Would you like to explore Santa Barbara off the beaten path? Santa Barbara is one of the most popular Southern California destinations. It is a pity though that most visitors don’t get to see Santa Barbara hidden gems.
That’s why we decided to put together for you this “Santa Barbara Off The Beaten Path” itinerary that only locals know about.
We have another itinerary on the blog that covers Santa Barbara area and complements THIS itinerary: “Sideways” Family Road Trip and Santa Barbara with Kids”. I definitely suggest checking it out.
Santa Barbara Off The Beaten Path
Santa Barbara Off The Beaten Path #1 – Lake Cachuma
Most people come to Santa Barbara for the water fun, the beach, but very few even think there is a beautiful water body in close proximity to the city besides the Pacific Ocean – Lake Cachuma.
Lake Cachuma is located in the gorgeous mountainous off HW-154, just about half an hour drive from the Pacific Ocean.
Just the drive there is worth taking because of the fantastic views of the ocean from HW-154!
Lake Cachuma has camping sites, yurts and a day use area. Day use access is $10 per car.
The best things to do at Lake Cachuma is to hike, take a boat trip (there are naturalists led hikes and lake cruises on Friday through Sunday) and fish.
Unfortunately, you cannot swim in Lake Cachuma because it is an important fresh water source for the city of Santa Barbara.
There are picnic tables at the day use area, clean restrooms and friendly staff.
We really loved the area and we will definitely come here again.
Santa Barbara Off The Beaten Path #2 – Figueroa Mountain
If you are visiting Santa Barbara in spring after good amount of rain and you already got to Lake Cachuma I suggest driving another half an hour or so to Figueroa Mountain near Los Olivos.
Figueroa Mountain is famous for one of the best wildflower displays in Southern California. The mountain has the biggest concentration of lupins and poppies but also many other flowers.
From the downtown area of Los Olivos you will have to drive about 13 miles up Figueroa Mountain Rd. to get to the famous lupin fields. Not an easy drive, I tell you. The road is winding and very narrow in places. My husband, the driver, refused to go all the way up so we had to do with the views below, which were beautiful too.
Then on the way back we also took a hike along the Lover’s Loop Trail. The trail is running along a creek and it has a lot of different wildflowers in spring. We didn’t hike the whole 4.1 miles loop but about 1.5 put and back along the creek with a great concentration of flowers. This part of the hike is considered to be easy.
Santa Barbara Off The Beaten Path #3 – Los Olivos
Since you will be returning to Santa Barbara via the town of Los Olivos so why not stop there? “Los Olivos” means olives, and for a reason. The place is famous for olive oil producers. Stop by one of them to do olive oil tasting.
We enjoyed our stop at Olive + Lavender Farms. They have several olive oils and a couple balsamic vinegars for tasting for free in a nice garden area. The farm has about 1000 olive trees and they make their own olive oil. We loved all of it!
Word of caution: this is not a lavender farm. They don’t produce anything of lavender themselves. They buy lavender products from other producers and re-sell them in their store. A lot of them are way overpriced. This farm has a few lavender plants, the same amount you would see in someone’s backyard but that’s about it.
For all your lavender needs I suggest California Lavender Honey Farm with close to 1000 lavender plants and their own lavender essential oil production, lavender tea, lavender skincare products and guided educational tours.
Santa Barbara Off The Beaten Path #4 – Rattlesnake Canyon
Rattlesnake Canyon hike is one of the best hikes in Santa Barbara area and only about 15 miles from the beach. It is at its best in spring after lots of rain.
The creek is running along the floor of the canyon after the rain with beautiful rapids and small waterfalls.
Gorgeous wildflowers of all colors and varieties cover the entire length of the trail. The trail is considered moderate to challenging as most of it is up the hill. Take plenty of water with you!
The whole length of the trail is 4.5 miles out and back but you don’t have to hike all of it, the most beautiful wildflowers and the creek views are at the beginning of the trail. We probably hiked a mile up or so and it was just enough for us to see all the beauty.
We didn’t see any rattlesnakes in spring but they may be more active in summer.
Santa Barbara Off The Beaten Path #5 – Downtown Farmers Market
You may think this is ridiculous to spend your time in Santa Barbara on some farmers market, you probably have a farmers market where you live too… But hear me out first.
We live in California and we have been to a fair share of farmers markets and I can tell you that Santa Barbara and SLO ones are the best, hands down. These are more than markets, they are the way of life. If you want to experience real California you need to visit Santa Barbara farmers market.
