Gem of the Gaviota Coast: The Arroyo Hondo Nature Preserve

The Arroyo Hondo Nature Preserve is located about a half hour drive up the 101 from Santa Barbara. It is mainly comprised of a stunning canyon with a creek that opens into the ocean, although there is no beach access. Arroyo Hondo’s 782 acres offer several great hiking trails and is open to the public on the first and third weekends of the month with reservations required. You can also make appointments with the preserve manager or come to a volunteer day. The preserve is owned by the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County, and their intent with the property is to protect and restore its natural beauty, as well as educate the public about the myriad wonders of the Gaviota coast ecosystem.
The Arroyo Hondo property is biologically rich, with many different habitats such as grassland, chaparral, and oak woodland. It is also geologically very interesting, and as you move up the canyon you pass through several geological layers that jut out in impressive formations. In fact, Arroyo Hondo means "deep creek", and this name was probably given because of the way that the creek cuts through the rock, creating steep canyon walls. If you choose to hike up one of the canyon ridges, you will be rewarded with an incredible view of the Gaviota coastline, ocean, and channel islands.

Unfortunately, decades of grazing on the preserve caused significant environmental degradation in portions of the preserve, but the Land Trust is working to reverse this damage. The cattle and land clearing destroyed many native plants. This allowed for the establishment of non-native grasses and other weedy plants. These plants do not have the extensive root system that the previous vegetation had to hold the soil on the canyon walls. Therefore erosion has been a severe problem, and the creek was modified and inundated with silt. This caused degradation of steelhead trout habitat, as they need clear, still pools with gravel beds to breed and lay eggs. This has been one of the main missions of the Land Trust’s restoration efforts. Native shrubs and grasses have been planted along the creek margin to mitigate the erosion problem. The seeds for these native plants are collected on the preserve land, to ensure that the new plants have the same genetic adaptations as the ones that are already growing and thriving there. Extensive work has also been done on the culvert which goes under the freeway into the ocean. The creek flows over this culvert, and the steelhead must use this corridor to enter the freshwater pools upstream. A series of baffles--low concrete walls, angled downward in the center--were installed. These allow water to flow over them, but also create many small, calm pools. This is instrumental when the steelhead need to either enter or exit the ocean, which can only be done during periods of high water flow such as storms, as it gives them places to rest. If you walk down towards where the culvert passes under the freeway, there is a large pool, and you may be lucky enough to spot some steelhead here.
There are also efforts by Land Trust volunteers and interns to remove invasive plants. This is especially important around the newest plantings of natives, as the plants are so small that weeds can easily out compete them for sun and nutrients. One interesting thing is that the flat land near the creek used to be an Avocado orchard. Rather than remove all the Avocado trees, the Land Trust has decided to keep some of them there to serve as nurse trees., as they can support the native chaparral that is regenerating there. Birds will perch on the Avocado limbs and drop seeds, which supports the establishment of new plants. This explains why many of the Avocado trees have coffee berries or other native shrubs growing underneath them. Eventually, with some maintenance to get rid of the worst invasive plants, the natives will re-establish themselves and the Arroyo Hondo Preserve will look similar to the way it did for thousands of years.

The Arroyo Hondo Preserve is a very unique place, and certainly worth the trip if you have a free weekend. To register for a docent-led hike, to explore on your own or to get more information about volunteering at the Preserve, call 567-1115 or email arroyohondo@sblandtrust.org.