Tag archives: Arroyo Hondo

From the Carpinteria Bluffs to Arroyo Hondo Preserve on the Gaviota Coast; from Ennisbrook Open Space in Montecito to the Hibbits Ranch in Lompoc, the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County has worked to conserve, preserve, and protect over 31,890 acres of land as well as trail easements. With the increased density and rapid suburbanization […]

In 1960, the Brothers Four sang, “Once there were green fields, kissed by the sun. Once there were valleys where rivers used to run….” (Many of you know the tune.)  While the song is about a lost romantic love, in another, more literal sense, it could be considered a mourning for the loss of the […]

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 […]