There are several things that I like about this market:
- There are A LOT of vendors and they have EVERYTHING you need, seriously. Our local San Francisco Bay Area farmers market is at least 3 times smaller and the selection is so much worse.
- The market is located in Old Town Santa Barbara area (historic downtown) along the State St. with absolutely gorgeous buildings, lots of great restaurants and a fabulous ambiance.
If you decide to visit, the market is open on Tuesdays from 3 to 6.30 pm.
Santa Barbara Off The Beaten Path #6 – Lotusland
Lotusland in Montecito (the affluent suburb of Santa Barbara) is a true botanical and artistic gem that you should not miss for sure.
From the botanical perspective it has a fantastic collection of plants organized by themes: Japanese garden, palms, succulent, cacti, lotuses, roses, prehistoric plants (the ones that were present on the planet at the time of dinosaurs), tropical plants and many, many more.
From artistic perspective Lotusland is unique because it used to be a private estate and it was created and designed by its former owner, Polish opera singer Ganna Walska. She had some amazing items in her collection that became part of the garden: sculptures, rocks, even giant clams and lots of other super cool things.
I very strongly suggest booking a tour. There is so much to learn about each plant and each object that you would not have guessed otherwise. These are really fascinating 2 hours.
Please, note that the garden is not open all year round and visitors are limited to only 15,000 people a year so I suggest booking your visit well in advance. You cannot buy tickets on site, your visit must be pre-booked online ahead of time.
Santa Barbara Off The Beaten Path #7 – Natural History Museum
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Museum is a crowd pleaser. If you have kids, they will absolutely love it!
Where do I even start talking about it? It is located in a historic mission style building with gardens, fountains and beautiful tile works. It has a diverse collection of exhibits from hundreds of birds and bird’s eggs to rocks and minerals, from Native Americans to dinosaurs and I can go on and on about it but it’s best if go see it all for yourself.
I absolutely loved that this Natural History Museum also has touch tanks with local Pacific Ocean inhabitants and a naturalist nearby to talk about them. And the whale skeleton at the entrance is jaw dropping.
Please, note that the Museum also has observatory and planetarium on site and organizes various monthly events. Please, check the Museum website for details.
Does Santa Barbara have good beaches?
Most people go to Santa Barbara for the beach. However, in Santa Barabara it can be a hit or miss experience. Please, don’t get me wrong, the views are beautiful here but the beach itself gets oils blobs (tar) from time to time. Out of 4 days we were here 2 days the beach was horrible – nowhere to step, almost, just black tar blobs everywhere. And if you miss one accidentally, which is very easy to do because some of them are small in size, your feet will be covered in dark oily goo that you can’t wash off.
If you don’t approach the ocean and stay on dry sand all the time you will be fine but if you have kids it is almost impossible to have them sit near you and not approach the water.
It is a really a chance you are taking the beach in Santa Barbara – it may be great, it may be horrible. I hope on your trip the beach is clean.
Where to stay in Santa Barbara
My most favorite place to stay in Santa Barbara is Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort. It is a beautiful mission style property right across from the beach with a big pool, hot tub, tennis courts and other resort amenities.
I loved our balcony facing the ocean and the breakfast in the morning – delicious! And this resort has very convenient location close to restaurants, the pier and Old Santa Barbara area.
That said, it is an expensive property. We are lucky that we are Hilton Honors members and we save points all year to go to a place like that for free. Also our Hilton Honors status gave us 2 free wine glasses per day, 2 free bottles of water per day and $30 credit towards restaurant expenses per day which we used for breakfast.
This is not a Hilton commercial and the hotel didn’t pay me to say this. This is my personal honest opinion based on my personal experience. I definitely recommend joining Hilton’s loyalty program, we have been members for year and we never regretted it. When we go back to Santa Barbara we will be staying here again for sure.
Where to eat in Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara is famous for good restaurants and there are a lot of them I wanted to visit more but there are only 4 lunches and 4 dinners in 4 days.
Our most favorite places to eat in Santa Barbara were:
Santa Barbara FisHouse (seafood)
East Beach Tacos (tacos)
Pascucci (Italian)
Bettina (Pizza)
Rori’s Artisanal Creamery (ice cream)
Conclusion
We loved our stay in Santa Barbara, I think Spring is a great time to go there: it is less crowded and wildflowers are in bloom.
If you found this article useful, please, share it with others ad it may help them to plan their trip too.
Happy travels!
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