2948 Aerial view of Painted Cave Community view from south

Painted Cave is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, California, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is 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. Santa Barba ...

located in the

Santa Ynez Mountains The Santa Ynez Mountains are a portion of the Transverse Ranges, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges of the west coast of North America. It is the westernmost range in the Transverse Ranges. The range is a large fault block of Cenozoic age create ...

and is so named due to its proximity to Painted Cave State Historic Park. It is primarily served by Camino Cielo Road and

California State Route 154 State Route 154 (SR 154) (also known as the Chumash Highway or unofficially as San Marcos Pass Road after the signage) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from Los Olivos to Santa Barbara, crossing the San Marcos Pass i ...

, which link the community both to the nearby

Santa Ynez Valley The Santa Ynez Valley is located in Santa Barbara County, California, between the Santa Ynez Mountains to the south and the San Rafael Mountains to the north. The Santa Ynez River flows through the valley from east to west. The Santa Ynez Val ...

and

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Co ...

. The community is made up of roughly 100 homesteads, plus many outlying settlements. Painted Cave is the highest and largest of the

inholdings An inholding is privately owned land inside the boundary of a national park, national forest, state park, or similar publicly owned, protected area. In-holdings result from private ownership of lands predating the designation of the park or fo ...

within the Santa Ynez Mountains, and commands an impressive view- on clear days, all eight of the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

can often be seen. The community is primarily composed of irregular lots, and does not, except in the center of the community, conform to any sort of grid. Painted Cave sits atop a rough plateau, and includes the large

Laurel Springs Ranch Laurel Springs Ranch is a ranch located on a ridgetop in the Santa Ynez Mountain range northwest of Santa Barbara, California, between the Painted Cave community and the intersection of Painted Cave road with East Camino Cielo Road in the Los P ...

. The local terrain is extremely hilly, and numerous homes along Rim and Lookout roads approach or even overhang sheer cliffs.

History

Painted Cave arose through gradual construction in the hills above Santa Barbara, with a mixture of rustic cabins and grand retreats, such as

Knapp's Castle Knapp's Castle is a privately owned landmark ruined mansion in the Santa Ynez Mountains near Santa Barbara, California. Built in 1916 by George Knapp, the estate included 5 bedrooms, an organ room, and even an observatory. Located near East Camino ...

. The central impetus for development was the linkage of the access road to the Painted Cave SHP (Painted Cave Road) with Camino Cielo Road. Though there have been many close calls and evacuations, Painted Cave has, as yet, escaped destruction by wildfire, although the 1964 Coyote Fire came closest, sparing the community only due to a fortuitous wind shift, after destroying eight homes.

Fire

The 1990

Painted Cave Fire The Painted Cave Fire was a devastating wildfire in June, 1990 that burned in the Santa Ynez Mountains and the city of Santa Barbara, within Santa Barbara County, California. The fire, which began near Painted Cave, was intentionally set near ...

(named for the intersection of 154 and Painted Cave Road, where the arson was committed, not the community) primarily moved downslope and did not directly threaten the community, though it did burn outliers. The Gap Fire and Jesusita Fire of 2009 burned close to the area, but the comparative encirclement of Painted Cave by roads (which pull double duty as supply lines and

firebreak A firebreak or double track (also called a fire line, fuel break, fireroad and firetrail in Australia) is a gap in vegetation or other combustible material that acts as a barrier to slow or stop the progress of a bushfire or wildfire. A firebre ...

s) makes it a comparatively easy place to defend. Painted Cave, by this virtue, is often used as a command center and

helitack Helitack crews are teams of wildland firefighters who are transported by helicopter to wildfires. Helicopters provide rapid transport, enabling helitack crews to quickly respond and assess a wildfire situation. Helitack crews may land near a w ...

staging area for Santa Barbara wildfires.

Administration

The Wildlands Resident's Association handles the overall preparedness and coordination of the region, and liaises with

and

CAL FIRE The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) is the fire department of the California Natural Resources Agency in the U.S. state of California. It is responsible for fire protection in various areas under state responsi ...

. Several local organizations, such as the Painted Cave Volunteer Fire Department and the Painted Cave Mutual Water Company, manage day-to-day affairs. The Volunteer Fire Department operates so-called brush trucks for rapid response along the ridge line, as well as a larger pumper. The Mutual Water Company pumps water from the nearby Maria Ygnacio Creek to a tank system supplying the community. The Painted Cave Volunteer Fire Department was formed in 1965 as a local volunteer fire department. The department operates three “Type 3” four-wheel-drive brush trucks capable of off-road wildland fire response, a specialized fire retardant gel truck, a Mercedes Sprinter recovery vehicle, a tractor-trailer, and both Chevrolet Suburban and Tahoe command vehicles. In the California State Assembly, Painted Cave is in . In the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, Painted Cave is in . The local ZIP code is 93105 and the area lies within the 805 area code.

References

{{Coord missing, Santa Barbara County, California Unincorporated communities in Santa Barbara County, California Unincorporated communities in California Santa Ynez Mountains