Cliffside of Jalama Beach Country Park

This location is north (~20-30min hike) from Jalama Beach County Park, which is about an hour north of Santa Barbara at the end of a long winding road off the Pacific Coast Highway. Once arriving at the park, which has campsites on the beach, you'll want to head north along the shore to the cliffs. You will quickly notice the path which you will follow along the edge of the cliff. Follow the path until you get to a point where you have to walk away from the water to cross a steep drop off. Shortly after this the cliffs begin to break out more west allowing for you to capture both the cliffs and the trail.

The consistent weather in this area makes this a great location to photograph year round.

Sunset is ideal for this location as the sun drops below the ocean giving the cliffs and terrain a warm glow. Sunrise also brings great, soft light.

You’ll be walking alongside cliffs, so be careful.

Upon arriving at the location on the trail, the cliff line begins to curve giving a nice separation before the next cliff edge. The trail also starts to curve here providing a nice foreground.

I had a 24mm and a 50mm lens with me, but chose the wide-angle 24mm as I wanted to photograph vertically and still capture the path as well as the cliffs.

I positioned the camera low but not too low to obstruct the view of the cliffs in the distance. The sun was about to drop behind a thin row of clouds so I quickly photographed this while the scene was still golden.

The entire trail is full of great photo opportunities. There’s also a little grill at the Jalama Beach Store that has delicious burgers and cold beers.