Tag archives: Arroyo Hondo Preserve

As the Mule smoothly powers up the West Ridge Trail of Arroyo Hondo Preserve, we pass a flock of sheep grazing on yellow-flowered mustard. The wooly beasts and their owners await an upcoming shearing day in the paddock at the base of the hill. In the meantime, the flock munches on the grasses and mustard […]

Above the riparian corridor of Arroyo Hondo, a bleak Daliesque landscape reveals the aftermath of October’s Alisal Fire. Chaparral that hadn’t burned in too many years fed the wind-driven fire into the canyon from the east. Despite the grazing program of sheep and cattle on the hills flanking both sides of the lower canyon, the […]

Celebrated as the “Jewel of the Gaviota Coast,” the 782-acre Arroyo Hondo Preserve is an impressive canyon located west of Santa Barbara between Refugio State Beach and Gaviota State Park. This month, until October 1, the Preserve is open to the public with reservations on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10 am to 1 pm. Preserve […]