Coal Oil Point Reserve

Beautiful spot to catch a sunset. People like to surf and do this thing with a parachute looking thing in the water. It’s interesting here… if you enter from this one street, you can lock up your bike,. Then go down the stairs and there’s all these rocks and then there is sand. It’s a great view of the sunset either from below or the top of the cliff !!!

Because we went on a holiday, there was free parking at UC Santa Barbara, so I’m not sure where you’d park if school was in session. We walked along the slough a bit to the bluffs, where there was an old tombstone and beautiful ocean view. The university has set up informational signs all around, and there are docent-​led tours of the area if you want to see the elusive western snowy plovers that nest on the beach. We didn’t see any, but there were a lot of adorable birds (sanderlings) running around. Apparently this is an area that has a lot of natural leakage of oil, so expect to get tar on your feet. A docent walking around on the beach told us about 100 barrels worth of oil seep out each day.

There is a parking lot here, which you can get to by following Slough Rd from the intersection of Storke Rd and El Colegio Rd. But I would recommend getting there via a trail that goes along the beach cliffs from Isla Vista. You could park near Del Playa Dr and Camino Majorca, and it’s a beautiful view and not too far of a walk.
The walk is fantastic. Quiet except for the sounds of the waves.