Elings Park Sierra Club Paths

Elings Park is a large park with playing fields, bike area, 2 playgrounds and walking trails. There are a series of paths starting across from the upper fields. It can also be accessed  from nearby neighborhoods.

Directions: Take the 101N from downtown and exit Las Positas Rd.Turn left and follow Las Positas for 1 mile. Turn left onto Jerry Harwin parkway. Pass the first parking lot ans park in the next area. The trail head is across from the soccer (not baseball) fields.

Trail Rating: Moderate for kids
Distance: 3 miles (but there are many trails and you could go more or less)
Time: 80 minutes with time to explore
Nearby attractions: Arroyo Burro Beach, Douglas Preserve, Elings Park Playground and Upper Playground, Elings Park Verterans Memorial Walk

Entrance

Path Beginning

Mountain View

Ocean View

Sunset

Path in Winter

Oak Park Buellton

Oak Park in Buellton is a fun little park. It is smaller than Riverview Park, but it has a 3 story play structure with so many parts. There is a 2-5 play structure with 2 simple slides and a climbing area as well as a 5-12 play structure with 4 slides (including a twisty 3 story one), 3 tunnels and climbing areas over wood chips. There is also a toddler and accessible swing.

Directions: From Goleta, take 101N to the 246. After turning left onto the 246, continue just over a mile and turn right onto Sycamore Dr. The park is on the left.

Pros:
There are a fun variety of things on the play structures.
Parking is close and easy.
Bathrooms are closeby.

Cons:
It is right next to a road (a quiet one, but not great for those little runners).
Those willing to make a drive might be drawn to Riverview Park or Sunnyfields. The structures are smaller

Swings

2-5 Play Structure

2-5 Play Structure (Back)

5-12 Play Structure

5-12 Play Structure (Front) 

5-12 Play Structure (Side) 

Bathrooms

Indoor Play Areas

Rockin Kids now Kidaru

Santa Barbara and Goleta have so many great outdoor play areas. We are so blessed! But once in a while, we have to play indoors because of the rain (or smoke from a fire). There aren't a lot of options, but here are a few ideas: (Updated 12/2018)

Goleta Library
Ice in Paradise
MOXI
Kidaru
Santa Barbara Central Library 
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
Santa Barbara Sea Center
Zodos

AudioBooks for Kids

See link below 

We have spent a lot of time in the car in the past several months and it has been remarkably peaceful. I would like to say that it's because my kids are remarkably well-behaved, but that wouldn't be true. We have a list of great ideas for roadtrips but lately audiobooks are what my girls (4 and 7 at the moment) are really excited about. We have shecked many out of the library and some are so good that we have purchased the cd/audible book (*).

Books My 4 Year Old Loves:
Winnie the Pooh  and House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne (read by Judi Dench, Stephen Fry, Jane Horrocks, Geoffery Palmer and several other British actors) *

Curious George by H. A. Rey and Margaret Rey *

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans (the old Penguin audio cassettes, transfered to CD/mp3 are great)

Pete the Cat by James Dean (we purchased several through Scholastic books) *

The Best of Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor *

Mercy Watson and the Tales from Deckawoo Drive by Kate DiCamillo

Books My 7 Year Old has loved:

The Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum (read by Anne Hathaway) *

Little House on the Prairie series, by Laura Ingalls Wilder (read by Cherry Jones)

Mr Popper's Penguins, by Richard Atwater

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers

Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

Matilda, by Roald Dahl (read by Kate Winslet)

Boxcar Children series, by Gertrude Chandler Warner *

Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne (We love this series, but wish a narrator was reading the stories instead of the author)

Need more suggestions?
https://modernmrsdarcy.com/40-favorite-audiobooks-kids/
https://modernmrsdarcy.com/great-audiobooks-kid

2017 Quest Update

This summer's quest was kid friendly nature walks and hikes....and life was pretty crazy this summer. My husband had a cycling accident in late June that changed the course of summer significantly. We are so thankful that he is alive and (mostly) well. So we had a much quieter and less structured summer with fewer trips and events. Thanks to many meals and childcare from friends we made it through amazingly well. I couldn't ask for a better village! For those of you that know me, I had written a bunch of posts all ready to go and they were scheduled to post already (lest you think I am WAY more capable than I am). I have only written 5(ish) posts since the accident.

We completed most of the easy nature walks and have posted them.  For many of the more challenging trails, I will do with friends and post as I can.

Nature Walks:
Botanic Gardens
Douglas Preserve
Elings Park -- Veteran's Trail
Ellwood Butterfly Preserve/Bluffs
Knapp's Castle
Lake Los Carneros
Moore Mesa
Rocky Nook Park
Tucker's Grove Trails
Carpinteria Salt Marsh Preserve
Carpinteria Bluff Nature Preserve


Short Hikes:
Arroyo Hondo Preserve *
Elings Park -- Sierra Club Trail *
Nojoqui Falls
San Antonio Creek Trail (Tucker's Grove, Kiwanas Meadow) *
San Marcos Preserve *
Stevens Park *
* Can be a short or longer hike

To Be Continued:
Cheltham/Westmont Trail
Wind Tunnels at Gaviota State Park
Lizards Mouth
Parma Park
Seven Sisters
Skofield Park
Tunnel Trail

Related Posts: Summer of the Parks 2015, Summer of the Beaches 2016, Summer of the Hikes 2017

Rocky Nook Park Paths

Rocky Nook Park is a small park with bathrooms, one reservable picnic area and a 5-12 playground. Behind these however, there are many paths on the 19+ acres. We  love this park because of the shade, but it is also great for a nature walk. The creek is accessible for play if you want to walk down the bank.

Directions: From the 101, take Mission toward the mountains. When it ends, turn left into Laguna St and then right onto E Los Olivos St. Continue past the mission staying to the left when the road divides. The park is on your right.

Trail Rating: Easy
Distance: .5 mi or what you'd like
Time: 20 minutes plus
Nearby attractions: Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History  and Santa Barbara Mission
Rocky Nook Playground Review

Birthday Freebies

So I have another birthday coming up, not a big one like last year, but a gal still needs to celebrate. Here is the list of Santa Barbara and Goleta area birthday freebies. Please let me know if you find new one (or ones that aren't valid anyone) so I can update it here! Confirmed June 2025 *.

These places will give you a freebie just based on your ID:
Summerland Beach Cafe (free breakfast)

These require signing up ahead (generally require an app or a code sent through email):

American Eagle (Birthday Coupon)

Anthropologie (Birthday Coupon)

Aveda (Birthday Gift)

Banana Republic (Birthday Gift for emails)
Baskin Robbins (free small scoop)*
Coldstone Creamery (free creation)
Denny's (free gift) *
Dunkin Donuts (Free drink)

Habit ("Special Treat")
IHOP (free stack of Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity Pancakes)
Jack in the Box (2 free tacos)
Jersey Mike's (free sub and drink)
McDonalds (free medium fries) *
Nothing Bundt Cakes (free bundlet) *

Panda (exclusive offer)
Redbox (free movie rental)
Rori's Artisanal Creamery (free scoop of ice cream) "

Sephora (Birthday gift) 
Starbucks (free drink on the day) * 
Subway (free 6 inch sub with drink purchase)

Ulta (Birthday Gift) *
Wendy's ($1 off a premium combo meal)

World Market (Bithday coupon)
Yogurtland ($5 off) *

To compile this list I used these sites plus my fabulous Facebook friends!

http://www.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=100203
http://www.favoritecandle.com/free-birthday-meals/Santa-Barbara/CA
https://www.retailmenot.com/blog/birthday-freebies.html