Great Valley Grasslands State Park

About Great Valley Grasslands State Park

Gaviota State Park takes its name from the seagulls given to the Portola Expedition soldiers after they were allegedly killed camping here in 1769. The park is characterized by a jetty at the western end of a beach used by fishermen and a tall South Pacific rail jack that crosses GaviOTA Creek above the high, daytime parking lot. From the pier, divers and surfers enter the waters of the Santa Barbara Canal by boat and helicopter. Due to the strong winds that often blow through the area, the park can be a popular destination for kayakers, paddlers and other recreational users.

Visitors can explore the rugged plateaus of the park on footpaths and in the parking lot. Ambitious hikers can climb Gaviota Peak, which offers spectacular views of the coast and Channel Islands.

It would be unfair to say that nobody stops at Gaviota Pass, but the pass is the place where the only public toilet is.

Most motorists who stop and many who do not stop ignore the historical importance of the natural attractions in the area. The Gaviota Pass and its path are too beautiful to be overcome, but it is worth a visit, if only for the scenic beauty.

In 1769, the explorer Gaspar de Portola led his group across the pass, and the most unforgettable view of it, intended for cinema-goers, is when a lost spirit steers a beautiful new Alfa Romeo through the mist of the Gaviota tunnels. There is a hilly hinterland of 2,775 hectares, of which there is Gavisota State Park, which is 2.75 hectares.

The expedition of Father Juan Crespi called the coast here San Luis in honor of the King of France. The soldiers of Portola found La Gaviota (Spanish for seagull) more suitable, but this was found by one of his soldiers.

Gaviota has earned a small place in California history as one of the places to avoid during the Mexican-American War of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. American troops, led by rancher Benjamin Foxen, and when Fremont's 700 men learned that Mexican troops were ambushing them at California's Gaviotas Pass, they marched on.

On Christmas Day, after some bloodshed, the Americans occupied Santa Barbara, but only after a brief skirmish with the Mexicans at Gaviotas Pass and the Battle of Gaviota.

On the west side of the pass, a network of paths crosses the park through the charming hinterland and offers hikers a series of loops of varying lengths and difficulty. Gaviota State Park offers a variety of trails on both sides of this pass and the Eastside Trail, which includes the Gaviotas Pass Trail, Santa Barbara River Trail and a number of other trails.