Named for the Spanish padres who established a network of missions along California's southern and central coasts, the Los Padres National Forest is the second-largest National Forest in the state, encompassing approximately 1,950,000 acres - nearly half of which is federally-designated wilderness. Hiking and Backpacking Santa Barbara and Ventura fills a huge gap in coverage of this great hiking and backpacking destination, leading the reader through the varied terrain of the forest's southern districts, from the fern-clad grottoes of the Santa Barbara frontcountry to the sweeping vistas and granite-clad ridges of the Chumash Wilderness.No other guide covers the region in such detail, and not since Dennis Gagnon's near-legendary guides in the 70s and 80s has the Santa Barbara (and Ventura) backcountry been given the guidebook treatment ... but this book goes even further. Every official trail (and many use trails) in the Santa Barbara, Ojai, and Mt. Pinos districts are covered here, including those in the southern San Rafael Wilderness, Dick Smith Wilderness, Matilija Wilderness, Sespe Wilderness, Chumash Wilderness, the Santa Ynez Recreation Area, Rose Valley, the Santa Barbara and Montecito frontcountry, the Ojai frontcountry, and the Santa Paula/Fillmore frontcountry.

"Consistently rated the best guides to the regions covered."—National Geographic Traveler From the region’s laid-back beach towns to the jumble of Monterey’s Cannery Row, California’s Central Coast offers the most spectacular triptych of landscapes—surf, forests, and picturesque small towns—in the West. Includes coverage of the region’s vineyards, culinary gems, and coastal hideaways.

Using the state of California as a model, Eric Smith explores how much the public understands energy policy, what the public wants officials to do about U.S. energy problems, and how governments will cope with energy shortages in the future.