Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Carpinteria State Beach, Carpinteria, California

Please Note:  For the current status of this park, please call (805) 968-1033.
Twelve miles south of Santa Barbara, Carpinteria State Beach offers a mile of beach for swimming, surf fishing, tidepool exploring and camping. The Spanish named the area Carpinteria because the Chumash tribe, which lived in the area, had a large seagoing canoe-building enterprise, or "carpentry shop" there, because of naturally-occurring surface tar which was used to seal the boats.

Seals and sea lions can be seen in the area December through May, as well as an occasional gray whale. Tidepools contain starfish, sea anemones, crabs, snails, octopi and sea urchins.
Location - Directions
The park is off U.S. 101, twelve miles south of Santa Barbara.  Exit at Casitas Pass Road, travel West on Casitas Pass Road to Carpinteria Avenue, make a right at the signal; then turn left on Palm.  The beach is at the end of Palm Avenue.