Chumash painted cave ~ Santa Barbara

Notice: There’s a Boulder overhanging on the Painted Cave Road which might provide passage difficulty to larger vehicles like RVs. A large size SUV probably would be the biggest car that would have enough clearance to pass the suspended natural feature. Here’s a quote from a reputable website that you should look at if you’re planning on exploring central California, especially Santa Yanez valley.

If you have a large truck or an RV of ANY class, you’ll never make it. If you are towing anything, don’t go here! You couldn’t make this narrow defile and then there’s really no where to back up and turn around! It would be a mess.

The caves are located off of the back road highway 154, which runs somewhat parallel with 101 being slightly more inland and a bit shorter. It is an ideal route if you’re planning on taking a small fishing expedition on lake Cachuma and go hiking on the surrounding hills.

An interesting archeological site with paintings and hieroglyphs. Although I doubt that any kids would actually enjoy hanging out by a sealed off site. A better place to take your kids to see caves would be in Vanalden graffiti caves or the Shaman’s Cave back in Los Angeles

Scientists estimate that the paintings were made sometime around 400 years ago. I imagine they do this by studying the pigments and carbon dating. The meaning of the symbols has been lost over the years, but it would be safe to guess that there was a religious significance. One of the symbols is taken to represent a solar eclipse, whose date astronomers would know. Beyond that, it’s enjoyable to look at them and reflect on man’s universal desire to understand and come to terms with the world around him.

What else is there to see along the hwy 154

Well there’s Knapp’s Castle with a seasonal rope swing and a Cold Spring Tavern – the old west style watering hole since 1886. There’s also lake Cachuma and Solvang nearby that are worth stopping by while exploring Santa Barbara.