Big Caliente Canyon Above the Hot Springs in Santa Barbara

On Sunday I decided to venture further up Agua Caliente Canyon past the Big Caliente Hot Springs in the Santa Barbara Backcountry. I was initially planning a backpacking trip with a group, but it got canceled due to external conflicts and the rescheduled, but in a way that was logistically not great for me. Hopefully a trip like that will happen in the future. With the time I had, I decided to do a very long day trip to explore the Big Caliente Canyon. I jogged/hiked down from Romero Saddle along the Romero Canuesa Fire Road route and then went up from Pendola Station to the Big Caliente Hot Springs. There was an issue with the bigger pool, but the smaller pool was much hotter than last time, which was awesome. After, I went up past the Big Caliente Debris Dam further than I had ever been. I got to see the waterhole by Upper Caliente Campground. I caught a bunch of pond turtles. I saw a bunch of frogs and toads (including one of the endangered arroyo toads. There were also a bunch of deer (I got footage, bud didn't add any - same for a bunch of snakes including a rattlesnake). It was a great trip. The highlight was the turn around point. It was in a narrows sections with several deep pools, two large cascading waterfalls, and a great spring on the canyon wall. It's one of those incredible remote spots. I checked on Google Maps, and I think I was about 900 feet downstream from what looks like an enormous waterfall. I wonder if any people who do canyoneering have ever been there. I decided against trying to climb above the waterfalls I turned around at. I love the Los Padres National Forest (especially in the Santa Barbara backcountry). Oh yeah, the Big Caliente Debris Dam was still flowing really nicely. While it's not as remote as some of the other pools, it was a really nice spot for a cold plunge on the return trip. Also, I want to thank whoever did work maintaining the section of Caliente Trail just above the hot springs. It looks much better than it did when I visited about two months ago in January, 2026.