Santa Barbara visitor sites (mostly) intact after Jesusita fire

Don’t let the recent wildfire stop you from visiting Santa Barbara.

The Jesusita fire, which was reportedly 95% contained as of this morning, has burned more than 8,700 acres and 80 homes, but travel to the city is safe and its air is clean, according to the Santa Barbara Conference & Visitors Bureau and Film Commission.

The bureau stated that the visitor infrastructure of the city was minimally affected by the wildfire, and most businesses and tourist sites are open. But before planning your getaway, here is what you need to know regarding areas that were affected by the blaze:

Living collections at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden on Mission Valley Road were significantly damaged, including certain structures on the grounds, like the Campbell Bridge. All of the Botanic Garden’s horticulture equipment was lost in the fire.

However, much of the gardens remain untouched — including the meadow, and desert and redwood exhibits — and the site plans on reopening to visitors on Saturday.

The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, previously closed due to the fire, is now operating at its regular hours.

Some of the trails and recreation sites of the Los Padres National Forest, specifically the front country above Santa Barbara, Montecito and Goleta, are off limits for visitors until the fire is completely contained and possibly longer. The east-west closures stretch from Refugion Road to Cold Springs Trail, and north-south from West Camino Cielo and East Camino Cielo to the southern congressional boundary of the national forest. Call (805) 968-6640 for further information on specific areas.

“Some of these areas are really badly burned and it’s a moonscape,” said Andrew Madsen of the U.S. Forest Service.

And we can’t expect the trails to open right back up after the fire’s gone. The area’s safety will have to be assessed following fire containment, and trail maintenance will need to be conducted over the next 12 to 24 months, according to Madsen.

Because of mountain and canyon road closures, access to the Chumash Painted Cave State Historic Park is currently restricted.

— Susan Derby, special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: The blaze as seen from UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday evening. Credit: Rick Kelly; Your Scene / Los Angeles Times]

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This entry was posted on Friday, May 15, 2009 at 2:55 pm by Susan Derby and is filed under California, News, Tips & Advice, Santa Barbara, Weekend Getaways. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.