Lizard's Mouth
West Camino Cielo Road offers hiking trails that are different from the usual Santa Barbara fare. Situated on the crest of the Santa Ynez Mountains looking over the city of Goleta, these trails are shorter and have different goals than the front country trails above Santa Barbara. These trails are not maintained except by the people who use them.
Lizard's Mouth is an easy 1/4 mile walk to some rock outcroppings where one can explore, watch the sunset, or just sit and look at the sweeping view of Goleta and the ocean.
Careful of broken glass. This is also one of those high school kid party-hangouts.
The trailhead begins at a spot where there is some smooth sandstone on one side and brush on the other side of the trail. It will begin on the side of the road that is closest to the ocean. The beginning of the trail can sometimes be hard to find.
Begin the trail to Lizard's Mouth at the trailhead which you can find by looking for a notch in the bushes and smooth sandstone on the Goleta side of the road.
Soon you will come to a spot where there are interesting rock formations to the left and a sweeping vista straight ahead. This is it!
The rest is up to you. Just explore around and enjoy yourself.
To return to your car, go back the way you came.