Goto SBC-Rides.com Home Page Highway 154 - West Camino Cielo




West Camino Cielo Rd is an old Santa Barbara County Rd off Hwy 154, of which only 4.1 miles are paved and rideable on a street bike (although it feels like more than 4.1 miles). While the road design is a nice one, filled with twisties, straights and terrific scenery, actual road conditions are pathetic (as of 11/10/02). Like it's brother East Camino Cielo, there is so much patching on West Camino Cielo that some areas look like an asphalt quilt. Potholes are common and a few are real wheel suckers. Gravel along the roadside can also be common. Unlike East Camino Cielo however, West Camino Cielo is a dead-ender (for street bikes).

West Camino Cielo does have some terrific scenery, really great views and some wild rock formations to take in. As I am constantly asked about this road I have posted it here for your enjoyment. However, because of the poor road conditions, short length and the fact that West Camino Cielo is a dead-ender, I only recommend this it to those riders of whom the following conditions apply:

1) You would like to see some great coastal and valley views.

2) If your a dual-purpose rider, you can continue further on West Camino Cielo to Refugio Rd, which you can take to Solvang.

3) You don't care about the bad road conditions or the fact that it is a dead-ender, you just want to explore all the county has to offer.

If any of these apply to you, continue on! Should you decide to take the ride, go slow, take it easy and enjoy the scenery.

Heading north on Hwy 154, West Camino Cielo is before East Camino Cielo and is well marked. Only 4.1 miles of West Camino Cielo is paved and ridable on a street bike.

3D Contour Map


West Camino Cielo is approx. 7.1 miles north on Hwy 154 from Hwy 101.


The Exit to West Camino Cielo is well marked on Hwy 154, in both directions.


Immediately after exiting Hwy 154, heading up West Camino Cielo.


Tight corners and bad road greet you from the beginning. Some of these corners are real tight, with bike-crushing rocks on either side, so watch your speed.


About 1/2 mile into the ride you will come to the West Camino Cielo/Kinevan Rd fork. Head to the west (left in this picture) to continue up West Camino Cielo.


Through the trees and heading up West Camino Cielo. The road is quite narrow in spots so use extreme caution in the blind corners.


Some nice twisties through the California chaparral.


One tight hairpin! Watch yourself on the way back down in this corner, the grade in the corner is a bit steeper than the picture would have you believe...


Look at all that patchwork on the road. It's like a quilt. Jeeze. Local residents tell me the road has been in this condition going on 20 years. I guess the county is in no hurry to do anything about it.


Through the tree lined ranches of West Camino Cielo.


Definition of a wheel-sucking pot-hole. There are many on West Camino Cielo.


Some of the wonderful valley views the ride offers.


And on the other side some wonderful coastal views (there was quite a bit of cloud cover and fog to the west when this picture was taken, even though it was taken the same day as the picture above).


A really great twistie! The road will trick you now and again into thinking the conditions are improving....


But it is not to be so, the bad road conditions are the rule on West Camino Cielo, not the exception.


A couple of tight hairpins greet you as you head to the top.


Wow, nice twistie!


An example of some of the fantastic rock formations on West Camino Cielo.


Nearing the end of the ride, road conditions are still quite poor but the blue sky and valley scenery is quite nice. If this road is ever repaved it will be spectacular!


End of the line. Once you reach the Winchester Canyon Gun Club's shooting range (shown below) you have made it to the top of West Camino Cielo, and the end of paved road. Dual sport riders can continue to Refugio Rd and take that down to Solvang, but you must have a street legal bike. Pure off-road machines (even with a valid green sticker), are not permitted on the remainder of the ride.


Winchester Canyon Gun Club shooting range at the end of West Camino Cielo.


I walked down a few hundred feet, past the end of rideable road on West Camino Cielo, to find this spectacular view of the Santa Ynez Valley/Los Padres National Forest.




Highway 154



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