"Some hikes are fun, and some seem like punishment for bad behavior. The Santa Barbara Three Peaks loop fits the description of the latter. The hike features ample Boulder scrambling for all the peaks. So tedious the climb, it took 5 hours to climb all three peaks while hiking only 3.5 miles. Then, to wrap it up, The Tunnel Trail is the return leg. This trail rivals any other as the rockiest trail known. This loop is solidly in the difficult category. " — MikeTeeples • Jun 15, 2024

"Some hikes are fun, and some seem like punishment for bad behavior. The Santa Barbara Three Peaks loop fits the description of the latter. The hike features ample Boulder scrambling for all the peaks. So tedious the climb, it took 5 hours to climb all three peaks while hiking only 3.5 miles. Then, to wrap it up, The Tunnel Trail is the return leg. This trail rivals any other as the rockiest trail known. This loop is solidly in the difficult category. 9.38 miles with 3,455' elevation gain, taking 8:35. That's just a little more than 1 mile per hour! Completion by me would not be possible without checking the posted trak on the Alltrails app like every 5 minutes. " — MikeTeeples • Jun 15, 2024

"Some hikes are fun, and some seem like punishment for bad behavior. The Santa Barbara Three Peaks loop fits the description of the latter. The hike features ample Boulder scrambling for all the peaks. So tedious the climb, it took 5 hours to climb all three peaks while hiking only 3.5 miles. Then, to wrap it up, The Tunnel Trail is the return leg. This trail rivals any other as the rockiest trail known. This loop is solidly in the difficult category. " — MikeTeeples • Jun 15, 2024

"Started at the Rattlesnake Canyon Trailhead then hiked up to Tin Can Meadow then to the junction with the Tunnel Trail. From here, I followed the steep, rugged informal trail up the south face of the peak, across some fun sandstone scrambles, to the impressive and jumbled Rock Garden. From the Rock Garden, the summit is in view but it took some trial and error to find the right use trail through the chaparral to the summit. On the way down, I started following yet another use trail, but it dead-ended at a climbing area. I made the questionable decision of bushwhacking through the dense coastal chaparral for a half hour or so until I stumbled on (Thank God!) another informal trail that led down to Gibraltar Road. A relaxing road walk lead to the maintained trail then back to Rattlesnake Canyon. This was a little more adventure than I had planned on for a Sunday afternoon." — klotito • Aug 13, 2017

"This was the final of three peaks during a peak bagging rampage with Jasper. Though the Dragon's Back was the coolest park of the trip, the pitch up to La Cumbre was perhaps the steepest and definitely hottest. After poking around up top, we descended via Camino Cielo and Tunnel Trail. " — jameslkennedy • Mar 16, 2014