Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve and Tar Pits Park
Looking for a place where you can view the ocean and mountains, run down a path surrounded by spring greenery, observe a natural tar seep, and watch birds and baby seals, all in the same area? Go no further than the Carpinteria Bluffs!
Saved in 1998 by the Land Trust and community members, and acquired by the City of Carpinteria in 2000, the Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve is an example of the power of community advocacy for conservation. The initial acquisition by the Land Trust came after many years of local activism to stop the beautiful and ecologically valuable property from being developed. Even today, the activism continues as community members fight the potential loss of habitat on neighboring sites. It's clear that the Carpinteria community loves this open space and recognizes its ecological, recreational, and aesthetic value!
Coastal sage and grassland environments dominate the majority of this area, and offer good opportunities to observe many types of wildflowers, birds and butterflies, especially in the springtime after a rain. Interspersed with the grassland are a few areas of eucalyptus woodland, which is nonnative but still provides habitat for wildlife, especially hawks and their relatives.
The bluffs offer a great lookout point to the Carpinteria Harbor Seal Rookery on the beach below. While the seals can be seen year round, spring is the ideal time to visit, because this is their pupping season and you can see the babies! Volunteers from Carpinteria SealWatch maintain a presence at the lookout, counting the baby seals and helping point them out to observers. Bring binoculars or a camera with a long lens!
Adjacent to the Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve and the seal rookery is Tar Pits Park, where you can observe a naturally occurring asphalt seep. Such places are relatively rare in the world. The tar was historically used for building canoes, and is said to be part of the reason Carpinteria ("The Carpenter Shop") got it's name.
To see an updated list of the wildlife in this park, go to the La Mesa Park iNaturalist page.
Explore the Park
The eucalyptus grove has been home to great horned owls for over a decade. Stand near the playground around sunset and you may see them fly out of the woods and perch in a nearby sycamore tree.
Access Information
La Mesa Park can be accessed either from Meigs Rd. (the main entrance, with a parking lot) or from Camino de la Luz (the bridge). If you are planning on staying past sunset to look for owls, don't park in the lot, which gets locked at night.
This park is operated by the City of Santa Barbara.
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