In September 2025, a closure sign stood across Old Romero Road at about the two-mile mark. Hikers and riders coming up from Romero Canyon Road could climb that far and then had to turn back. That sign is gone now. The Santa Barbara Ranger District reopened the full road in mid-September 2026 under a new forest closure order. Franklin, Arroyo Burro, Matias Connector and North Tunnel trails reopened in the same order.

The upper section toward East Camino Cielo has been officially downgraded. A large landslide near mile five was left in place on purpose. The rebuild that would bring back the old road is a separate project with its own contractors, its own funding and a target date that is still about a fiscal year away. For now, Old Romero is open as an interim trail, kept up by hand.

Three Closures in Under a Decade

Old Romero's history since the Thomas Fire explains why this reopening came in pieces. Andrew Madsen, public affairs officer for the Los Padres National Forest, told the Santa Barbara News-Press that "for Montecito folks that is their crown jewel of hiking." The paper's account of how it got here is below.

The fall 2025 step counted for something. Noozhawk reported that the first two miles of Old Romero and the full San Ysidro Trail reopened together after a multi-agency effort led by the Montecito Trails Foundation. Both had been closed for more than a year. The News-Press wrote in August that if the full road opened as scheduled, it would be the first time the full loop had been open since 2019.

What the August Crew Fixed

The work that reopened the upper road happened in August, a hard month for trail work on south-facing slopes. The Los Padres Forest Association wrote that its Trail Crew worked through triple-digit heat to finish almost two months of work on Old Romero and Franklin. It credited the Santa Barbara Ranger District's recreation team and the Montecito Trails Foundation for supporting the work and getting it through the approval process.

The Montecito Journal described the August work on Old Romero as brushing and slide clearing. It quoted LPFA's note that everything was done by hand. Bryan Conant, LPFA's executive director, told the News-Press that the first phase centered on drainage to slow erosion and on repairs to the narrow sections of tread.

Conant also explained why hand work only goes so far on this road. "The problem with Old Romero is that most of the trail damage is caused by falling rock or slide material covering the trail," he told the paper. "There's not a lot of cost effective measures we can do to prevent that sort of damage."

The Upper Road Is Officially a Lighter Trail Now

The biggest change sits near the top. Rachel Clancy, a Forest Service recreation officer, told the News-Press that the upper part of the road connecting to East Camino Cielo would be reclassified from a "highly developed trail" to a "minimally developed trail." Inside that zone, around mile five, a major landslide was not treated in the first phase.

"That slide will impact bike usage," Clancy said. She described phase one as focused on safety hazards and added, "Users should expect changes since when they last used the trail." The same report called Old Romero one of Montecito's most bike-friendly trails before the closures. It said the slide damage means the upper road won't ride the way it used to.

The road reopened to hikers and bikers. None of the reopening coverage confirms whether horses are allowed on Old Romero Road specifically. The Forest Service lists hikers, bikers and equestrians for the separate Romero Trail, and that listing doesn't settle the question for the old road.

How a Funded Plan Became a Two-Phase Project

The downgrade and the untreated slide came out of how the project was split. According to the News-Press, the Montecito Trails Foundation first offered the Forest Service a fully funded restoration plan in 2023. The agency turned down that offer and several later ones because it wanted to run its own technical reviews first. Executive director Ashlee Mayfield told the paper that the foundation's third plan came with an end date. If the plan wasn't accepted, the offer and the money would be withdrawn.

That spring 2026 deadline came and went without approval. Later in the year, the Forest Service split the project into two phases and let the foundation carry out the first. The foundation was permitted only basic maintenance before the September reopening. That is why the mile-five slide is still there.

The two phases have different budgets and different crews:

1. Phase one was coordinated by the Montecito Trails Foundation and carried out by LPFA. The News-Press put its projected cost above $50,000 and noted that weather could change the total.
2. Winter maintenance continues on the road ahead of phase two.
3. Phase two is targeted for the next fiscal year. Forest Service contractors would rebuild and redevelop the damaged sections, paid for from the agency's Thomas Fire restoration fund.

Mayfield's stated hope, as quoted by the paper: "However all the phases play out, I really hope to see Romero come back to the trail we all knew it was before 2023."

The Calendar Behind the Open Gate

Timing shaped this reopening as much as the trail work did. The News-Press reported that the previous closure on the road was set to end September 18. By then the road had to be ready to open, or it would face a renewed closure. The new order, Forest Order 05-07-54-26-09, was signed September 15, 2026. It runs from September 16, 2026, through September 15, 2027, and replaces the 2025 storm order. The trails still listed as closed in it are outside Montecito: segments of Franklin's backside, Matias Potrero, Aliso Loop, Santa Cruz and Tunnel. The official order page has the full exhibit.

Mayfield told the News-Press that no measures can fully protect the road from future storm damage. That is the trail the phase two work will have to rebuild.

Getting On the Road, and What Else Is Open Nearby

The Forest Service's Romero Trail page gives the route from Highway 101 by way of Sheffield Drive, East Valley Road and Romero Canyon Road. It notes limited parking and a trailhead a quarter-mile up Romero Canyon Road, past a locked gate.

Across the district, LPFA counts more than 15 miles of reopened trail in the Santa Barbara front country and mid-country. Parts of Santa Cruz Trail, Aliso Loop, lower North Tunnel and sections of other trails remain closed. The neighboring San Ysidro Trail has been open since its restoration in fall 2025, and the current order doesn't list it as closed.

Hot Springs Canyon is the next trail getting work. A Los Padres National Forest volunteer project to clean and restore the Montecito Hot Springs Canyon Trail began on National Public Lands Day, September 26. It was open to experienced trail workers and first-timers alike. The Montecito Trails Foundation keeps descriptions of the local network on its site, including Romero Canyon, Buena Vista, San Ysidro, McMenemy, Girard, Saddle Rock, Hot Springs and Cold Spring. According to the News-Press, it is also the group that coordinated the Old Romero restoration with the Forest Service over the past three years.

If the trailheads above East Valley Road figure into how you think about owning or selling in Montecito, Chris Palme is glad to talk through the foothill streets near Romero Canyon and what access looks like from each of them. Let's Connect.