Introducing the Tipton Trail

On Sunday, November 17, celebrating National Hiking Day, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden is opening the new Tipton Trail, a pathway connecting Garden members and guests to the eastern portion of the Garden’s 78-acre property. This 1.3-mile long, out-and-back trail begins in the Garden’s Pollinator Garden Section, north of the Pritzlaff Conservation Center and east of Mission Canyon Road pedestrian crossing.  From the trailhead, Tipton Trail descends to a switchback featuring a beautiful mature California buckeye (Aesculus californica) before entering a riparian corridor, crossing a newly constructed bridge across a tributary to Rattlesnake Creek, and into an oak woodland, with massive coast live oak trees (Quercus agrifolia) showcasing immense girth from their old age.

Sweeping Views of the Channel Islands Await

From the oak woodland, the trail ascends rapidly through chaparral habitat, past beautiful toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), laurel sumac (Malosma laurina), lemonade berry (Rhus integrigolia) and other stately shrubs, through native and some non-native grass habitat up to the ridge top, where trail users can enjoy a full panoramic view of the northern Channel Islands, along with iconic Santa Barbara landmarks like the Mission, St. Anthony’s Seminary and buildings along State Street. 

Bird Watchers Delight

From the bridge located in the Rattlesnake watershed to the ridge top, Tipton Trail ascends over 200 feet (61 meters) in elevation, at an average 12.5% gradient, making it a moderate trail and good exercise for those “inclined” to hike it. While there are no amenities located along the trail, hikers are awarded with some of the best birding habitats in the Garden, an area featuring abundant resident and seasonal birds.

According to Scot Pipkin, the Garden’s director of education and engagement, great birding action begins at the bridge, a zone with seasonal water, good tree canopy coverage, and understory vegetation that provides areas to hide and feed in. Birds such as hermit thrushes and ruby-crowned kinglets can be seen in winter, and various warblers (orange-crowned, Townsend’s, yellow, and Wilson’s) can be seen at different times over the full course of the year. Pipkin, our resident expert birder, also recently spotted a Western meadowlark at the ridge top, a decreasingly common ground-nesting bird that requires open areas for its habitat. Additionally, the ridge top is a wonderful place to view soaring raptors and migrating swifts and swallows, according to Jessie Altstatt, Conservation Chair of Santa Barbara Audubon Society and friend of the Garden. In the future, the Garden will be offering birding trips along the Tipton Trail, so we’ll have public opportunities to take in some cool and unusual avian friends, along with the usual suspects and other wildlife sightings. 

Tipton Trail History

For those interested in its history, the Tipton Trail is named after the J.E. and Lillian Tipton Foundation, which provided the funding to purchase the property in the early-2000s. Funding was secured by Nancy Bryne, who ran the Tipton Foundation and served as a long-time Trustee to the Garden. While the Garden did not encounter cultural artifacts directly during the construction of the new trail, Chumash presence has been documented in the area just to the south, and this view has likely been accessed for thousands of years by local indigenous people. During the construction of the Tipton Trail, the Garden worked with Chumash Barbareño band observers, as well as an archaeologist and biologist to monitor trail progression and ensure that all construction activities were done with sensitivity to the environment and potential cultural resources. The majority of trail building was carried out by SAGE Trail Alliance, a regional non-profit partner dedicated to creating and maintaining sustainable trails, advocating for equitable access to outdoor recreation, and protecting natural environments. Funding to launch Tipton Trail was generously provided by the Santa Barbara Foundation, through their Conservation, Environment and Public Trails grant, aimed at supporting environmental sustainability, land conservation, habitat restoration, public trails, and ecosystem health across Santa Barbara County.    

We can’t wait to open Tipton Trail to the public on Sunday, November 17. Along with the Tipton Trail, the Garden maintains six miles of trails and we hope to see you out here on one of them for National Hiking Day – and throughout the year!