Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve — Attraction in Carpinteria

52 acres of open space. It's between freeway 101 and the Pacific Ocean. It has fields of wildflowers and native plants, eucalyptus grove of trees, walking paths that connect to the Carpinteria Bluffs Trail, and access to a low tide beach and seal rookery. Since the preserve is on a cliff, the sunsets are gorgeous. Catch the sun as it dips slowly into the ocean horizon. The colors melting into the ocean. Perfection. The access and parking to the preserve is free. FREE! You gotta luv that.

Since the preserve is on a bluff, the beach is elevated below. So accessing the beach requires some trekking skills. Plus there are active live train tracks between the beach and preserve. Trains often run through. Always have your wits about you when you're near train tracks. And keep a considerable distance from the moving train. Next to the bluffs are ball fields with actual real turf. There are public restrooms there. I can't offer any additional info on those, I didn't use them. Both the preserve and ball fields have their own...

This preserve is really nice. Not a ton of parking, but thankfully wasn't full when we visited. There are multiple paths, but they run you over the train tracks to get to the beach. Getting down to the beach is also a little difficult since you are going down some pretty steep cliffs. I'm nimble enough, but watch out for this if you're not. There are better places for beach access. The views are very pretty and the beach is pretty nice here too, since it lays very secluded. Going north, the beach is closed however, due to what looks like a small business or shipping yard...

Perfect choice for someone who's just starting to walk for exercise. Super easy and beautiful hike/walk with an ocean breeze. Make your walk as long as you want c: (mine was 3 miles) Dogs allowed on leash. There were 2 seal pups when I went! ^_^ please be respectful of the seals and just quietly observe them. There's a nice man-made part of the trail that connects to the tar pits park and campground. On clear days, the channel islands are visible off the coast. It's one of my favorite places in the world to go when I need to take a deep breath and...