The Santa Ynez Mountains are a portion of the

Transverse Ranges The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie within Santa ...

, 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 Fault blocks are very large blocks of rock, sometimes hundreds of kilometres in extent, created by tectonic and localized stresses in Earth's crust. Large areas of bedrock are broken up into blocks by faults. Blocks are characterized by rel ...

Cenozoic The Cenozoic ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterised by the dominance of mammals, birds and flowering plants, a cooling and drying climate, and the current configu ...

age created by the movements of the Santa Ynez Fault. A very narrow range, the Santa Ynez Mountains rise quickly on its north side and drops off equally dramatically along the range's south face along the Gaviota Coast. The Santa Ynez Mountains begin as a series of volcanic hills near Point Arguello, and gradually transitions eastward into a single, well-defined ridge extending from Gaviota Peak to Matilija Creek. The range is approximately contiguous with the

Topatopa Mountains The Topatopa Mountains are a mountain range in Ventura County, California, north of Ojai, Santa Paula, and Fillmore. They are part of the Transverse Ranges of Southern California. Etymology A name for the mountains was first inscribed within ...

beyond to the east, which terminates abruptly at

Sespe Creek Sespe Creek (Chumash: S'eqp'e', "Kneecap") is a stream, some long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 16, 2011 in Ventura County, southern California, in the Western ...

. The climate of the range is

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

with most of the precipitation falling between November and March. Most of the range lies in the

California chaparral and woodlands The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of southwestern Oregon, northern, central, and southern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico), located on the west coast of North America. It is a ...

ecoregion. At the crest and on the north slope, the rainier regions support extensive oak woodlands, mixed with other broadleafed species such as madrone, sycamore and bay laurel, along with some conifers, primarily

Coulter pine The Coulter pine or big-cone pine, ''Pinus coulteri'', is a native of the coastal mountains of Southern California in the United States and northern Baja California in Mexico. Isolated groves are found as far north as Clearlake, California on the ...

Geography

The mountains are principally in Santa Barbara County, with an eastward extension into

Ventura County Ventura County () is a County (United States), county in Southern California, the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, California ...

, and are unusual in being an entirely east–west trending mountain range—one of the few in the United States. This is attributed in part to clockwise rotations of crustal blocks 90° or more since the early

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

or about 17 million years ago. The range is mostly within

Los Padres National Forest Los Padres National Forest is a United States national forest in southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast from Ventura to Mo ...

. The southern slopes of the range drop off into a series of alluvial plains which make up the Gaviota Coast along the Santa Barbara Channel. They tend to be made up of unconsolidated riverine deposits overlying shale bedrock. The northern boundary of the range is marked by the Santa Ynez Fault, the massive

thrust fault A thrust fault is a break in the Earth's crust, across which older rocks are pushed above younger rocks. Thrust geometry and nomenclature Reverse faults A thrust fault is a type of reverse fault that has a dip of 45 degrees or less. If ...

that uplifted the mountains since approximately 5 million years ago starting in the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Dibblee Jr, T.W., 1982. Regional geology of the Transverse Ranges Province of southern California. ''Geology and mineral wealth of the California Transverse Ranges'', ''10'', pp.7-26.Minor, S.A., Kellogg, K.S., Stanley, R.G., Gurrola, L.D., Keller, E.A. and Brandt, T.R., 2009. Geologic map of the Santa Barbara coastal plain area, Santa Barbara County, California: US Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3001, scale 1: 25,000, 1 sheet, pamphlet 38 p. Notable features along the fault which mark the boundary of the range include Jalama Creek and the Santa Ynez River to the west and Matilija Creek in the far east. To the north of the range are the San Rafael Mountains. Laterally, the mountains extend from an eastern terminus at the canyon of the

Ventura River The Ventura River, in western Ventura County in southern California, United States, flows from its headwaters to the Pacific Ocean. The smallest of the three major rivers in Ventura County, it flows through the steeply sloped, narrow Ventura V ...

and Matilija Creek, north of Ojai, west across the Santa Barbara County line, to immediately north of the city of Santa Barbara, and then west, paralleling the coast, to the city of Lompoc and Vandenberg Space Force Base. The Santa Ynez River flows just north of the mountains, paralleling them for most of their length. Before reaching Lompoc the mountain range diverges into two low ridges, separated by Jalama Creek, which then vanish into the Pacific Ocean. The mountains parallel 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, ...

to the south, another east–west trending range, a geologic extension of the

Santa Monica Mountains The Santa Monica Mountains is a coastal mountain range in Southern California, next to the Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Transverse Ranges. Because of its proximity to densely populated regions, it is one of the most visited natural areas in ...

