Santa Ynez River

This is a great run for what it is: moving water with great road access, a reliable online gauge, and only about a half-hour from Santa Barbara. It's probably not worth a drive from outside of the areas of Santa Maria, Santa Barbara or Ventura.

Overall, the run is class II+ in difficulty at most flows, solid class III at higher flows. However, there are a few hazards (strainers and a low-head dam). For an intermediate boater, the hazards are easily avoided. Pure beginners would want someone more experienced on the run. The run responds to rainfall and can be runable for a few days after a heavy rain or for weeks in a row in the event of a heavy El Niño winter full of rainfall.

Put in where Paradise Road crosses the Santa Ynez River. Paradise Road is found off of Hwy 154 between Lake Cachuma and Santa Barbara. There is a new parking lot constructed at this spot. A Forest Service Adventure Pass is necessary to park here. If the water level is boatable, a gate will block the river crossing here.

There are two possible take-outs. The first (and recommended) is White Rock, also on Paradise Road. This Forest Service campsite allows day use parking with an Adventure Pass. Walk down to scout the take-out, as the parking lot is not visible from the river. An advantage to this take-out is that the shuttle can easily be biked or even run along Paradise Road. Taking out at White Rock makes for a three-mile run. The harder rapids are on this section of the river.

An alternate take-out is further downstream, just above Cachuma Lake, making for a 7.8-mile run. Kayaks and canoes are now allowed on the lake. The take-out above Cachuma Lake is potentially problematic, but I'm including it because I have used it and I would rather pass on the best information I have. It requires using land at the

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