Carpinteria Santa Barbara Day Trip

Once a year, the town's normally peaceful streets transforms for the Annual California Avocado Festival, an October spectacle devoted to good eating and family fun.

But Carpinteria has so much more to offer, and for those in search of quieter pleasures, there are plenty of pristine beaches for relaxation, tranquil mountain roads for biking, and historical and cultural attractions for all ages.

One place that provides a fascinating glimpse into the Valley’s past, is the Carpinteria Valley Museum of History. Exhibiting three cultural periods: the Chumash Indians, Mexican Rancho and American Pioneers - Chumash artifacts, Mexican cattle rancho, Victorian home, and agriculture artifacts are all on display. The museum is located just off the main drag on Maple Street and is open Tue-Sun: 1:30-4; Sat: 11-4. Admission is free.

Another stop to take in the culture if early Carpinteria is at the nearby Santa Barbara Polo Club, the third oldest United States Polo Association club still in existence, where they have been playing polo since 1911. Every Sunday players grace the fields while spectators enjoy the game, basking in the mountain views, cool breezes, and sounds of the nearby ocean.

Lined with dozens of majestic palm trees that are almost 100 years old, Linden Avenue is home to a number of excellent restaurants and antique shops that end at Carpinteria's main beach area. Divided into two parts, the City and State Beach, both provide hiking, site seeing, swimming, surfing, and a variety of outdoor activities.

Adjacent to the City /State Beach is the Salt Marsh, also known as El Estuaro, one of the most important wetlands in Southern California. This unspoiled estuary offers nature paths and platforms for safely viewing rare and endangered plants and migratory birds.

From the Salt Marsh there is a bike trail --the Coastal Vista Trail--that leads to Tar Pits State Park, a place where Chumash Indians built their large ocean-going canoes, called tomols. You can still see the natural asphaltum oozing from the rocks along beautiful stretch of shoreline.

If you continue along the railroad tracks and along Caarpinteria Buffs Trail out to the seal rookery, you'll end up at one of the most interesting secrets of Carpinteria -- the Seal Preserve. The Harbor Seal Preserve is home to roughly 100 adult seals who give birth to their cubs along the Carpinteria coastline. The seals are there all year long, but the beach is closed 750 feet on either side of the rookery for seal nesting from December through May.

Carpinteria is flanked by Rincon Beach Park to the south and one of the area's more unique one of a kind locations-- Santa Claus Lane--to the north.

For more than 70 years Santa Claus Lane has been luring passerby's with a mix of restaurants and shops, that include a candy shop, toy store, a surf shop, a sophisticated market with an excellent selection of Santa Barbara county wines, and a curio shop. The giant Santa Claus has been removed, deemed too tacky by the city, and now sits in a lot in Oxnard.

Celebrated in Beach Boys songs, surfers of every age hang ten at Rincon Point still to this day. But non surfers will also love this jewel of the coast, with its wonderful lookout point that allows you a panoramic view of the ocean, surrounding mountains, and nearby Channel Islands. The view also allows visitors a wonderful vantage point to spot whales that migrate through the Santa Barbara Channel each spring.

When staying in the area, there are plenty of reasonably priced accommodations like the Sandyland Reef Inn or one of the area's campgrounds, such the one at Carpinteria State Beach.

Getting to Carpinteria is an easy drive from anywhere in the San Fernando Valley or Los Angeles. Expect an two hour drive from downtown and up to three from Orange County. Next time you are looking for a weekend getaway, explore Carpinteria.