Carpinteria Bluffs
The Carpinteria Bluffs Preserve has been preserved from development by popular demand. Like the Wilcox (now called Douglas Family Preserve), local folks did not want to see the place developed so they raised money to preserve it.
You can see birds of prey, including kites, hawks and vultures on this hike. Small mammals like rabbits and foxes live on the bluffs, too. From the cliffs you can see a seal rookery and porpoises, otters and sea lions in the water.
This beach hike is an easy walk along cliffs and along the beach. On much of the walk, the path is improved. It's pretty easy to make a mostly level 3 mile hike, but it's difficult to specify an absolute path to follow. People pretty much just walk along as they wish.
At the end of the parking lot there is an obvious way leading toward the ocean. To reach Carpinteria Beach you will need to make your way in a westerly direction (to the right looking toward the ocean.) You will pass a seal rookery viewing area on the cliffs along the way.
Following the trail along the cliffs, at the 1 mile mark you reach the edge of the Carpinteria State Beach campground. There are stairs here down to the beach. Take the stairs.
As you walk the beach you will notice that there is a lot of black goo oozing from the cliffs and sitting in piles on the beach. This is a natural mineral called asphaltum. The Chumash used it to line their baskets and boats. They were able to make their baskets water-tight with this material. This is also the same material used to build roads. It is not caused by the oil rigs out in the channel. In the summer it can be soft and melted, but usually it is hard.
If you turn around here at the group picnic tables at the state beach, the total round trip distance will be approximately 3 miles.