California's Best Trips 2 - Full PDF eBook

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Wilderness

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LosPadres

NationalForest

Santa

Barbara

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p194

(http://santabarbaramission.

org; 2201 Laguna St; adult/

child $5/1; h9am-5pm),

California’s ‘Queen of

the Missions.’ Then take

our self-guided walking

tour of downtown’s

historical buildings and

museums (see p194), all

on or just off State St,

which leads downhill to

the ocean and splintered

wooden Stearns Wharf,

the West Coast’s oldest

continuously operating

pier. A few blocks

inland from the beach,

follow Santa Barbara’s

Urban Wine Trail (www.

urbanwinetrailsb.com), where

boutique wine-tasting

rooms are typically open

from noon to 6pm daily

(tasting fees $5 to $10).

54 p193

The Drive » In the morning,

take a short drive north on Hwy

101, then follow winding, narrow

Hwy 154 up into the Santa Ynez

Mountains and over San Marcos

Pass. About 9 miles from Hwy

101, turn left onto Stagecoach

Rd, passing the 1860s Cold

Springs Tavern. After 2 miles,

turn right on Paradise Rd.

2 Los Padres

National Forest

Off Paradise Rd, the tall-

treed Los Padres National

Forest (www.fs.usda.gov/lpnf;

c) contains several good

hiking trails for all ages,

all easily accessed off

Hwy 154. Starting beyond

the family campgrounds

and river crossing on

Paradise Rd, the creekside

Red Rock Trail leads for

a mile to rocky pools and

waterfalls where you can

sunbathe or swim.

The Drive » Backtrack along

Paradise Rd, then turn right and

follow Hwy 154 northbound past

Lake Cachuma and the rolling

hillsides for over 13 miles. Turn

left onto Hwy 246 and keep

motoring five more flat miles

through the Santa Ynez Valley

west to Solvang.

3 Solvang

Loosely translated as

‘Sunny Fields,’ this

touristy Danish village

was founded in 1911 on

what was once a Mexican

rancho land grant. Filled

with knick-knack stores

and storybook-esque

motels, the town is

almost as sticky-sweet

as the Scandinavian

bakery pastries gobbled

by day-trippers. Wine-

tasting rooms and

windmills decorate the

village’s pedestrian-

friendly streets. Where

locals gather for after-

work drinks, Tocatta

Tasting Room (www.llwine.

com; 1665 Copenhagen Dr;

tasting fee $8-12; h11am-

5:30pm) specializes in

Italian varietals and

robust Tuscan blends.

On a residential side

street, the tiny Elverhøj

Museum (www.elverhoj.

org; 1624 Elverhoy Way;

TRIP HIGHLIGHT

g

Around San

Luis Obispo

Want more wine, but

beaches too? Drive Hwy 101

north of Santa Ynez Valley

for 45 miles to Pismo Beach.

s

Mission Trail

Trace the path of

Spanish colonial history

at La Purísima Mission, 18

miles west of Solvang via

Hwy 246.

LINK

YOUR

TRIP

CENTRAL.CALIFORNIA.

17

.SANTA BARBARA WINE COUNTRY