.
Gotta do it. It’s called ‘tragedy of the commons’. Some people screw things up, and the more people we have seeking limited resources, the more they jack things up for everyone else.
Tragedy of a word salad.
” ” not ‘ ‘
Possibly a Python programmer.
EdHat thinks my esoteric joke about being “possibly a Python programmer” is a case of doxxing? Seriously?
I know right? It’s so nerdy no one knows wtf it even means…
BASIC – just because you don’t understand something doesn’t mean it’s “nerdy.” What are you, 12?
Incorrect, Edhat has no opinions about your “joke”
Im sure you’re going to see an ebike parking explosion or an increase in Ubers to the area. One problem will just create another as people adapt. 6 months from now will read in the new article “Uber drop off problem to Hot Springs trail troubleing for Montecito”
I’ve been an avid front country hiker for decades and it’s always puzzled me why this trail is so popular. It’s not a fun hike, going along the back fences of people who resent the crap out of you being there, and then a lot of it is an old roadbed with very little shade. The destination has vacillated between a meh-not-quite-interesting historical spot, if you go when the crowds don’t, and a crowded eyesore, full of partiers playing their music and sitting waist deep in muddy, tarp lined puddles of warm water. The cool way to get there is from the Cold Spring trail, but that’s also got a parking problem, and like why would you anyway?
This is just weird, confusing over reach. Park in this spot between this time and that time, park over there during that other time, park over across the street and near the rock during this time or date. A bit much and will just create a lot of problems. First time the wrong person gets towed, there will be a lawsuit and this will go away and we’ll start all over. As for the whiners that live near there. You knowingly bought property next to a popular trail. That is on you. Not the communities fault. The Alvin & Chipmunks people are the squeakiest wheels around and a bit obnoxious to the point where it’s ruined one of my fav child hood cartoons and holiday shows….
Agree with a post stating that the trail isn’t much of a hike and most are kids, elderly, or lazy people wanting to walk half a mile on mostly flat trail ground with maybe 75ft elevation gain to sit in a stinking mud pool. But….many hikers access it to access other trail areas. Also people camp over night in the hills, which isn’t illegal, but putting no parking signs after sunset? I kinda see that as questionably illegal. Either way, this won’t affect me, i don’t hike that meager walkable flat trail.
Another catastrophe thanks to the Covid shut-down. And don’t forget State Street!
LOL what?
Ok, how is this terrible parking plan due to COVID?
This is next level stuff 🤣
It’s the new MAGA game: “Three degrees To Fauci”
GOP victim card. Living in the past? Airing old grievances.
Really? I have to explain it to you😳
CDS – Covid Derangement Syndrome
SDS – State Street Derangement Syndrome
HAMMONDS – yes, please do.
Please explain how COVID shut downs caused parking issues at a trailhead over 4 years later.
No explanation needed: you’re an ultra right wing crank and troll
“Catastrophe”? Yeah, no. More of a minor annoyance for a minuscule slice of the local 1%.
Can you get to Tangerine Falls this way?
Hopefully, this will alleviate some of the parking issues at that trailhead…hopefully. Maybe establish an electric shuttle bus to “schlep” hikers to and from Lower Manning Park (or Mt. Carmel Church parking lot or the upper Montecito Village shopping area). Charge a nominal fee ($3 for one way; $5 for r/t) for the service and problem solved.
A shuttle? That sounds like socialism.
Another poorly thought out musing on an unworkable solution from Bends Knees.
A shuttle service would be the easiest and quickest solution to remedy the parking situation at this location. Short of closing the trail, there are very few alternatives to accommodating all who want to use this trail. I don’t see them creating a parking lot in that area. They could narrow the road down to a single lane so vehicles could park on either side of the road, but that would create a bottleneck for sure. If there were more LE to ticket/tow, the message would get out to the community to park only where it’s legal to park. Ubers and taxis would also do the job, but that would create a flurry of vehicle traffic. Again, a low-cost low emission shuttle to the trailhead would go a long way toward rectifying the shortage of parking in that area. Other ideas?
” easiest and quickest” Nah. Who is going to approve that, or the funding. You are proposing full time kiosks at every trail head and now a shuttle. This is fantasy world level stuff. Can there be ice cream stations along each trail too? Full service taco stands sound nice.
Other ideas?
Other ideas? Take medications as prescribed by a doctor.