Gaviota Wind Caves
| Address | 1595 US-101, Goleta, CA, United States |
| Website | www.parks.ca.gov |
| Categories | Hiking Area |
| Rating | 4.6 5 reviews |
Nearest branches Mugu Peak — Mugu Peak Trail, Malibu, CA Fall Creek Unit Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park — 1561 Felton Empire Rd, Felton, CA Borrego Palm Canyon Trailhead & Parking — Unnamed Road, Borrego Springs, CA Quarry Road Trail — 150 CA-193, Auburn, CA, United States |
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Gaviota Wind Caves reviews
5Challenging hike and climb to caves. The whole area is very windy great views. No restroomspottys. State park nearby with restrooms for paid users.
Great moderate hike! Super cool to see the wind caves. It takes about two hours to go up and back including time to stop and enjoy the caves. You can get to four caves easily. It is about 3 miles round trip. Make sure to bring plenty of water.
The hike starts with a walk down an access road before veering off at a notice board, so not an exciting beginning, particularly on a hot day. The trail climbs steeply and really only gets interesting once you reach the ridge. The lower caves (with the blue paint) offer some shelter from the sun, but the main attraction offers refreshing ocean breezes and a nice view. Our group thought it was worth the effort.
Our hope to see some wildlife was only partially rewarded with the usual birds, lizards, and squirrels until we saw a large king snake towards the end of our return hike.
First 10 minutes on a paved road - easy. Second 15 minutes on the mud trail with incline - no big deal. The last 25 minutes on a rocky path and climbing - FUN! AllTrails rates this as easy but for my family this is a moderate hike, worth the grit with the awesome views of the ocean, hills and hwy 101.
Wow. This was an experience. Not a long hike but it’s mostly vertical and definitely need some good footwear (sneakers at the very least) and water. I don’t exercise very much and I took my senior father and it was probably around our limit. Nice that there are two layers to the caves so you can explore the first layer and get more energy to climb to the next. Certainly worth it to go to the top. Exceptional views of the channel islands and lots of really interesting plants along the way. We even saw a bunny!