Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park

Very cool stop off a very cool road. The journey is more impressive than the destination if you don't really know what you're looking at. The drive may be stressful. Only a few spots to pull over to check it out. Easy to drive past (though there's a helpful sign to let you know you have).

I found it fascinating! The pictographs in the cave were awesome. You can't go in the cave, but rather look at it through metal mesh barrier. The cave is 2 miles up a pretty steep winding road barely enough for two vehicles. At the site there is parking for two vehicles top barely. The site is clearly marked and just a short climb up a rock staircase. The surrounding rock formations are awesome! And once you look inside the cave through the grating, you go WOW! Is it worth it? Yes, it is just for the archeological aspect of it!

To be fair I didn't take the time to read if there were other areas to explore and how to get there. The cave is enclosed with a metal gate so you could easily miss it. The road to drive to the cave is winding, steep, and fairly dangerous in some spots. I'm glad we took the kids to see it but probably best explored as a grownup trip with those who can hike and climb. My kids are barely in double digits and I just didn't feel safe with them exploring much more.

Five stars for the significance of this place to people from ancient times to the present and its location. The security is decent for what is trying to protect. However, four to three stars are given to the contemporary human activities, which still make this place important, but it would be nice if people could honor the past and respect the current state of the cave. The petroglyphs created this year are in the form of names with plus signs, dates, and all surrounded by a roughly shaped heart. Tiss the impulses of contamporary beings that drive then to continue marking this site. Please be kind and resist the urge to carve a name or brush off the lichen and moss in order to leave a mark. I suspect that those who will read this are more aware of the historic value of this place and will leave things as they are. Maybe having a ranger that charges orna form of monitoring out to be set up to catch these modern guerrilla shamans. All in all, it's worth visiting.

Absolute Amazing!!! Gorgeous Spot with Immediate Access to the Cave beside the road. HOWEVER, Very limited parking and extremely tight quarters on the small road. Maybe enough room for 2 cars or 1 truck. Right next to a flowing creek aswell.

My husband and I were looking for a short drive out of Santa Barbara, and I noticed this on Google Maps. The road to the cave is narrow and winding but not scary. You park in a small space against the mountain and right below the cave. Short climb that even I could do. It's a very impressive historical site, unlike petroglyphs I have seen. Behind the protective steel gate, though, you can't see everything. Bring a flashlight, and study the parks website.

The drive úp the mountain was incredible. I loved it so much. A couple spots are insanely steep but that's what makes it so awesome. So doable, just go slow. The views, WOW I've never seen views quite like this. I didn't walk back to the Painted cave. The spot where u walk up is right off the main road in a heavily wooded area. So freaking cool. It's a must go. If u park near the top in the morning for a while u can see huge pockets of fog roll in, can't see anything, then roll out, clear as day, in a matter of minutes.

Beautiful drive up with lots of scenic points. The road is partly single lane with areas for parking/passing.