A surge of tourists to sizzling springs within the hills close to Santa Barbara led to complaints from neighbors — and now to a plan for path closures and parking restrictions on days of excessive hearth hazard.
Santa Barbara County’s supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday, March 4, to institute a pilot program regarding Montecito Sizzling Springs.
“Over the past several years,” mentioned an agenda letter from Supervisor Roy Lee, “the Hot Springs Trail in Montecito has seen a dramatic increase in visitors, particularly driven by social media exposure. What was once a quiet trail used by locals has become a high-traffic destination, attracting tourists from outside the area.”
The letter goes on to talk of “safety concerns, particularly regarding fire risk, emergency response challenges, and traffic congestion.”
The pilot program proposed by Lee would develop a protocol of parking restrictions and path closures on days the realm is beneath a purple flag warning issued by the Nationwide Climate Service. The warning signifies heightened danger of wildfire, normally due to dry and windy climate. The proposal estimates there shall be 20 such days this yr.
The plan additionally seeks enforcement in opposition to “illegal watershed modification” — particularly, the rebuilding of soaking swimming pools whose partitions have been washed away throughout heavy rain.
Montecito Sizzling Springs, in Los Padres Nationwide Forest, is considered one of a number of pure soaking and swimming areas in California which have seen a current growth in guests due to social media consideration, significantly through the COVID pandemic when indoor leisure was shut down.
Different areas whose recognition contributed to issues embody:
• Miracle Sizzling Springs, on the Kern River. It was closed final yr by the Forest Service after a second particular person was discovered lifeless in a bath.
• Yankee Jim swimming gap, on the North Fork American River. Parking was banned by state parks officers in July 2020 after 313 autos have been counted alongside a street that had area for 12 automobiles.
• Sweet Rock swimming gap, on the North Fork Stanislaus River. The sheriff issued a warning in 2022 after six individuals needed to be rescued in two weeks.