; the two ranges are about thirty miles apart. Principal summits in the Santa Ynez range include Divide Peak, , La Cumbre Peak, (above Santa Barbara), and Santa Ynez Peak, . There are several important passes, including Gaviota Pass in the western portion of the range, through which runs

U.S. Highway 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...

via the Gaviota Tunnel; and

San Marcos Pass San Marcos Pass (Chumash: ''Mistaxiwax'') is a mountain pass in the Santa Ynez Mountains in southern California. It is traversed by State Route 154. The pass crosses the Santa Ynez through a southwestern portion of Los Padres National Forest, ...

near Santa Barbara, through which runs

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 ...

capped by the magnificent Cold Spring Canyon Arch Bridge near the summit. The highest point, an unnamed and unmarked crest colloquially called ''Peak 4864'', is located right above the eastern terminus of the range, near

Lake Casitas Lake Casitas is a reservoir in Ventura County, California, built by the United States Bureau of Reclamation and completed in 1959. The project provides drinking water and water for irrigation. A secondary benefit is flood control. It was the ven ...

and Matilija Canyon. Cave in Lizards Mouth Santa Ynez CA

Geology

Geologically the mountains are young and mostly of

sedimentary Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...

origin. The most common rock types in the range are sandstones and shales, with some limestone in the western portion of the range. Volcanic rocks can be found at the very western extremity of the range, near Point Arguello (Tranquillion Mountain Volcanics), while some

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes ...

s of the Franciscan Assemblage are exposed in a number of locations. The Santa Ynez Mountains were uplifted in

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

time, beginning about five million years ago, along the Santa Ynez Fault, a feature which is considered to be active. The left bend in the

San Andreas Fault The San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that extends roughly through California. It forms the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, and its motion is right-lateral strike-slip (horizontal) ...

is proposed to have constrained northward moving lithosphere to cause uplift of the range. Being a young uplift, the slopes are steep and the topography is extremely rugged; the gradient is highest on the northern side above , adjacent to the trace of the fault. Dramatic sandstone formations, including outcrops of the resistant Coldwater and Matilija formations, are visible at many locations in the range.

Biology

The predominant ground cover is

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranea ...

, with

coastal sage scrub Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is ...

, oak woodland and grasslands at lower elevations. Isolated stands of conifers (mostly

s) and other evergreen trees such as

bay laurel ''Laurus nobilis'' is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glabrous (smooth) leaves. It is in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and is used as bay leaf for seasoning in cookin ...

, tanbark oak and madrone grow on the higher parts of the northern slopes, which are cooler and shadier than the southern slopes exposed to the sun. At lower elevations on the southern side of the range, a virtually frost-free zone,

avocado The avocado (''Persea americana'') is a medium-sized, evergreen tree in the laurel family ( Lauraceae). It is native to the Americas and was first domesticated by Mesoamerican tribes more than 5,000 years ago. Then as now it was prized for ...

s are grown in considerable quantity.

Inhabitants

Early inhabitants included the

Chumash people The Chumash are a Native American people of the central and southern coastal regions of California, in portions of what is now San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, extending from Morro Bay in the north to Mali ...

who left behind many examples of

rock art In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also m ...

including those at Painted Cave SHP. Large portions of the mountain range are now in the

, although there are private

inholding 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 fores ...

s, including some substantial communities, such as the Painted Cave community where

Jane Fonda Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress, activist, and former fashion model. Recognized as a film icon, Fonda is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Jane Fonda, various accolades including two ...

owned the ridgetop

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 ...

into the late 1990s. Other famous residents have included

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

, whose Rancho del Cielo is at the top of the range west of Santa Barbara, and Ben Adelson. The

Cold Spring Tavern Cold Spring Tavern was established as a stagecoach stop in 1865. Originally known as the "Cold Spring Relay Station", it was a horse changeover and meals break station. The tavern is located 20 minutes north of Santa Barbara, California, in Cold S ...

is a popular local gathering place beneath the Cold Spring Bridge. Santa ynez peak looking west

Climate

The climate of the mountain range is Mediterranean. Summers are warm and almost entirely rainless, save for occasional

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

al showers in August and September, though in most years there is no rain between May and October. Most of the higher coastal slopes of the range average between to almost of precipitation per year (mostly falling between November and March), about twice the total of the coastal plain below. About one year in three snow falls on the higher peaks in the mountains, but it rarely stays for longer than a few days. In the late spring and early summer the mountains and areas below to the south are subject to occasional intense

sundowner wind A sundowner is a northerly offshore wind in California along the southern Pacific slope of Santa Ynez Mountains, in communities along the Gaviota Coast and Santa Barbara towards but not including Ventura County. Formation It occurs when a regi ...

s, a type of

foehn wind A Foehn or Föhn (, , ), is a type of dry, relatively warm, downslope wind that occurs in the lee (downwind side) of a mountain range. It is a rain shadow wind that results from the subsequent adiabatic warming of air that has dropped most of ...

in which the air is heated adiabatically and dried as it moves downslope. In dry years these winds pose an extreme fire hazard. Occasionally extremely destructive fires originate in the Santa Ynez Mountains. In June 1990, a fire which began near Painted Cave burned south into the city of Santa Barbara, driven by sundowner winds, destroying over 500 homes. A fire in the 1940s destroyed most of the mansion that is now called Knapp's Castle. More recent fires, such as the Tea and Jesusita fires, have also been destructive to properties.

Geography

Geology

Biology

Inhabitants

Climate

See also

References

Further reading