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 ...
in the southeastern
Cuyama Valley
The Cuyama Valley (Chumash: ''Kuyam'', meaning "Clam") is a valley along the Cuyama River in central California, in northern Santa Barbara, southern San Luis Obispo, southwestern Kern, and northwestern Ventura counties. It is about two hours ...
, within eastern
Santa Barbara County, California
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 ...
. Ventucopa has a population of 92 people and is located an elevation of 2,896 ft. It is an agricultural area situated near the Cuyama River. It is located near the intersection of four counties: Santa Barbara, Ventura,
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly hal ...
and
Kern
KERN (1180 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Wasco, California, Wasco-Greenacres, California, and serving the Bakersfield metropolitan area. The station is owned by American General ...
. Ventucopa borders
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 ...
to the east, south and west. When the town was registering a postal office in 1926, local resident Dean Parady came up with ''Ventucopa'', as the community lies between Maricopa and Ventura County.Titus, Angela and Peter Massey (2006). ''California Trails Central Mountains Region''. Adler Publishing. Page 190. .
The ZIP Code is 93252, and the community is inside
area code 661
Area code 661 is a California telephone area code that covers the majority of Kern County, as well as part of Los Angeles County, Santa Barbara County, and Tulare County. It was split from area code 805 on February 13, 1999.
Principal cities i ...
.
Geography
The community is on the southern Maricopa Highway section of State Route 33, near an upper southern fork of the seasonally-dry Cuyama River. It is about southeast of Cuyama which is in the western Cuyama Valley.
The name Ventucopa is a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsVentura and Maricopa, which are located along Highway 33 to the south and north, respectively.
Access
Because of how the county borders were drawn in relation to the valley and the Cuyama River, the community is ground transportation isolated from the rest of Santa Barbara County. Travel to other communities within the county requires crossing through either
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 ...
(south) via the southern Maricopa Highway section of State Route 33 and Ojai to 101, or
San Luis Obispo County
San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo.
Junípero Serra founded the Mis ...
(north) via the western Cuyama Highway− State Route 166 and Santa Maria to 101. Access from the
San Joaquin Valley
The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...
and
Interstate 5
Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...
to the north in Kern County is via the eastern Maricopa Highway section of State Route 166.