Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park
Santa Barbara (San Marcos Pass) · near Santa Barbara · Central Coast
Caving
At a glance
- Depth
- 10
- Season
- Year-round · Free · Very limited parking (1–2 cars)
- Cost
- FREE
- Difficulty
- Easy · Short hike from parking · Cave viewable through protective gate — do NOT enter
Permits and booking
- Permit
- No permit. Free access. Navigate carefully on Painted Cave Road — narrow, winding, and can only fit 1–2 cars at the cave parking area. DO NOT attempt to enter the cave — the gate is locked for preservation.
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
- Gear
- No gear required · Camera (photography through the gate is excellent) · Drive narrow Painted Cave Road carefully — single-lane in places
Caving detail
- Nickname
- The Most Sacred Cave in California
- Cave type
- cultural
- Tour length
- 15–30 minutes
- Formations
- Chumash pictographs (red, black, white pigments) · Estimated 400+ years old · Discoidal symbols, centipede-like figures, and mysterious abstract forms
- Featured caves
- Main Pictograph Panel
- Intl tip
- Painted Cave Road is a narrow, winding single-lane road above Santa Barbara. Drive slowly and use pullouts when meeting oncoming traffic. The cave is approximately 8 miles from downtown Santa Barbara via San Marcos Pass (Highway 154). Combine with a day in Santa Barbara's mission district and waterfront for a complete Central Coast day.
The guide
The Chumash Painted Cave sits in a small sandstone cave above Santa Barbara's San Marcos Pass — and the pictographs inside it a…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 34.5225, -119.8133