Ventura River Preserve

Love the trails here! I wish there was a place like this closer to SB. I’m coming from Arizona where there’s an endless amount of trails to choose from, so I was definitely starving for that when I got here. The Ventura River Preserve offers me that - filling my cup a little. There’s so much diversity in the trails too... River bed, dirt, wooded forest. I bring my dog here with me every time and she loves it. A great place to run, walk or hike.

Ventura River Preserve is my favorite local hiking and nature areas. It has miles and miles of well-maintained trails through riparian woodlands, chaparral, and old growth oak forest. Great place to bring kids to explore nature. The river sometimes dries up but much of the year there is flowing water and a swimming hole larger and deeper than an Olympic size pool.

Park at Oso Ventura River parking,then trailhead to bubbling river currents running into small cold ponds, accessable by small Rocky path walk ,keep to left after coming from parking lot,then right at the fork.