Santa Barbara County, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is a county located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria.
Buellton is a small city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It is located in the Santa Ynez Valley, 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Solvang. The population was 5,161 at the 2020 census, up from 4,828 at the 2010 census.
Lompoc is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast, its population was 43,834 as of July 2021.
Los Alamos is an unincorporated community in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Located in the Los Alamos Valley, the town of Los Alamos is considered to be a part of the Santa Ynez Valley community. Los Alamos is also connected to other cities Vandenberg SFB, Lompoc, Buellton, Solvang, and other Santa Barbara County cities. It is 140 miles northwest of Los Angeles and 281 miles (452 km) south of San Francisco. The population was 1,839 at the 2020 census, down from 1,890 at the 2010 census. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Los Alamos as a census-designated place (CDP).
Santa Maria is a city in the Central Coast of California in northern Santa Barbara County. It is approximately 65 miles (105 km) northwest of Santa Barbara and 150 miles (240 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Its population was 109,707 at the 2020 census, making it the most populous city in the county and the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA Metro Area. The city is notable for its wine industry and Santa Maria–style barbecue.
Solvang is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Located in the Santa Ynez Valley, the population was 6,126 at the 2020 census, up from 5,245 at the 2010 census. Solvang was founded in 1911 and incorporated as a city on May 1, 1985. Solvang has been described as "The Danish Capital of America".
Sycamore Valley Ranch, formerly Neverland Ranch or Neverland Valley Ranch, is a developed property in Santa Barbara County, California, on the edge of Los Padres National Forest. From 1988 to 2005, it was the home and private amusement park of the American singer Michael Jackson. The ranch is about 5 miles (8 km) north of unincorporated Los Olivos, and about eight miles (13 km) north of the town of Santa Ynez.
Cachuma Lake is a reservoir in the Santa Ynez Valley of central Santa Barbara County, California on the Santa Ynez River adjoining the north side of California State Route 154. The artificial lake was created by the construction of Bradbury Dam, a 201 ft (61 m) earth-fill structure built by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in 1953. Its surface area covers 3,100 acres (1,300 ha), with a maximum design capacity of 205,000 acre⋅ft (253,000,000 m3), but it is currently limited to 188,000 acre⋅ft (232,000,000 m3) due to sediment accumulation. The late-December 2022 and early-January 2023 storms dramatically raised the water level in the lake, from an average of 33% full to 100% full for the first time in 12 years.
Area codes 805 and 820 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the U.S. state of California. The numbering plan area (NPA) includes most or all of the counties of San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and the southernmost portions of Monterey County. 805 was split from area code 213 in 1957, and area code 820 was added to the NPA in 2018, creating an area code overlay.
Los Olivos is an unincorporated community in the Santa Ynez Valley of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tourism is popular in this rural area which is an agricultural region with an emphasis on wine grapes. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Los Olivos as a census-designated place (CDP). The population was 1,132 at the 2010 census. The ZIP Code is 93441, and the community is within the area code 805.
The Santa Ynez River is one of the largest rivers on the Central Coast of California. It is 92 miles (148 km) long, flowing from east to west through the Santa Ynez Valley, reaching the Pacific Ocean at Surf, near Vandenberg Space Force Base and the city of Lompoc.
State Route 246 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from Lompoc east to Solvang and Santa Ynez, cutting through the Santa Ynez Valley and the Santa Barbara Wine Country. Its western terminus is at the western city limits of Lompoc, and its eastern terminus is at State Route 154 near Santa Ynez.
Sta. Rita Hills is an American Viticultural Area located in Santa Barbara County, California. From its creation in 2001 through 2006, the wine appellation was officially named Santa Rita Hills AVA. The formal name change was the result of a protest by and subsequent negotiations with Vina Santa Rita, a very large Chilean wine producer that was concerned about the AVA name diluting its international brand value. The name change took effect on January 5, 2006, with a yearlong period for producers in the AVA to change their wine labels. In 2016, TTB expanded the approximately 33,380 acres (52 sq mi) “Sta. Rita Hills” viticultural area by approximately 2,296 acres (4 sq mi).
The Santa Ynez Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Santa Barbara County, California established on May 16, 1983 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Treasury after approving a petition submitted by Firestone Vineyard, a bounded winery in Los Olivos, California. It is part of the larger Central Coast AVA, and contains the greatest concentration of wineries in Santa Barbara County. The valley is formed by the Purisima Hills and San Rafael Mountains to the north and the Santa Ynez Mountains to the south creating a long, east-west corridor with very cool temperatures on the coast that become progressively warmer inland. The Santa Ynez River flows east to west on the valley floor toward the Pacific Ocean. As of 2021, the Santa Ynez Valley contains four other established viticultural areas: Sta. Rita Hills on its western boundary; Ballard Canyon and Los Olivos District occupying the center region; and Happy Canyon on the eastern border. Chardonnay is the most planted grape variety in the cooler, western portion of the valley while Rhône varieties thrive in the eastern locales.
Jalama Wines is a California wine estate producing various Rhône style blends and varietal wines. The winery is located in Lompoc, California, 45 minutes north of Santa Barbara and the vineyard, located near Jalama Beach, is the westernmost vineyard in Santa Barbara County. The vineyard is widely known for its hands-on farming techniques.
Las Cruces is a former settlement and an archaic placename in Santa Barbara County, California. It lies at the split between California State Route 1, which travels north to Lompoc, and U.S. Route 101, which travels north to Buellton. The two routes coincide on the highway to the south through the Gaviota Gorge to the Gaviota Coast. The community lies within area code 805.
The Purisima Hills are a northwest-to-southeast trending low mountain range of the Outer Southern California Coast Ranges, located in Santa Barbara County, California. They divide the Santa Ynez Valley on the south from the Los Alamos Valley on the north.
Los Olivos District AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Santa Barbara County, California established on January 20, 2016, by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). It straddles the Santa Ynez Valley, formed by the Santa Ynez River, between the Purisima Hills above Solvang. The area encompasses the townships of Los Olivos, Ballard, Santa Ynez and Solvang. State Route 154, known locally as the San Marcos Pass Road or Chumash Highway, bisects the region accessing many of the wineries and vineyards as it traverses toward its destination in Santa Barbara.
Ballard Canyon AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Santa Barbara County, California and established on October 2, 2013 by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). The 7,800 acres (12 sq mi) designated area lies west of Ballard and Solvang townships while in the center of the Santa Ynez Valley viticultural area, which in turn, is within the perimeter of the larger multi-county Central Coast viticultural area. As of 2021, the Santa Ynez Valley AVA contains three other established viticultural areas: Santa Rita Hills, which lies to the west; Los Olivos District and Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara to the east of the Ballard Canyon. Los Olivos District borders Ballard Canyon's eastern perimeter while Santa Rita Hills and the Happy Canyon areas do not share boundaries nor overlap Ballard Canyon. The USDA plant hardiness zone for the AVA is 9b.
Santa Barbara County wine is an appellation that designates wine made from grapes grown mostly in Santa Barbara County, California which is located approximately 50 miles (80 km) north of Los Angeles County. County names in the United States automatically qualify as legal appellations of origin for wine produced from grapes grown in that county and do not require registration with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) of the Treasury Department. TTB was created in January 2003, when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, or ATF, was extensively reorganized under the provisions of the Homeland Security Act of 2002.
